Formed in 1999, Acrybia is a Poland project which started as a death metal band. Their style turned into something more extreme during the years thanks to different line-up changes. Slowly the band increased the industrial influences and their latest full length for Beast Of Prey is showing well this new path. DEATH, BIRTH AND MARRIAGE is the first part of six of the Diabolus Opum series which will count six parts/bands and 666 CD copies in total. The six tracks of the album present a band (now is a duo formed by Shadock and Vauec) which changed so much their music that now they turned into it into a sort of dark industrial minimalism where drones are mixed with low bit rate samples (like on "Bridal mating" where metallic noises are coupled with a simple piano line with the following add of effected noises) or where the drones are looped and distorted creating an alienating atmosphere (like on "If you looking you will find - heaven for sale"). Sounding like an horror ritualistic industrial suite DEATH, BIRTH AND MARRIAGE has interesting moments as well as some others where the digital low bit rate samples confound a little the listener. Instead, the most melodic track of the lot, the closing "Gdy Juz Nic Nie Zostalo", is a good example of dark industrial experimentalism which create a convincing atmosphere being also accessible.

OF EARTH AND OF FIRE is the fist official release for both the projects involved. Penjaga Insaf is a German duo who previously released a CD-r titled "To Whom It May Concern" on Shortwave Transmission. Vestigial comes from Italy and already released a self produced 3" CD-r with track which reminded of the best Lustmord moments. On this new 12" you can find Penjaga Insaf bringing to your attention "Tenangan", a twelve minutes track really involving which, like a serpent, slowly crawls between effected field recordings (voices, rhythms and noises recorded in Indonesia by the band) and spatial synth pads. During the track's length you are like suspended in time and you'll be carried away by its semi ritualistic structure. Vestigial present here two tracks which sound like two parts of the same movement. "Summoned by panopticonian flames" and "The architect of ashes" are more hypnotizing compared to the Penjaga Insaf track and it confound the listener's senses with blasts and humming loops. Imagine to be underwater and to being listening to a sinking ship during an earthquake and you'll have pretty much the sensation these tracks give. A must...

SEETHE is the first full length for Flesh Eating Foundation and it arrives after a bunch of E.P.s. Their latest CDs, "The Dead", was already showing a band with good capabilities and a certain will to dare. Musically the Flesh Eating Foundation don't have boundaries and mix industrial e.b.m. and digital sounds with post punk attitude. On this album you can find aggressive tunes as well as catchy mid tempos (see "Kiss the tears") where razor like guitars and digital synths build a wall of sound which could convince the lovers of the old e.b.m. school as well as the audience who is used to contaminations of post industrial guitarism with post punk/goth music. On "Pass the knife", for example, they sound like a Batcave band on acid and their mixture of guitar mixed with digital distortions sounds really good. On the booklet they admit that sometimes they could sound like they are using some broken gear but this is how they like to make music. If you are missing the old Velvet Acid Christ but you want also some catchy tunes, try what these three zombies have to give...

Damn the packaging is really rad, simple but really classy: tip of hat to this Czech label for having assembled it and having demonstrated again you can do an interesting packaging also without big amounts of money. Since it would be stupid to limit yourself judging a book just by the cover, let’s speak about the music. For what concern what I’ve heard I’ve a split sensation since it’s well done and interesting, sure, but not always focused. This cd features a weird bland of industrial electronic music, samples coming from movies (or sort of) and various mixed influences. The final result is quite strange, I mean it reminded me of some forgotten bands from the late eighties early nineties like Matanza/T.I.T., Nightmare Lodge or some other classics on label such as like Minus Habens but just a bit re-actualized according to a more modern aesthetics. Sensus offers with the apocalyptic cocktail many of you may appreciate and he works with cyclical loops following some industrial clichés but he’s also a strange rhythmical edge to complicate the whole thing. A work with ups and downs.

New release for the Scontum Act series. This time we have two Peter Savelkoul's projects (A Challenge Of Honour and its French translation Un Defi D'Honneur) and Irvin Getrouw's Praetorio. The compilation contains three tracks for each band and as usual for the series we have a wooden hand made package limited to 369 copies. The three new tracks by A Challenge Of Honour shows Peter's most new-folk side bringing to the audience "Your Own Destiny" (a little D.I.J. sounding this track is a good neo-folk song with rumbling drums and gongs), "The Laws Of The Waterland" (a really good instrumental song which has an happier atmosphere compared to what we were used with A.C.O.H. and which sometimes reminded me of some 80's English acoustic alternative bands) and "City Of Decay". Praetorio present here three gems of neo classical militaristic music with tense atmospheres, tambourines, powerful orchestrations, trumpets, etc. The tracks are "Haelen 1914 (La Derniere Bataille De Cavaleries)", "Unconquered Hope" and "Die Letzte Truppen". Un Defi D'Honneur with "Guerre" Pt. 1 to 3 convinced me a bit less compared to what I already listened to. They are nice tracks but they sound less captivating, especially the third part.