ALTAR OF FLIES / SEWER ELECTION - 'Split' LP (Release The Bats)
Split slab of vinyl from two of the best acts currently dwelling in the depths of the Swedish underground scene. Altar Of Flies continues with his dark and eerie forest rumblings. Buried claustrophobic lo-fi insanity straight from hell with heavy outbursts of feedback, which could have been outtakes from an old Dario Argento soundtrack. Sewer Election fill the flipside with the nasty "Rotten Corpse" - a crude and disgusting piece full of monotonous, freezing coldness. Mean-spirited ugliness from both bands. Mastered by Patrik Jonsson (Dødsdømd). Limited to 325 copies.
UK 12.00£
Europe 15.50£
World 19.00£
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BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER - 'Crows Eat The Eyes From The Leviathans Carcass' CD (Release The Bats)
Blackened Noise mayhem from Seattle's Blue Sabbath Black Cheer. "Crows Eat The Eyes From The Leviathans Carcass" is a collection of several long out of print limited cuts and two bonus unreleased tracks. Blue Sabbath Black Cheer formed in late 2005 and is centred around the duo of wm.Rage and Stan Reed. The sound of BSBC is dark and heavy, violently bleak horror-noise: a demon network of scraping nails. File beside Yellow Swans, Bastard Noise or The Rita. Ltd x 500 copies in a Stumptown cardboard sleeve with black on black print.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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DOVE YELLOW SWANS - 'Live During War Crimes #3' CD (Release The Bats)
The final installment in the "Live During War Crimes" trilogy, this one being one of the last releases ever from Yellow Swans. Four unedited live sets from the band's last year in existence. Included are the PDX Pop Now set (recorded by John Wiese, July 2007), a live soundtrack to a film by Avalon Kalin (February 2008), a set from the Picador, Iowa City (October 2007), and the final US show in Chicago (June 2008). Big sounding stuff, very loud and very dense, with the melodic guitarwork being more prominent just as on the last couple of releases. 78 minutes of epic, sky-shredding beauty in a gatefold sleeve. Ltd x 500.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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INNERCITY - 'Backworld' LP (Release The Bats / Ikuisuus)
Second album from Belgian Drone synthscaper Hans Dens, following up the highly acclaimed "Future Life" LP. While being rooted in the Belgian underground alongside acts like Orphan Fairytale and Dolphins Into The Future, Innercity brings a more dystopic and bleak approach to the table with it's monotonous and rhythmic set of sounds. With a strange sense of melancholia and hopelessness, "Backworld" invites the listener to an intriguing maze-like journey. Mastered by Viktor Ottosson (Ättestupa). Ltd x 300 copies with insert.
UK 13.00£
Europe 16.50£
World 20.00£
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RACCOO-OO-OON - 'Raccoo-oo-oon' CD (Release The Bats)
The swansong from Iowa City's Raccoo-oo-oon. Following up 2007's critically acclaimed "Behold Secret Kingdom", the final album takes everything up a notch and shows a band taking their last breath and laying down the last bricks in their fairly short history. Doomed, desperate prog-rock flailings decay into hollow purgatories of dimly pulsing ambience, only to re-erupt into percussion firestorms and experimental electricity. There are a few moments of "Behold Secret Kingdom"-style focus, but for the most part the mood remains raw and acidic; four souls on edge, backs to the crowd, channeling everything they have left inside. Nearly 80 minutes of music, mastered by Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans). Ltd x 1000 copies in a mini gatefold sleeve.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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SHEPHERDS - 'Loco Hills' CD (Release The Bats)
Debut album from this Brooklyn psychedelic / folk / rock / improv unit. The sound of a rolling south western road trip... of unknown terrain. "Loco Hills" finds Shepherds entering full band territory for the first time. A fully realised document, toying at times with structure, Shepherds never lose sight of the "drop everything and make music" mentality that makes them so exciting. Swirling strings, tape manipulations, percussion, wah, fire and bone. Features members from Meneguar, Woods and The Vanishing Voice. Ltd x 500 copies in a digipak.
UK 9£
Europe 10£
World 11£
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TREPANERINGSRITUALEN - 'Deathward, To The Tomb' 10" (Release The Bats)
Trepaneringsritualen explores themes of religion, magick and the occult realms of consciousness, taking its musical cues from old-school ritual ambient & death industrial. Rhythmic and seething at times, and oozing forward with a creeping sense of desolation, Trepaneringsritualen conjures forth bleak but mesmerising visions of the end-times. Babalon, Consort of Chaos, Sacred Whore and Mother of the Virgin of Eternity. Since the dawn of time She has been with Man and in March of 1949 she was revealed in the flesh. "Deathward, To The Womb" is largely inspired by the Babalon working conducted by Jack Parsons, 1949. It is dedicated to his memory and to the Virgin Daughter. She is flame of life, power of darkness, she destroys with a glance, she may take thy soul. She feeds upon the death of men. Ltd x 275 copies only!
UK 14.00£
Europe 16.50£
World 19.00£
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TSUKIMONO - 'Time Canvas' 2 x LP (Release The Bats)
Long anticipated vinyl version of Tsukimono's grandiose "Time Canvas", originally released as a limited release (Ltd x 100) on Kning Disk (2007). A true gem of drone-based music, this recording still stands out as Tsukimono's finest moment. Each track is based on a sample on one specific instrument. The beauty here is in the delicate layering and subtle progression of the songs. Slow and quiet and big and brutal at the same time. Incredible beauty indeed. The deluxe 2xLP version also comes with a side-long bonus track recorded in 2008. Ltd x 525 copies in a letter-pressed silver ink on black card sleeves with insert and MP3 download card.
UK 18£
Europe 23£
World 28£
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WARMER MILKS - 'Let Your Friends In' CD (Release The Bats)
"Let Your Friends In" is another chapter in the more brash, aggressive side of Warmer Milks catalogue. Creating Psych-Rock, Noise, Experimental and Folk-Rock with Black Metal leanings, the group touched on intensities left behind from "Radish On Light" but with a more street rock cum vomitorium feel. The "Let Your Friends In" sessions went down in Shelbyville, Kentuckee at Rove Studios, home to engineer Paul Oldham, where various members present during the "Soft Walks" sessions took time to record this scorcher. Featuring usual WM attendees Michael Turner and Greg Backus the two lengthy cuts on "Let Your Friends In" also boasts the addition of Shawn David McMillen (Iron Kite, ex-Ash Castles) on guitar and Paul O. on dead wah guitar. Ltd x 1000 copies in a card slip with insert.
