Quagga - Quagga (6", Lathe)

Quagga is the solo-project of Goatgrind Records genius Nappy. This is his debut, and only, release under that name, playing lo-fi, gurgling goregrind. I think that this was a "test" release to sample the quality of the lathe cuts that Graham from 2208 Records produced, as it is only limited to 5 copies. I am lucky enough to be able to own one of these gems, by total chance! Remember kids, always tick shit you want on Discogs, you never know who is watching!

 

This 6" is listed as a 5" on Discogs, but it's definitely a 6", I measured the bastard, as I have little to no life. And, to top that off, it's only one-sided so it doesn't last very long. I guess though it doesn't really need to; it gets it's point across in a few short, garbled bursts of goregrind hell. This one is a keeper (it even has my name on it, so I guess it's mine forever!).

P.S. Please excuse the smaller-than-usual cover art photo for this post, I fucked up the photography and it's blurry as shit, but it looks OK at a smaller resolution. 

Jesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came

Oh, how I have longed for a new Jesu release! I snoozed on the previous new material (the Duchess 7") and it sold out before I had even the slightest chance of even considering buying it, and now it is added to my neverending list of expensive shit to buy off Discogs. Trouble is, it's hard to find the money to keep up with all the new releases in the first place, doubly hard when there's a growing backlog of rare shit forever tempting you online! The woes of the record collector on a budget! Ha!

Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came is a fantastic and rather "in the feels" type of record title. That, along with the abstract cover art, which to me conjures feelings of times past, brings on the realisation that our time on this planet is a very short one indeed...only getting shorter and shorter with every passing second. Fuck this! When the first track, "Homesick", kicks in with the usual Jesu-brand laid back electronica meets heavy riffage and melancholic atmosphere, the feeling only gets heavier. I heard that Justin wrote a song about missing his kid whilst on tour, and whilst I'm not entirely sure that's true, the title "Homesick" could well reveal that this is that track. Maybe.

I don't really see Everyday... as an EP, even though it is only 5 tracks in length, "The Great Leveller" - which starts with a nice piano and builds and builds - is over 17 minutes long, bringing the total run time up to something like 45 minutes. Which is good value for money, seeing as we are on the subject! Well impressed with this new Jesu stuff...it ranks a lot higher than the recent Ascension album which I think a lot of people didn't really like and I never bought since I want all the Jesu stuff on vinyl and the vinyl version doesn't seem to be materializing anytime soon. It's no Silver, but I can see Everyday... becoming a Jesu must-hear with time. Justin Broadrick, you're a genius! My fandom knows no bounds (although I'm not that familiar with Techno Animal haha!).

As far as I can tell this was self-released by Justin and his Avalanche Recordings label. It's pretty limited, and the grey copies are all sold out, so I got the black. I'd get this before it's gone!

Clunge / Hyperemesis - Split 6" Lathe

I put this out around Christmas time on my part-time label Pointless Records, and even managed to shift all ten copies. Holy shit, that's a fucking first! Ha ha. These were cut for me by a lovely American chap by the name of Graham, who was exceptional in handling this project. Get at me for his contact info, if your looking for some cutting.

 

Obviously I can't review Clunge as it's my creation but I will say that Canadian one-man goregrinder Hyperemesis does make a pretty impressive gurgling racket. Below is a link to the Pointless Bandcamp page where you can download the whole thing for free, or just give it a stream. I was going to upload an actual lathe play through in all it's mono crackling glory, but I still haven't got around to doing it. D'oh!

 

Torturing Nurse - Slave

This isn't as distorted and harsh as I originally thought it would be. The noise slowly builds and builds, and when the hellish garbled drone kicks in fully it is still without any eardrum penetrating fuzz or hiss. That's not necessarily a bad thing; Torturing Nurse's rumbling, harrowing soundscape of death is perfect just the way it is. It levels out a bit as it continues and some nice haunting female vocals weave in and out of the racket. Great stuff! Released by fellow Welshman - Red Venice Records, and limited to 40 copies only.

You can stream a few tracks here from the label's Bandcamp page.