Top Tapes Issue #3

Tapes rule. This is pretty much the sentiment here at THC Zine as shown on our previous articles and reviews. The THC Zine Team scoured the underground to bring you our first batch of fresh and recent cassette drops that feature the best ones from Asia and USA. [with contributions from Rx Zenabi, G Vazquez, DRONEBOT, & VVV]

Lica
Reverse
Karma Detonation Tapes

Reverse’s beautiful monochrome and black and white cassette artwork and packaging presentation doesn’t give any fair warning to the chaotic frequencies waiting within. Taiwan’s Lica produces tripped out, darkpsyche electronics, with underlying drones, piercing feedback, and buzzing, frequency-bending harsh noise for cold distant nights. Her debut solo album is an engaging listen, with personal reflection and expression through mindbending feedback shaping, field recordings, and harsh noise elements churned into her own style.

Lica (Alica Han) has already done a variety of electronic and experimental work with Taiwan’s psyche masters Dope Purple, Urban Fungus, Chia Chun Xu, Suck Glue Boys, SUNDIALLL (with Ramaputratantra), Jaw Surgery, Mira, Ouro among a number of other cool projects, collaborations, and live sets throughout Asia. She has also done crossover work in multimedia art that often involves her music or collaborations with other like minded experimental artists across different genres and formats. Watch out for her live sets and collaborations by checking out her socials for more details.

https://karmadetonationtapes.bandcamp.com/album/reverse

Berserk/Thiula split
MK Ultra Productions

Taiwan’s renowned Berserk and Switzerland’s Thiula offer a punishing intercontinental split of live sets to destroy eardrums and warp your brains to harsh noise mush. Chia Chun Xu’s previous moniker is no longer active as is, but now carries on as his full name. Berserk’s side is a live set in the legendary Senko Issha record store/art space, and is heavy churning and twisting noise and a punishing display of various mind-bending frequencies. This heavy sonic bombardment is violent yet is also a good brain massage/cleansing by mind destruction.

The mysterious Thiula presents a slightly longer set of noise destruction and ear and head splitting harsh noise with the same range of frequencies as well. It drills into ears and into brains as well with chaotic harsh noise destruction with like mindedness and same wavelength thinking as Berserk, making this a great split release. It’s great for putting on your tape decks and playing it on an auto-reverse deck so you can play it whole and repeat both sides for ear damaging fun.

2M2 – The Sonic Map Archives
Pleurage Tapes

2M2 is China’s experimental noise master Mei Zhiyong and Maxime Hansenberger from Switzerland’s extremists Nostromo, on electronics and machines, and drums/vocals/effects, respectively. This album consists of two live sets during their China tour in 2018. 2M2 is avantgarde soundscapes meets experimental noise, a perfect combination of Swiss and Chinese sound art collages that build up and create tension.

2M2 explore the minimalist duo approach of electronics and machine driven noises with drums/percussion and vocal experiments. The results are some pretty intense sets that often belie the fact that they are only a duo creating various sounds and frequencies destroying throughout the textured din. They start quiet and minimalist, only to develop into full blown noise experimental jams. Zhiyong and Hansenberger destroy and carry on as they reach full audial disintegration, and the results are fantastic. Machine industrial noises, electronics drones and violent noise shards jam with freeform jazz drums and various noise effects create a violent and clattering world. These are all live, and are awesome noisescapes for scraping your ears and brains clean.

Achilles Jam Anthology
Needle in that Groove

Thanks so much to Jared Xu for this exclusive copy of DJ Chen Yi Chung aka DJ Rex Chen’s collaborative compilation of some of the best Asian noise/ambient/experimental entities getting the DJ Rex Chen treatment via Buddha Tiger Dog (DJ Rex (Chen), Junyang, & Xiao Liu) a sound art collective from Taichung, Taiwan. Familiar names included on this 18-song album include Jaw Surgery, Chia-Chun Xu, Pinkchain, ramaputratantra, lica, PGR, and many others. It’s an assortment of cool sounds ranging from minimalist experimental to harsh noise and deconstructivist sound collages, like collaborative sonic paintings exploring inspired improv frequencies and sounds. They are housed in recycled cassettes but with good sound quality. It gives you a glimpse on Taiwan’s burgeoning experimental and avantgarde scenes and its many top collaborators. A worthy sound art listen full of creativity and chaos. https://djrexchen.bandcamp.com/album/jam-achilles-jam-anthology

Slaughter Table/Declining Rate split tape
ST Records Company

Malaysia’s noise extremists Slaughter Table and Declining Rate unleash a barrage of mindwarping HNW/harsh noise/industrial tunes on this awesome split cassette. The result is some pretty destructive and barraging heavy noise and power electronics industrial fusions to melt brains.

ST’s industrial minimalist cold world and anti-authority/capitalism imagery perfectly suits the violent and at times trippy headrush electronics wavebending going on, interspersed with wild samples, and various electronics blips. It’s a great ear and head-cleansing listen as different noise waves act as electronic hydro jetting for each nook and cranny of your brain using noise violence as a mental weapon.

DR’s heavy dronescapes and scathing and scraping electronics offer a great split continuation on side B. These heavy downstreams of dense and heavy-textured noise carries samples and heavy industrial beats to make you headnod and get your body slightly grooving after overpowering your head earlier.

Seizure/Erectus Grotesquely Disfigured split tape
Sarawak Metal Regime Records

Seizure Eternal Damnation
Metal Choice Cut Records

For those not in the know, Seizure is Mass Hypnosia drummer Daryl’s own death/thrash killing unit. There are similarities to MH, but only in intensity and execution, as Seizure from Bulacan features a darker and just as aggressive deaththrash sound with ripping solos and lower octave vo-kill styles. If you foolishly skipped and missed out on their first cassette, these two lethal thrashing cassettes will serve up some raw and killer tunes nonetheless.

Erectus from Bintulu, Sarawak make for a great split ally on the Grotesquely Disfigured split tape offering Sarawak-style melodic death as counter to Seizure’s razor-sharp thrashing assaults plus awesome covers of Sodom, Black Flag, and Minor Threat. If you can’t get one locally, you can actually score this killer slab through Shopee Malaysia (!). https://shopee.com.my/ERECTUS-SEIZURE-(ORIGINAL-CASSETTE)-i.537317521.28903024053

In case you need more Seizure doses, then their full-length on local label Metal Choice Cut records should provide you even more deaththrashatons if you’re not even dead yet (hehe).

Burden Of Despair promo cassette
Bad Moon Rising 惡月上昇

Hailing from Osaka is Burden Of Despair, who play some huge sounding brutal doom death on this 2006 demo. Taiwan’s Bad Moon Rising has the privilege of reissuing this killer doomed demo that already sounds killer as is, enough to be issued as a mini-album. Heavy sludge death dirge doses comprise this reissue featuring new artwork and the same killer production, mined from the metal-rich underground of Japan. Five tracks that somehow leaves you needing more dirgecrawl punishment, so after this slow, oppressive destruction, you are recommended to follow that up with their more recent EP, Desecration, out on CD.

Exitus/Deceit
Turbocharged Destruction
Metal Choice Cut Records

This breakneck metalpunk split features the perfect combo of blackened rotn’roll metal punks Exitus plus Dbeatcrustpunk rioters Deceit, plus truckloads of alcoholic beverages and unholy tokes with a full throttle on the gas pedal going straight to HELL. Sharp riffs, reckless speed, evil vocals, shades at night, with one hand with red horse and the other revving up those unholy motorbikes.

Those who’ve witnessed them attack local bars and punk and metal shows already know the deal: this is reckless devil’s rock n roll metalpunk to speedcruise the mean streets of Manila with a deathwish and a DGAF attitude. Limited copies only, get it now or get ran over to death while being laughed at by bikermetalpunks. Short and to the point, and just before you know it, it’s over just like your sorry life. Bite the dust and DIE.

Gibraltar
s/t cassette
Independent release

Already notorious for playing everywhere in the Philippines with their brand of pissed off, tuneful, and excellent hardcore metal, Gibraltar’s first release arrives with a lot of energy and gut punch aggression about the Filipino’s struggles, both in real life and internal. The classic, sorrowful tagalog oldies intros will make you weep in sorrow until Gibraltar kicks off the assault festivities into HIGH gear with killer Philippine HC.

Live is where the band always settles the score by provoking and kicking you in the head to wake up, using the medium of Pilipinas Hardcore to instill awareness, via granite-heavy riffing atop a kickass rhythm section and belligerent and confrontational vocals. Musically, they have one foot set in the 90s to early 2000s era hardcore (both int’l and local) and the other in the present while using their death metal/extreme metal influences on their sleeves that strengthen the foundation of their sound. This combination proves deadly and makes them sound fresh amongst the huge local hardcore and punk scene.

Yes, this tape is too short and will leave you wanting more, and that’s the idea of releasing a short, sweet, and to the point initial attack. Watch our for their full length under the mighty Still Ill Records, out very soon.

Andrea Pensado/Jaw Surgery
Ferocity of the Unconscious
Orb Tapes

Asian harsh noise collides with USA (by way of Argentina) experimental soundscapes in this latest killer Orb Tapes release. Jaw Surgery crafts the scathing harsh noise elements, and sculpts the overall sound with voice and electronics artist Andrea Pensado. It’s a killer match and collaboration that finds JS’s rumbling low drones carrying waves of mid and high frequency washes of harsh noise with AP’s stuttering, and drilling voices by her main voice tool Max together with electronic-scapes in an acid bath collage and deluge of varied frequency sounds.

The result of this collaborative album produces unease and tension, and heavy flowing frequencies of electronics and harsh noise that ebbs and flows and also destroys. From eerie electronic blip and voice manipulation as an instrument noisescapes to full on throttle harsh noise and electronics jams, this release unleashes a worthy intercontinental collaboration.

Deadflesh Architect
Incubation of A Prophecy
Primitive Recordings

The first pressing original CD release is already kvlt, now the USA version of the cassette and digipak is finally available as a high quality reissue with a new layout. This reissue took a long while to finish from the label and then reach Pilipinas though. But it’s finally out as a last documentation of one of the best death metal bands in the local 2010’s era. DfA is part tech death, part heavy brutal death pummeling, and psychedelic metal in heavy and grandiose doses. This is what would happen if you took LSD and went outer dimensional on DMT when you reach peak madness, all set in a sci-fi mindset of heavy and well played death metal. It’s a heady alchemical combo of forward thinking vision and brutality, with dissonance, while cleverly injecting small microdoses of melodic playing without actually dipping their riffs in any typical melodic death bullshit. It’s a pretty balanced and nuanced way of crafting songs that are evident in this killer release. It’s available on limited edition digipaks and tapes while supplies last.

Ataul
Oblatio MMXXIII

The new Ataul material is HEAVY, dense, and totally oppressive, sporting upgraded production from their previous releases. This EP is a sample of upcoming deathdoom nihilistic hymns coming soon from the Anugal DeathDoom power trio dealers. It features four tracks of Anugal Mystickal DOOM death, one from an upcoming split with Gravewurm, and three others that have been exhumated from the grave (of previous releases) updated into slowcrawl and heavier production, trudging in the present like the undead risen from their deep graves to wreak slow, heavy destruction in revenge. Most so called local “DOOM”sters can hardly take Ataul (hehe) especially those who think that happy stoner rock is doom. Well, put this on your sorry cassette decks (if you have one) and weep in slow motion and get crushed then. Watch out for the upcoming album sometime soon, if you dare.

Pathogen – Disciples Of Necrolatry
Independent release
Pathogen – Ravages Of The Tyrant
Tanatofobia Records

This double cassette are doses of pure, well-produced, and patented brand of Pathogen’s virulent-strain Anugal death metal and is all you need to cleanse yourself of all that metal hipster bullshit if you’ve already been oversaturated by it. Pathogen continues to be consistent in their releases, and Disciples of Necrolatry comprises of some newish oldschool death metal tunes and a Corrupt Insanity cover, all featuring Kenneth B, new lead guitar necro shredder, already four albums deep into their current discography. Ravages of the Tyrant meanwhile features four more newish tracks plus a killer cover of Dead Ends’ “No System” and is from the exclusive killer recording sessions with Ian Cuevas from Demiurge Studios featuring former leadaxer Jervish Alcos from Rabies. Hails to Pathogen for always releasing their material on cassettes, making them instant kvlt collector’s items in the int’l underground.

Zabogart – Fuckscene
Zabogart – Power Generic Violence

Zabogart is all out hardcore/punk/powerviolence from the mean streets of Tangerang Indonesia. It’s raging fury and fun using local language in the vocals, with totally ripping attitude in the equatorial heat-intensity of Indo punk rock. The sound is slightly more lo-fi but loud and clear, giving a perfect balance for the pissed off but rocking tunes.

The title of the 2nd cassette does not justify it, as this ain’t generic at all. Its furious punk/powerviolence combo is the perfect soundtrack to Indonesian youth insanity while beating up cops in a street protest and riot gone wrong and fun. I find the scattered Indonesian samples funny, but since I don’t know Indonesian I can be wrong and they could be serious statements. Whatever they are, they incite rioting street hardcore punk that you can both play on loop (both tapes play both same sides) and enjoy smashing shit up anti-authoritarian style.

Fleshcarver – Coldfire
Fleshcarver – In The Vastness Of Eternal Sorrow
Karma Detonation Tapes

The horrific and deep-end depression dives of Fleshcarver uses black metal and dark ambient/industrial filtered through inhuman harsh noise. These two releases are the first of a series of destructive tapes that chronicle Fleshcarver’s ascent (or descent) into the infinite void of harsh noise/dark ambient/death industrial/black metal.

“Coldfire” is much more infused with lo-fi black metal, at times somewhat a dark, lysergic Abruptum with 90s black metal demos obscured by time and dust. “In The Vastness…” has more droney death industrial and dark synths filtered through death industrial sounds. Both releases are a developing netherworld of heavy death industrial drone noise for metalheads who have embraced the void of harsh noise. HIGHly recommended for fans of Leviathan, Abruptum, Atrax Morgue, Controlled Death, Richard Ramirez/Black Leather Jesus, and other heavy noise and black metal experimental classics.

Coffins – Mortuary In Darkness
Coffins – The Other Side Of Blasphemy
Life After Death Records

Japan’s DOOMDeath HEAVYweights deal a double dose of slow-motion doomed death metal on these two official tape version reissues of their classic older albums from 2005 and 2006, originally from Razorback Recordings and Imperium productions, with additional live bonus tracks featuring their classic power trio lineup.

Coffins sound huge and overbearing even as a three piece, and the crushing, raw, but loud and clear production and engineering just makes it even much more powerful and ominous. Coffins bury you with HEAVY tons of radiation infected doomsoil, gravel, and filth, and beyond six feet underground. These two early 2000-era albums specialize in almost funeral doom-paced death that retains the heaviness of OSDM but drowns it in the suffocating slowdirge atmospheres of true doom. A must have for trueDeathDOOM freaks who can handle it.

[with contributions from Rx Zenabi, G Vazquez, DRONEBOT, & VVV]