2025 and 2026 reviews by: RX ZENABI
Scarecrow – Golem
(Indie Release)
After Scarecrow’s monumental “III” album, their follow-up EP provides their captivated audience with more epic metal/prog/classical heavy metal/orchestral/doom. Building upon that album’s musical adventure, Prem, Russia’s intense metal sorcerers, continue their journey to distant mystical soundscapes.
Starting with the opening track, “Beit Kvarot”, this classical-inflected and sinister Russian folk jam ignites the fire of this musical adventure. Vocalist Artemis leads the expedition on clarinet, oud, and accordion, while bassist Elijah plays double bass.
Then, guitarist Max and drummer Vadim join them on the explosive, heavy main title track, “Golem”. Using the mystical Russian and Middle Eastern scale motifs of their nonmetal tracks, Scarecrow unleashes masterclass metal, complete with clean-tone exotic lead solos, alternating with classical shredding that take you on a journey beyond Russia’s wide expanse, and into uncharted territories where ancient entities exist and have made pacts with jinns and demons.
“Psalm of Creation” ends this EP on a HIGH note, as Artemis again leads the enchantment singing to bring to life the sinister Golem monstrosity into the earthly plane, ready to unleash destruction upon the Earth. Those who enjoyed their III album reviewed here previously are advised to search for these two records and their other earlier works. Join us, beckons the mysterious cult of Scarecrow, and you will find yourself lost forever in their epic dimension.
Lica & Evils + Jaw Surgery
Thresthold Records
Somewhat a powerhouse supergroup, Taiwan’s Lica & Evils features experimental sound artist Lica with Dope Purple’s guitarist/vocalist Kozma Philo Liu, and Shindou, the drummer of Taiwan’s d-beat crust punk annihilators, L-Schema. Joining in this live set is none other than the Philippines’ top harsh noise death industrial export, Jaw Surgery.
The result is an over-the-top live collaboration that meshes abrasive harsh noise destruction with psychedelic free jazz explorations, accented by Lica’s ethereal vocals. It is immense and confrontational controlled chaos. They absolutely destroy Continue Music Studio, a well-known basement sound stage and rehearsal studio complex.
The psyche-out free jazz acid fusion meets noise, drone, death industrial, and psychedelic rock wipeouts are awesome, and the quartet proves their undeniable live alchemical chemistry despite the disparate elements. Together, their live 2-track set laid Taiwan to waste and rubble while expanding the audience’s consciousness with a very intense set. Now you can experience the same kind of mind expansion and destruction through this limited edition DVD-case CD from the top purveyor of local and Asian extreme arts, Thresthold Records.
Jaw Surgery
Twelve Spines Facing God
Love Earth Music
The latest Jaw Surgery record crushes with heavy industrial harsh noise walls of gravel and hellfire might, and seething, deranged, destroyed drones from the lower abyssal planes, severely infected with malignant blackened influences.
The record first created horrific noise furor in the Sri Lankan region, when Jaw Surgery did a tour there and played with Zorburq and local killers Suryasapien, Pharmakon Messiah, Terrorist, and Annihilation Planet Earth. Members of the OG cult Genocide Shrines, and Raavan Kommand organized the fest.
“Twelve Spines Facing God” is ritual annihilation by feedback and overloaded noise circuitries in 5 movements. These ancient and modern codes soldered together onto occult audio sigils, and fired into the netherworlds, produce frayed negativities and multi-dimensional entity signals firing back, filled with disintegrating feedback and pulsing, rhythmic chaos.
The simple, black-and-white digipak artwork features occult ritual sacred diagrams and 72 demon sigils from the Lesser Keys of Solomon, ready to invoke, evoke through negative audio codes, sonically charging them. It presents the audio terror like an ancient booklet to conjure the majestic entities for divination.
Stellarium – Untitled
Independent release
You know it’s high-quality killer stuff when it’s from Singapore. Long-time Lion City shoegazers Stellarium have finally released their new record, and it is a stellar, heavily fuzzed-out rock n’ roll affair.
Well, yes, this album was from 2019, but many readers of this zine are only discovering it now. Nine dense, dreamy, and hypnotic tracks, with hints of psychedelia and even some ’90s motifs and throwbacks. Yet it’s a sound all their own.
Stellarium plays high-end shoegaze and heavy alternative rock that doesn’t hold back: They let loose and get rocking. Untitled has all the great elements you want, from high-octane riffs and energetic, propulsive gaze-punk rhythms to post-punk influences, noise rock moments, driving basslines, and even psych-rock passages and searing solos. The distant, echoey vocals anchor their sound, from the heavy, drowsy rockers to the more ethereal and uplifting tunes.
This album is a satisfying listen for its many diverse sounds without ever losing its identity or veering too far with experimentation. There’s a sense of balance and adventure that takes you on a trip and maintains an infectious energy from beginning to end.
Fallen Sun
Parallel Misalignment
Fourth Dimension Records
Malaysia’s power electronics audio corruptor Fallen Sun produces super textured audio annihilation on this sophomore release on Fourth Dimension Records. This is the more destructive, corroding work of Y’ng-Yin Siew, the harsh noise shadow equivalent of her other project, Reverse Image.
On this latest audio terror, Y’ng-Yin continues the power electronics attack of 2024’s ‘Beyond the Flat Earth’ debut with even more varied states of noise deconstructivism and layers of marred and mangled frequencies.
Parallel Misalignment’s 7 movements, titled Session 41 to Session 47, immerse the listener in various negative frequencies and varied industrial noise soundscapes.
From the start, it already leaves listeners with discombobulated ear destruction. These sessions progress from random scattershot clang and noise barrage to stream-of-consciousness textured noise walls, stuttering low-end, deconstructed power electronics brutality, and some hypnotic, trance-inducing noise hiss. Screaming static and low-end electronics merge to become audio weapons to disintegrate the brain.
The last two tracks feature different recorded audio destruction for these Fallen Sun sessions. Session 46 features field recording layers with Peter Wallen, while Session 47 is a live annihilation apparition at Negative Frequencies Vol. 1 recorded in Moutou, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in April 2025.
The former is a self-destructive, deconstructive noise ritual, layered with avian voices; the latter is a longer track that combines all of these variations in a killer set, both offering a fitting end to this lovely CD.
Entrailed
EP
Indie Release
Very cool to realize that I’ve known Jordan of Valley of Chrome, Human Waste, and now, Entrailed (among other musical projects) for over 26 years (!). When I was still doing a physical printed zine, I interviewed him at least twice, and traded demo cassettes and zines as well.
As VOC started to go more melodic and technical, my music tastes, however, devolved, so my brain went back to the older, noisier shit you see reviewed on THC Zine’s music section, and lost track.
Lately I’ve been relistening to melodic and technical stuff again and put it back into my rotation of music, including the last VOC album, “Victorious,” which was their heaviest release, and still with killer production. This was my brain’s state and expectation when I got the Entrailed CD from him direct, so I was ready to dig in, expecting it to sound like VOC. I got kicked in the nuts instead with brutal, rifferama-heavy and sick modern death metal.
This EP will prolly turn off some of their fans who can’t handle it, but also convert many with its good songwriting and composition, and the fact that Typecast (!) frontman Steve is behind those ultra-brutal low vocals.
I’ve seen Typecast several times over the years, and it’s really difficult for my slow brain to process that, yes, it’s him. But then again, he is a metalhead, and I’ve seen him in local metal shows, including Angelcorpse live in Manila.
Joining him in this sick, brutal project are none other than Jordan, Paul, and Tatel from VOC, and Dylan from (the sorely missed) COG. So you know this features top-notch musicianship and sharp, downtuned megariffs with sick scalar runs and high-level production.
The demo’s 3 tracks,”Chronic Infirmity”, “In Our Wake”, and “Covered in Flies” whirlwind their way through and jackhammer your ears, and it’s done in a flash, making it replay-worthy. The combination of tight staccato and thrash speed, double-bass digadiga action, and heavy B or A-tuned slasher and chug riffs is all well balanced, supported by a nice streamlined production. It’s got enough modern-styled brutal DM with flashes of late 90s DM to make a well-cooked stew of local death metal.
Slaughter Table
Disfigured Turmoil EP
(Indie Release)
Largely available during his late 2025 tours and local shows, the almighty Slaughter Table of Malaysia’s new EP continues his brutal power electronics assault with 3 new tracks. I got this direct from him during the Malaysia Noisefest 2025 show: a limited offering of killer Malaysian power electronics noise.
All the trademark Slaughter Table brutal harsh noise and power electronics are in full effect on this CD, electrocautering listeners into paralyzed submission. Waves of piercing electrostatic, brutal electronic blips, and washes of brutal power electronics electrocution… Then suddenly there are sudden start-stop dynamics which create unease and tension, making the next wave of harsh noise assault and battery even more brutal and pulverizing, never letting up.
it’s wave after wave of dense, electrifying static, abuse through power electronics drilling both ears. That’s when you know it’s good harsh noise.
It’s labeled as a demo, but it already stands on its own and just as good as his most recent works. The physicality and highly textured, multi-frequency attacks Slaughter Table is known for translates well to his recorded works, whether a full-length or demo, it always kills no matter what, and his consistency is key to his overall sound, whether it’s at a large hall in China, a small club in Japan, or on your stereo at home.
Anti Itch Cream
Wandering Pigs
(Independent Release)
I had the special chance attending back-to-back, the last ever show of Japanese grindcore killers, Sete Star Sept, and the first show of Kae Takahashi’s Anti Itch Cream, which happened here in Manila, Philippines, last year. I’m not sure if it was indeed AIC’s first ever, though I know Kae played house gigs broadcast online during the pandemic.
I got this and the shirt direct from Kae via mail (thanks!) after she played in Bones 2025, at her first stop on her first tour of Indonesia.
In one of Kae’s interviews, she said her solo band is mostly controlled chaos with more structured compositions, as she programs the drums along with the bass, guitar, vocals, noise, & samples, using chaotic punk and noise with death metal and grind riffs.
The torrential rain of dirty lo-fi grind/goregrind/death with equal doses of some punk and noise of this new 7-track album makes this even more destructive, with sick blended riffs with black metal production values.
It’s even more “disciplined” sounding compared to the ultra freakout jazzgrind sickness of SSS, or maybe it’s the herb… Kae can play this sick solo brutality live using a laptop, pedals, samplers, and bass, and also add to that her brutal grind/goregrind vocals. She often tours, so make sure to catch her and grab some killer limited-edition merch.
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