Release of the Day: Anenzephalia - Task Force Terrorist

If you read yesterday's release of the day, then you've already been acquainted with Tesco's Archaic Documents sublabel/imprint: it's their label that reissues harder to find releases, which may have been  originally put out as CD-Rs or tapes, as beautifully repackaged vinyl records. So far they've really put out some heavy hitters with Genocide Organ, Grey Wolves, Prurient, SK1005, and Anenzephalia.

Anenzephalia began as the solo project of Brigant Moloch and is sometimes referred to as a Genocide Organ side project. It's somewhat confusing: not only does Wilhelm Herich of G.O. often perform in Anenzephalia sets, but Moloch joined G.O. in the late 90s after Roland Freisler left, and of course they're both German power electronics groups. Anenzephalia has put out records on Tesco since their 1991 seven-inch record Lyse. Their first couple of records, such as Lyse or Fragments of Demise are pretty impossible to find for under a hundred dollars, but probably can be found somewhere on the internet, albeit with much worse sonic quality.

Task Force Terrorist is a compilation of live tracks from their early days around the time Fragments of Demise came out, but before Ephemeral Dawn. What had previously been released on CD as Live Festival Karlsruhe 8.10.93 appears in stellar vinyl treatment with a couple bonus tracks from an earlier set in Munich of 1992 tossed into the mix. I don't feel the need to go into how wonderful of a job Tesco has done in the packaging of this record: it's simple, but noteworthy. Tesco's addition of the hand-numbered insert is elegant with a touch of the personal, perfect to look at when you're about to have an angry German dude yell at you for a while.

In my opinion, Anenzephalia already stands out for their cinematic structure. When I listen to an Anenzephalia record, I feel like I'm being guided through something, but not in some bullshit new age way. It's more like a bootcamp than some feel good journey. I mean, just think about it: Moloch would be one hell of a drill sergeant. If he says "Jump," chances are pretty good that I'm going to jump. His vocals are commanding and powerful without being overdone. And he knows how to weave them into his work to make something more similar to a song than the typical noise piece.

So yeah, still reading? Tesco knocked this fucker out of the park. The Live Festival Karlsruhe 8.10.93 is streaming on Spotify so listen to that if you're not certain, but I'll just be honest - the stream does not do the music justice. This is definitely a record you'll want in your collection.

I couldn't find a full track from the record so here are some excerpts from the new Task Force Terrorist reissue to get a better idea.
 

Release of the Day: Prurient - Despiritualized EP

It's hard to keep up with Dominick Fernow. The dude has released an ungodly amount of music under both his Vatican Shadow and Prurient monikers, not to mention Ash Pool, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, Machinegun Warfare, and...well, you get the point. It's as impressive as it is overwhelming. Many of these releases have come out of his own Hospital Productions label, though it's an equally daunting trying to figure out exactly what has been released and who the hell did the releasing. And it's a total gambit as to whether his next release will come out in an edition of ten or one thousand.

Dom also has a bit of a maniacal, obsessive following: people will pay a LOT of money for some of his more obscure releases. Fortunately, a lot of his recordings is streaming more or less for free, and a lot of his output is very good. But for those of us who revere the physical and visual aspect of an artist's recording, finding an original cassette or lathe cut of his may be difficult or expensive.

Luckily, Tesco has recently started putting out/reissuing harder to find/acquire releases on their Archaic Documents sublabel starting last year. So far it's been knocking things way out of the park for industrial and noise lovers with some heavy hitters like Genocide Organ's KwaZulu-NaTal, a document of a live show from 1994 released as an LP, and Anenzephalia's Funkspiele, originally released as a CDr but redone as a vinyl LP in October 2013.

The newest batch of Archaic Documents is an LP of live Anenzephalia recordings and also a 10" vinyl reissue of Prurient's Despiritualized. Tomorrow's release of the day is going to be the Anenzephalia record, but today we're going to focus on Despiritualized.

Despiritualized originally came out in an edition of 110 on Hospital as a double cassette in October of 2011, and has been out of print pretty much since then. Some of it is on YouTube, but the whole EP is also streaming on Spotify, as is a lot of Dom's output. The 10" release that Tesco just did, however, is really something special. I mean, it just looks fucking great. Heavy stock packaging to ensure a healthy life on the shelf, and a properly weighted vinyl pressing to make for a full-sounding listen.

The music itself hinges somewhere between noise, power electronics, and dark ambient music. There's less of a crunch here than on an earlier record like History of Aids, but it doesn't share any of the techno-influence that a record like Through the Window has. There are moments of harshness cast throughout the record and a vocal performance that wavers between a militant roar and an elegiac coo is dotted here and there, though the mood of the record is the obvious star.

Definitely worth picking up and should be done soon, as these things never stay in stock for long.