Zero Credibility

This weekend still brings new CDs I didn’t expect I’m gonna buy that soon. These two CDs were spotted while ago by me but due to some unknown reasons weren’t obtained. And now the time has come:
Henrik Nordvargr Björkk – The dead never sleep. This one was released on Old Europa Café recently. And again, like Awaken CD this is the same quality black ambient. I consider Nordvargr is the best master of the dark ambient these times. He brings so much new to the style you won’t believe. He makes good old Lustmørd sound too oldskool. This CD is very dark, its theme aligned to the dead as you might have guessed from the title. And it works out this title completely. Recommended.
Merzbow vs Nordvargr – Partikel. I was circling around this record for quite some time now. But recently one internet pal gave me mp3s of this one and I was completely hooked. Last two days I listen to this record almost constantly. And at last I’ve got the CD, so I can delete mp3s to hell. This is hi-end mix of the dark ambient and harsh noise. And this is a perfect blend because this record was performed by the masters of their styles. Released on the nice UK Coldspring label. Highly recommended.

Time to buy new music. The first three CDs were obtained on the Therapy Through Violence gig mentioned in the older news.
N|B|K / Natural Obscenity in Sexual Experiments – this is split CD of the russian projects from Kazan. It crushed on my head quite suddenly when the headwoman of N|B|K knocked to my ICQ several days ago. She directed me to her project and label sites, I’ve downloaded sample mp3s and was surprised by the music. She said she’s going to Moscow to that gig and I asked her to get one CD for me. Thus I managed to get one of the last copies of this rather quality project. The music itself is quite various, from the rhythm noise to the power noise. It’s quality, powerful and interesting. Browse N|B|K site to get the idea of how the music sounds there are samples.
Misery – Live 20.05.04. I’ve spotted this CD on the sellpoint in the club and was surprised that my old pal Misery haven’t told me anything about it. Usually he releases extremely small editions of tapes and here we have quality printed CD-R (but still 99 copies edition). Of course I couldn’t resist and got this CD-R from him directly. I always liked Misery, it’s quite proper ritual noise ambient. I’ve been on several of his shows and always was impressed by solid performance and proper atmosphere he creates. I also have almost all of his rare tape releases and I’m proud of it. Unfortunately, he has no site for you to browse.
Control – Affliction. I’ve bought this CD right after the Control finished his set at that gig. As I said I liked his music and didn’t wait long to sacrifice some money for the CD.
And the final CD I’ve bought today is Maurizio Bianchi / Land Use – Psychoneurose CD. My friend Misery recomended it to me today. I went to Manifold Records site, listened to samples, got hooked and bought this record. This is rather deep, noisy and layered dark ambient. The kind I like. By the way, that label pleased me once with the SleepResearch_Facility CDs. I recomend them to anyone who likes proper dark ambient. So that’s it, I’m charged for several days/weeks with some dark atmospheres for my soul :)

Well I’ve just watched the DOOM movie. I liked it actually. It’s ok if you’re a complete gamer, I’d call it a comedy in fact. I had a smile on my face almost all the time. Everything: jokes, environment, monsters, weapons and some details closer to the end (won’t tell because it might spoil it) are pure fun. If you like FPS games, go and see it and have some easy fun. The only thing I’m sorry isn’t there is satanic/hellish stuff. That’d add a bit more fun into the movie, otherwise it turned to be yet another ‘kill the zombie’ hollywood stamp.

Just returned from the power electronics show ‘Therapy Through Violence’. It was quite interesting and featured such projects from the USA as Sickness, Control and Slogun.
Sickness is quite chaotic noise generated by the metal plate that’s in the hands of the Chris Gudro. It was quite eccentric and brutal sound. The performance was rather short, about 15 mins, but that was quite enough to transmit the message.
Next was Control. I liked it more because of its very quality wall of noise and the screaming of Thomas Garrison. He’s by the way is the sound engineer of the Misanthrope Studio. I’ve bought his record there in the club and asked him for the autograph ;)
The next was Slogun. This one was much anticipated by me because I heard some recordings of it and I was interested how it sounds live. Well it sounds powerful. I liked the way how John Balistreri acts on the scene. He behaves quite aggressive and screams right into the faces of the crowd. Also he gives people to scream into his mic. That turns people on. The sound is also very heavy and mind destroying. Quite energetic and unfortunately short performance. I’m glad these mean acts visited Moscow. They spiced up this autumn. Here are a few pics I made there.

Ok, I’ve got the game at last and playing it. Well this is exactly what I expected from it. Fast action, brutal and evil stroggs, proper lighting (more bright and colorful comparing to Doom 3, feel of the war because of the space marines around and all that blasts, etc. Very good, quality and smooth game. Raven did the job right!

Since I’ve returned to playing games I started with the custom D3 levels I wanted to play long ago. The first one is by Zombie: A Place Of Malice. This is a ‘dig site’ type o level. It’s vast and complex. Zombie has made alot of modeling for this one and it’s very quality. Gameplay is smooth but most of all I liked the looks and the fact that this is the site level but not the base one. Highly recommended. Oh and it’s for the ROE mission pack, so you should have it to play this level.
The second level I played is recently released Evacuation Protocol by Guy Burkhart. This one is very big as well but set in the base environment. Still, it’s very quality and balanced level. I recommend this one as well.
Finished Serious Sam 2 first episode. Well this is the same SS game, nothing changed: more crazy horde combats, more silly Sam jokes, ugly models and animation of NPCs, alot of colors and sun and open air. But I still love this game for its brainless action and eye pleasing environments. Gonna finish it :)

At last, the time has come! I’ve upgraded my system after all these years of patient waiting. And this is rather powerful upgrade: I’ve changed motherboard, CPU, videocard, PSU and memory. I’m now proud owner of GF7800GT card with Athlon64 CPU! I tried Doom 3 and it just flies at 1280×768 with high graphic settings! And I can see all these funky effects! Now I’ll be able to play all the modern games without any discomfort and crashes and fps dropdowns :)

I’m visiting alot of cultural events these days. This autumn is quite hot in all aspects. Been on the The Living Jarboe show this friday. I never heard Swans or Jarboe before, but I’ve dowloaded one track to get the idea, liked it and decided to go to the show. It was quite okay one. The music is rather nice hard rock with some gothic touches. The Jarboe herself sang quite well. It was nice experience for me to visit the show of the band I never listened before. People around were happy to hear every song but I was just enjoying my state listening to loud and groovy music. Oh the band has 2 drummers! This is quite peculiar feature. I liked their synchronous play, it added alot of energy to the songs. Overall, I liked the show.
And today I been on the Indie-Vision american film festival. Got to see The Doom Generation. Well this is rather funny movie, it mixes trash horror, wild sex, violence and tender relationships of the lovers. Good one for the underground movie fans.

Tronyn has released impressive Quake Single Player level yesterday. It so vast you’ll need special engine to play it! I liked its colossal scale and the main idea of climbing on the tower in the mountains. Also it has 340 monsters! Bloody horde massacres have place in almost every hall. Go grab it while it’s still hot!

Bought three cds today: first one is Der Blutharsch, this CD is a quite interesting live recording of DB. I’d say it’s the first live of them I’ve ever listened. No electricity there, only usual guitars, harmoniums, percussions and vocals. There are as familiar tracks as the new ones. Loved ones from the ‘Time is thee enemy!’ album. Very peculiar release and must have for the DB fans. Second is Asmus Tietchens’ δ-menge. Well this one is 4th album in the menge bunch, I’ve got all the other and this one is further development of the idea. As expected it’s sterile and pure digital processing by acknowledged master of headphone music. And the third and the most anticipated CD/DVD is the Brighter Death Now – Disobey. This is live dual album of BDN recorded back in 1997(CD) and 2003(DVD) in Rostock, Germany. “Brighter Death Now is a wolf in womens clothing; always on the prowl, never letting go” – as Coldmeat site says. I’m in love with this project since last november when I been on their show here in Moscow. This is extra heavy and brutal industrial with harsh noises and cruel message. This is one of my favorites on the noise/industrial scene.

Oh, and Quake IV have gone gold… this means I’ll have to upgrade my system soon. Damned computer won’t play any modern game properly: everything crashes, especially d3x games… And I’d love to play Serious Sam 2 and Age of Empires III and Dungeon Siege II and… oh well…