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Dark Lights is an angularly wavering mix of orchestral music, modular synth, 808 beat-craft, with a general warped/ skewed feel. This is a CD release on Nonclassical, from early this year.
Descendants: Music for Four Pipe Organs in One Space serves up a single fifty-minute piece based around gradually shifting resonances. It wonderfully moves from the bright & rising to the shrill & lightly searing, though to more droningly pressing, at points, angularly unbalancing fare.
In recent years, interest in Japanese horror cinema has grown in leaps and bounds, not just in the late-90s ghost sub-genre of J-horror, with notable titles such as Ringu and The Grudge. Here is a wonderful, colourful and highly informed book that examines the whole of the Japanese horror genre from the late 1930s to the present day. It’s penned by Tom Mes, one of the key writers and experts on Japanese cult film in general.
A certain temperament is all that separates a truly compelling ambient work from one that is anything but. There is no formula, sadly; you know it once you’ve found it. Maintaining a particular mood over the course of an album is even more remarkable when the work in question is the result of pieces sent between collaborators, with little physical time spent with one another in the studio.
Here’s a double-headed Blu-ray release bringing together two weird, wacky, at times troubling, and difficult-to-genre-label films from Japan. Both films are from the early 2000’s, were first released by Omega Pictures (Audition, Love Exposure), were produced by Takashige Ichise (Juon, Dark Water), written by Hiroshi Takahashi (The Ring series) and directed by Hirohisa Sasaki. This recent Third Widow release includes a commentary track and a mix of new/ archive extras
Devil Times Two purports to be a lost/ cursed film from the 1970’s. It’s an Italian affair set in a run-down/ derelict convent and its surrounding autumnal countryside, where two mysterious/ ghostly women keep attacking people, getting closer & closer to the convent to open the gates of hell. The film blends moments of decent eeriness, nudity, and bloody gore with long blocks of rather tiresome dialogue. Here from SRS Cinema as either a Blu-ray or DVD, with just behind-the-scenes footage/ trailer for extras.
From the mid-1970s, Futureworld was the sequel to one of the key sci-fi/ action films of the decade, Westworld. It’s set two years after the first film, where the park has reopened, and thinking-on-his-feet newspaper journalist ( Peter Fonda) and popular TV anchorwoman (Blythe Danner) are seemingly given no bars held access to the back & front of the park. The film is largely a conspiratorial / investigation thriller, with touches of sci-fi, light comedy, and action, but it has an intriguing/ eventful unfold.
Ice Cream Man is the 10th feature film from Boston-born writer-director Eli Roth, who is one of the more notable/ known horror directors of the 2000s’. The US small-town-set film blends horror, comedy, and kids trying to save the day adventure- with side roads in splatter gore, wonky childhood unease, and eerier monochrome cartoon disquiet. Here from StudioCanal is a Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a directors/ writers comentory track and a few other extras
The Mothman Prophecies is one key, wholly compelling, at points downright chilling supernatural thrillers of the 2000s. It tells of a grief-stricken reporter (Richard Gere) getting tangled up in the mysteries of a small Virginia town- where people are reporting premonitions, having encounters with red eyed/ eight foot cyprids, and getting phone calls from nonhuman entities. The film is a steady ‘n’ slow-burning affair heavy with a constant prevailing air of mystery and dread, with nerve-jangling moments of fearful reveal & out ‘n’ out terror. Here from 88 Films- as either a UHD or Blu-ray- is a much-needed new release of this creepy & unsettling classic. It features a new and classy 4k scan, two new commentary tracks, a new feature-length documentary, and a good selection of new/ archive extras.
Concept albums are a dime a dozen in the prog world, and until the past few years, very sparse in the death metal morgues (save for Deceased's output, where concept is their stock in trade). Cartilage throws their hat into the thematic ring with Operating Altar, a work about a medical student uncovering the wicked and depraved experimentation of surgeon Dr. Warwick Locke. A dream job turned waking nightmare set to fun, fast-paced, and shredding death metal, Operating Altar spins its yarn while capturing the horror and, dare I say, whimsy of acts like Macabre and Exhumed.
Here we have Maca Conu, a jazz ensemble headed by Belgian pianist Jonas Cambien, which has existed since 2021 and has released a few other recordings. This latest album, "Popular Misconceptions", has come out on Sonic Transmissions, and is thirty-six minutes long, with seven songs two to six minutes in length. The instrumentation is classic acoustic jazz, with saxophone, double bass, drums and piano.
Game Over is an Italian thrash metal band formed in 2008. Crimes Against Reality is the band’s third full-length album, originally released in 2016; the copy that I am listening to for the purpose of this review is the new 2026 remaster. The band as featured on this album includes Luc “Ziro” Zironi on guitar, Anthony “vender” Dantone on drums, Renato “Reno” Chiccoli on bass and vocals and Alessandro “Sanso” Sansone on guitar. Reno and Sanso have since left the band.
American Driller Killer is a low-budget blend gory killings, a quipping/ talking to himself killer, and dark/ mischievous sense of humour. I guess you’d say it’s a mix/ tribute to the original Driller Killer & Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer- but with a more knowing/ postmodern edge, and sleazy-to- pitch black humour. Here from the fine folks at SRS Cinema is a DVD release of the film, taking in a directors’ commentary track and a few other things.
I’d very much hope if you’re a reader of M[m], you’ll be aware of the name Stephen Thrower- either via his sonic work with the likes of Coil, Cyclobe, & UnicaZürn. Or due to his written work/ extras regard horror/ cult film- where he’s regarded one of the leading/ go to experts. Soundtracks 1970-2014 is a seventeen-track compilation- which highlight his skill in creating both highly atmospherically effective and rewardingly genre varied soundtrack fare.
Where It Starts, Where It Ends is the debut release from this abstract electro jazz duo. The project brings together Arthur Fuss- Modular Synthesizer and Judith Schwarz-Extended Drums. The CD release features six tracks- with runtimes between six and twelve minutes- the album remains taut, tense, and angularly playful throughout.
That Which is Placed Upon the Altar is a two-track journey into improv jazz, which rewardingly shifts from the angular/ wonky, to the moody/ atmospheric with moments of sly melody & ritual unease- fitting nicely the releases title/ artwork.
Remembrance (2026) is a British psychological thriller written and directed by James Denton, co-directed by Richard Oakes (Feed Me, Hosts) and produced by Marc Zammit (Jitters, Witch).
From Eureka Entertainment, Cruel Tales Of The Bohachi is dual UHD/ Blu Ray set, bringing together two blood spurting ‘n’ fleshy samurai films from the mid 70’s- which sit with-in the Pinky violence genre. They are both based on the popular manga by Lone Wolf and Cub creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, and focus on nihilistic/ high amoral ronin in the Edo period. Both pictures are OTT Japanese exploitation films- high with both gory slashings and sleaze- with side roads in torture and rope bondage. Each film recives a new HD scan bold with fleshy & blood red tones. With commentary tracks, and a mix of new & old extras
Magick Mtn. is a 2026 film that is desperately trying to be as mysterious, uneasy, and intriguingly cryptic as possible. But sadly, it largely comes off as badly amateurish, pretentious, and at points an out & out frustrating mess. Filmed in black & white- the film sits somewhere between fantasy and horror with mumblecore dialogue and darting occultic imagery- mixing together three rather vague stories set in Laurel Canyon. Here from Cleopatra Entertainment is a DVD release of the film- taking in a director’s/ actors commentary and a few other things.
German sound artist and producer Thomas Brinkmann pays tribute to his friend and Editions Mego founder Peter Rehberg with his latest, GETGETGET. Originating at the Editions Mego 30th anniversary party, Brinkmann examined silence/space against noise, taking inspiration from Günther Anders' "Negative Music," the work of Heinrich Böll, and, of course, his friend Peter Rehberg. The album that came after is two, side-long tracks of exploration, utilizing the above concepts, Rehberg's "GET" trilogy, and the perspective of silence on the listener. Engaging and more quickly moving than most silence study pieces, GETGETGET is one worth thinking about while interacting and a nice shout out to not only Rehberg's musical work but his commitment to releasing important experimental electronics via Editions Mego.
Ajna:Transmissions is seemingly the 9th release from this Übach Palenberg, Germany two piece project who blend elements of dark ritual sound, ambience, and blacked industrial tone. It’s a CD release- taking in a slowly developing/ shifting thirty eight minute track.
Here’s a wall noise split with a mountain focus bringing together two US projects. We have Everett, Washington’s Lord Cernunnos, and Portland’s Hana Haruna. Both ‘walls’ come in at dead on the twenty three minute mark- the first been billowing, grinding & droning, and the second is all hissing ‘n’ churning in its sub-zero attack.
Pete Rose Lavelle is a new US wall project- who seemingly wants to keep it’s self mysterious…as all we know is it’s from America somewhere. Run It Into The Ground is digital release on Cincinnati’s Stemms Audio- taking in a single thirty minute wall.
Here we have an extremely crude & nasty two wall-noise split. It brings together the rather mysterious bURNTSPOOn, and No Fun HNW- one of the projects of South Carolina-based Krys Marshall who has been decidedly active in the US wall scene over the last few years.