Faderhead, Velvet Acid Christ and Psyclon Nine form supergroup

The creative minds behind three of the scene’s best known EBM / industrial / aggrotech bands have joined forces and formed an “industrial supergroup” said to be of a scale likely to rival Bruderschaft.

M.I.A. (Misunderstood Industrial Artists) is the name of the new project headed by Sami Mark Yahya, Bryan Erickson and Nero Bellum, better known as the creative forces behind Faderhead, Velvet Acid Christ and Psyclon Nine respectively. In a recent joint statement announcing the group’s imminent debut album, Misunderstood…, the trio said they formed the electro supergroup in an effort clarify the many misunderstandings that had befallen them in recent years.

Says Yahya: “I was just hangin’ in a club, you know, after the show. I had a glass in one hand and a pen in the other so I could sign autographs. The problem is, I don’t have any more free hands. Sometimes I swap the pen in my autograph-signing hand for my phone, but that still doesn’t leave me with enough free hands.

“There were all these people giving me their CD or asking me about the software I use to make music, and of course I couldn’t respond properly since I didn’t have any free hands! I think some of the fans got a bit upset by that, but in reality it was all a misunderstanding. It’s like when people poke my shoulder. I hate that. I’ve got a bad tendon from holding a pen or a phone in my hand all the time, and people just don't realise that.

“That’s when it hit me: surely I can’t be the only misunderstood industrial artist? Then I thought of Bryan Erickson from Velvet Acid Christ and that Nero dude from Psyclon Nine. I bet they’ve had similar experiences.

The artwork for the new industrial supergroup's debut album.

Erickson takes up the slack: “I was apprehensive at first but after the call from Fadey the idea really grew on me. I told him how my heart ached because I truly understood how he felt, and maybe we could collaborate on something together? Next thing you know, we’ve got that Nero guy on the phone, and before you know it we’re in the studio, talking about and expressing our feelings, and recording an album together.

Bellum continues: “Yeah, I’ve had my share of misunderstandings, just like Bryan and Fadey. The “Ubermensch” tattoo on my chest is a perfect example. I asked the tattooist to write “Tumor Wrench” on my chest in those big black letters but he got it all wrong, so that’s how I ended up with this tattoo instead.”

Erickson concludes: “I think Misunderstood… will be a great album. We’ve got a tour planned as well and I’m really looking forward to leaving my mother’s basement. It’ll be awesome. Well, as long as I don’t have to play to crowds of, like, 50 people.”

M.I.A. – Misunderstood... is out now.

Note: Yes, it's satirical.

Nattefrost: Blood & Vomit to have “Urine” anniversary reissue

Kvlt Norwegian black metaller Nattefrost has announced a special nine-year anniversary re-issue of his infamous debut album: Blood & Vomit.

Released in early 2004, Blood & Vomit was the first solo release by Roger Nattefrost, better known as the dude from Carpathian Forest. A filthy, crusty, stripped down black metal album without any guitar solos or melancholic synth hooks, the album is infamous for its raw recordings of lead-singer Roger Nattefrost’s bodily functions. These appear on the tracks The Art of Spiritual Purification – in which he records himself vomiting – and Nattefrost Takes a Piss (no explanation needed – but seriously, look it up).

Contrary to popular belief, Nattefrost’s performance on The Art of Spiritual Purification was not recorded immediately after hearing the first Evanescence album.

Blood & Vomit. He also plays in Carpathian Forest.

As mentioned, Nattefrost: Blood & Vomit will be re-released as a special commemorative “Blood & Urine” edition that includes a bonus disc of studio outtakes. It will feature the following previously unreleased tracks:

1 Nattefrost takes a piss (remastered)

2 Nattefrost takes a dump

3 Nattefrost has Mexican for dinner

4 Nattefrost destroys a dozen bottles of Grolsch

5 Nattefrost passes out

5 Nattefrost wakes up with an upset stomach

6 Nattefrost runs to the toilet

7 Nattefrost sits on the toilet

8 Nattefrost spends longer than usual on the toilet

9 Nattefrost is still on the toilet

10 Nattefrost is scared to leave the toilet

11 Nattefrost is almost confident that it’s safe to leave the toilet

12 Nattefrost breathes a sigh of relief and is back on the couch

13 Nope, he’s back on the toilet

14 Nattefrost curses God

Said Roger Nattefrost about the new special Blood & Vomit re-issue: “To commemorate the ninth anniversary of the album, the special edition of Blood & Vomit will feature a bonus disc containing unreleased studio out-takes, as well as some of my intestinal outtakes,” he croaked.

“The bonus disc will be strictly limited to 666 copies, with each disc containing a bonus vial of my very own contagious urine.

“How much of myself will I be putting into this re-release? Put it this way: if you were to stand in front a burning church, it would  be enough to extinguish the raging flames. In short, you get a lot of me with every pissing, sorry, I mean pressing.

“Unfortunately, the process is going much slower than expected. I’m drinking like a dozen bottles of Grolsch beer every day but I've only managed to fill 60 vials so far. There are another 606 to go, so it may be the end of the year before all the anniversary edition albums of Blood & Vomit are ready for the fans.”

A delayed album? That is a shame.

Black metal fans will just have to… hold on.

Note: In case you hadn't worked it out, this is a piece of satire.

David Thrussell: Black Lung, a new Snog album and Babes In Consumerland transgender artwork

This post is about D. Thrussell of Snog / Black Lung fame, the new Snog album: Babes In Consumerland, and the new album's cover artwork...

I consider myself very fortunate to have caught various gigs over the last decade or so that have in one way or another been linked to Snog front-person Dee Thrussell.

The fact that I live in Melbourne certainly made it easy, what with it being the capital of Snog’s home state of Victoria. I will confess that I didn’t pay much attention on the very first occasion that I caught them live — it was almost the first time I’d been in a club and I barely knew my arse from my elbow, let alone good music — but otherwise, seeing the word “Snog” on a flyer was always more than enough incentive to leave the house.

The mind of Thrussell (and Thrussell’s co-conspirators) is a fertile one that in over 20 years has been responsible for almost two dozen full-length albums, plus dozens of EPs and singles across a mind-boggling array of mostly (but not always) electronic projects. The best known are obviously Snog, along with Soma and Black Lung, but there are a plethora of others.

And yet, despite the benefit of geographic proximity, until a few months ago I’d never managed to catch Thrussell at a non-Snog gig. That changed when I finally got to catch Black Lung along with Forces and headliner Atom™ at a small gig in inner city Melbourne.

So this is how I found myself talking to Thrussell — and despite it being a Black Lung event I couldn’t resist asking about the then-upcoming new Snog album, Babes In Consumerland.

 Dee Thrussell, as shown on the cover of the new Snog album Babes In Consumerland.

 EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG

Pick up a copy of Babes In Consumerland and you’ll probably do a double-take when you see the cover artwork.

Yes, that image. It depicts Thrussell — Dee Thrussell.

“What you see on the cover of Babes In Consumerland, all this time, that’s actually been a part of me,” says Thrussell.

“Through Black Lung and Snog I’ve ended up doing things over the years that, let’s be frank here, just wouldn’t be considered normal. For example, I was commissioned by the US government to create a soundtrack for DARPA back in 2008 and 2009 for the recording of the Black Lung album Full Spectrum Dominance. That is, the US military. That’s not something that happens every day. I have to say I’ve never actively gone out of my way to go there but as I’ve said many times over the years how, I’ve been contacted by people in the most unexpected of places. There are people who listen to this music in government, on oil rigs, in prison, even in the military. There’s even a monastery somewhere in NSW I believe where they play this music. The truth is, I look back at all those crazy moments, and revisiting it all again I see myself subconsciously trying to find myself.”

Thrussell is indirectly referring to the new album cover. His record label put it as follows: “Though not mentioned explicitly lyrically, band mastermind Dee Thrussell’s long journey as a transgender woman informs every musical gesture and plaintive lyric.”

Babes In Consumerland takes on some confronting themes not usually found in industrial music.

According to Thrussell, this is the key to understanding the new Snog album. On one hand, it touches on so many of the staples that you would find on previous Snog albums. Consumerism. Oppression. Rebellion. Conspiracy theories. Anti-capitalism. Fighting the system. Culture-jamming… they’re all there, as they have been for more than 20 years. But questions and themes of gender have always been absent. At least in the lyrics anyway.

“Retrospectively, knowing what I know now, you might say I was somewhat lost. All that subconscious anger came out as bad feelings. The lyrics to Hey Christian God and Born To Be Mild, for example, and all the cynicism and sarcasm. That was all an outlet.

So I’m glad I’ve finally been able to take a big step and get closer to it all, even if I’m not yet ready to explore these deeply personal ideas in a lyrical form.”

Babes In Consumerland is out now.

Note: yes, this piece is satirical.