new releases!

(sic 128) Hanzo Hasashi The Ceremony CD

The quality of Hanzo Hasashi’s discography is evident to all those who have waded into it, and it’s gratifying to finally bring ‘The Ceremony’ to Cipher Productions. Constructed with care and a unique sense of auditory space, ‘The Ceremony’ churns fragments of snatched sound and treated noise molecules into uncomfortable, and unstable and disrupted loops – to then weave and layer those lines into the project’s typically dynamic compositions. A study of beauty in disruption, of stability in impermanence.

Mastered by Grant Richardson, art by HH. Jewel case, pro-pressed CD in an edition of only 100 copies.

(sic 153) Caligula031 & Taeter Escalation CD

Seedy, disgusting Italian power electronics filled to the brim with diegeses of abuse, public humiliation, drugs, flesh wallets, compulsive masturbation, self deprecation, decay and spite. Road to ruin, total fucking annihilation. Caligula031 and Taeter share vocals and sound duties.

Co-release between Turgid Animal and Cipher Productions, digipack CD, 300 copies, art by Nicola Vinciguerra/Tisbor. The first 20 or so direct orders come with an additional ‘zine created by Nicola. You’ll want to wash yourself after this one.

(sic 155) Wash Your Brains 1977 - 1987 CD

Wash Your Brains ‘1977 – 1987’ is a collection of the project’s earliest 2 or 4 track cassette recordings made with membranes removed from public telephones, cheapest lo-fi pickups mounted on window glass, elementary school flutes, rental violins, old office chairs, mechanically manipulated speakers, broken turntables and cassette recorders or simple tone oscillators.

De-/composed through rudimentary cut-up techniques and with an archaic but exploratory sense of new music, this bruit-collection documents Rudolf Eb.er’s early and unique approach to sound art. Pre-Schimpfluch cassette recordings found in the long lost Swiss archives. Collected, selected and compiled by Rudolf Eb.er at Om Kult Osaka, Japan, 2022.

CD mastering by Grant Richardson.  Jewel case CD with art and liner notes by Rudolf, edition of 300 copies.

(sic 161) Fleshcarver Devourer Of The Negative Ecstasy C-30

If you’re not listening to Fleshcarver, then you’re not listening to the nastiest and most savage project of Chester Masangya: the force behind White Widow, Fossa Magna, Jaw Surgery and more. Fleshcarver masticates sinews of raw black metal and formative power electronics, spitting out a blood-soaked genre saturation topped with ghastly vocals. This may be the most satisfyingly nasty release I’ve disseminated on tape, yet.

Edition of 70 copies in an oversized ziplock bag with artwork by Paul van Trigt.

(sic 163) Impur Cançó d'Amor i Venjança one-sided C-54

Impur return with a single track of unapologetic tumult; a Caligula-ic morass of noise revelry which balances sonic detail with proud unrestraint.  ‘Cançó d'Amor i Venjança’ is the duo’s third release in three years, after visiting their sonic abuse on Rural Isolation Project and Marbre Negre in the previous ‘20s, and ups the ante yet again.  Mastered by Grant Richardson to ensure the capture of every last drop.

40 copies in a standard cassette case, 10 copies only in special packaging made from industrial waste, corflute and wire.

(sic 164) Absolute Key Corridors C-38

Emerging from an impressive roster of underground projects – including personal favourite Circle Of Ouroborus – Antti Klemi continues to expand possibilities and find new pathways of experimental noise in the restless, exploratory possibilities of Absolute Key. In Absolute Key, Antti finds resolution and beauty in crude electronics, found sound and decrepit machinery, and ‘Corridors’ is the project at its contemplative, resonant best.

‘Corridors’ is available in an edition of 75 copies, with oversized artwork in a ziplock bag with a banderole.

(sic 168) Michael Ellingford Night Musick C-30

When Michael Ellingford asks you to listen to his first recorded noise work in over half a decade, there’s only one answer. ‘Night Musik’ is an immediate return to Mike’s immense skill as a crafter and composer of sound which those familiar with his previous work (including as Deafault and The Nikita Division) will recognise, but fitted with a darker lens shaded by hints of death industrial and Arctic minimalism.

This cassette was originally released for a handful of shows in Japan, and the remaining copies are now rightfully disseminated further. Edition of 50 copies, artwork by Kiki Thanou.

I have also published a second edition of the Embrace Dekay/Contravention split cassette, mostly in brown covers.  There is also another run of the special edition packaging.

new release day!

Six new releases and a very healthy distribution/webstore update. 

(sic 146) Mlehst 'Hollow Laughter/Beatrix' 2xC-40

I am very pleased to have All Brentnall provide some new material for Cipher Productions. ‘Hollow Laughter/Beatrix’ is an exposition of confusing loops, jarring edits, extended treatments and unpredictable electronics, coated across four cassette sides of this double C-40 set. Words rarely do Mlehst’s work justice; this double cassette doesn’t suffer from the inexplicable, it revels in it.

Standard edition of 45 copies in a foldover A5 cover and ziplock bag.  Special packaging edition of 20 copies. Horse masks, fabric and faux horse hair stitched together into a 'Franken-horse' layer of unwell, and then stuck to a 5" reel box.

(sic 148) Embrace Dekay & Contravention C-20

Two additional sides to the death industrial skillset of James Light. Embrace Dekay captures passages of electronic voice phenomenon only to mangle them through strained cassette manipulation, the unstable capture then surrounded by haunted ambient tones, samples, staccato acoustic elements and dusty spoken word. Contravention is an off-shoot project of Agonal Lust, stripped of its outward aggression but writhing in its shackles as blistering vocal effects, semi-tonal disintegration, drum machine malaise  and pallid electronics all form a necrotic congeal.

The projects are split across a 20 minute cassette. Standard edition in a Norelco case, 40 copies.  Special packaging edition limited to 10 copies.  Cassette comes in a leather pouch with scalpel, bandage and tincture.

(sic 154) Circle Of Shit 'The Counts Of Intention' C-30

‘The Counts Of Intention’ is Circle Of Shit without restraint, ripping distortion passages dominating the cassette’s 30 minutes with only traces of religious samples and vocals surviving the audio mulcher. Fervent in its goal of destroying all in its way – be that human banality or theological underpinnings – ‘The Counts Of Intention’ is an aggressor highpoint of Santieri’s discography to date.

Edition of 50 copies, painted and labelled tapes, Norelco case.

(sic 157) Citalopram Shunyata 'Pudenda In Peril' C-30

Surveying Euro-sleaze via viscous and unsettling noise, Citaloprama Shunyata draws from choice elements of the extreme electronics underground, using those to capture a unique vision which is both bristling with wayward energy and focused in execution. ‘Pundata In Peril’ is in homage to actress Ajita Wilson and in particular her renowned performance in Jess Franco’s ‘Sadomania’.

Painted and labelled cassette in foldover neon pink A5 cover and ziplock bag.  Edition of 75 copies.

(sic 158) Leslie Keffer & Last Action C-21

Split cassette of gorgeous electronics glare and drift from Leslie Keffer, and the sound of warring dysfunctional counting machines from Last Action.  Two vastly different visions of dystopia, paired on either side of a cassette.

Labelled tape in a ziplock bag, full colour artwork. Edition of 47 copies.

(sic 167) Sissy Spacek 'Antitheater' CD

Sissy Spacek expands its Antipodean discography with ‘Antitheater’, recorded over two weeks in December 2021 and then put under the Wiese microscope and scalpel in 2023. Blown-out grindcore and frayed improvisations are crisped with distortion until their original forms distend and melt, chunks of noise-soaked saturations then cut into a series of short-form grotesqueries – each allocated its own CD track. Play it in sequence, or play it on random for a new listening experience each play.

CD pressing of 300 copies. Twelve page booklet with extended artwork from John and a detailed Sissy Spacek discography. If you are in the USA or USA adjacent, please get your copy direct from John – he has plenty of copies and postage will be much cheaper.