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.

Late 2023 - New Releases!

New releases now available.

(sic 138) Scum ‘Exploitation des machines a habiter’ 12” + CD

The first full-length LP from Sou Inomoto’s Scum is a career highlight, a focused and highly detailed work of extreme electronics tension and layered dynamic uncomfortability. ‘Exploitation des machines a habiter’ is two lengthy tracks: the first a tunnelled exorcism of straining drones and sympathetic textures which peaks into noise saturation; the second a longer catharsis of high energy cut-up, loops and vortexed fragments taking form from divergent base elements.

The initial master was considered too harrowing for the cutting engineer, so a new vinyl master was prepared – with the original CD master included here as an additional CD. Inspired artwork from Francoise Duvivier and liner notes from Eric Wood (Bastard Noise) complete this milestone release which is here at long last! Edition of 180 copies.

(sic 143) Evil Moisture & Vanity Productions 'Sex Sells' C-21

In the early sweat of the 2020 pandemic, ‘Sex Sells’ quickly emerged and dissipated as an online release: a remnant of grimy physicality and grinding interaction which was thrust aside as the world retreated. ‘Sex Sells’ is driven by Andy Bolus’ mangled tape mutations, made all the more vivid by Christian Stadsgaard’s sharper electronics counterpoints. Disappointment, tease, degradation and release all find obscured voice in the exchange of ‘Sex Sells’, the first but hopefully not the last manifestation of these two’s late night explorations.

The cassette is packaged an oversized card sleeve, each of which has been uniquely collage with torn magazine advertisements and then obscured by layers of paint, glaze and iron-aluminium granules. These things took forever to assemble.  A handful of copies made their way to the USA for Andy’s summer shows, and now the rest of the world gets to play catch up.  Limited edition of 75 copies.

(sic 149) Rusalka & Primitive Isolation Tactics split C-60

Split cassette from two of my favourite Canadians.  I had ten minutes of Rusalka material originally intended for another release, which I couldn’t let go to waste. Thankfully Kate was able to supplement her studio recording of heavy saturation with a stunning live track of slow-motion subtlety and long-form dynamic which opens into a heady pressurisation of high end magnetism

The flip side is five tracks of virile free-form noise from Taylor Geddes, ranging Primitive Isolation Tactic’s strengths from low-end grunt to charged variations and lulls of rippling respite. The cassette is packaged in densely collaged exterior artwork by Frédérick Maheux and inner photography by Kate, all housed in an oversized ziplock bag. Edition of 70 copies.

(sic 156) Endprojekt ‘Distraktion/Despair’ C-21

New recordings from this incredible trio of Dominic Guerin (Tone Generator, SPK, Last Dominion Lost), Hirofumi Uchino (Defektro), Steve Spectre (Fraughman). ‘Distraktion’ ascends through carefully developed synth layers, initial ambience giving way to a more painful atmospheric assault as solar winds penetrate deeper than their tangibility suggests. B side ‘Despair’ hangs disconcerting curtainry back on earth, adding sombre vocal layers which fall from an unsettling atonal fog to hint at Coil’s explorations into purer ambience.

Initial copies of ‘Distraktion/Despair’ were made available at the seminal ‘InnerWest Noise Fest 2’ in July 2023, and remaining copies are now cast into the wider world. These recordings truly benefit from the higher fidelity tapes I insist on using, and with this release I’m confident listeners will hear why. Artwork by Hirofumi, edition of 75 copies.

(sic 165) No Guard C-27

No Guard’s self-titled release is intended to surpass the project’s demo recordings as its first release proper, an opening statement and tunnelling of intent. The cassette’s five tracks utilise modular synthesis, samples and voice to create unique and highly evocative power electronics nocturnes which draw in atmospheric noise, Anenzephalia-esque synth bleakness, ravaged vocal blisters and tonal despondency. “Clear proof of what can be achieved when taking care and time with regard to composition and recording” – Noise Receptor Issue No 11.

Edition of 50 copies, black tapes and artwork in a Norelco case. Mastered by Thomas Garrison. I am so pleased to be releasing Tom’s recordings, and am confident this cassette is a modern genre highlight – don’t come crying when these are sold out.

(sic 169) Lucas ‘Granpa’ Abela ‘Squirrels On Fire’ C-18

When our outdoor table broke last year and shattered glass everywhere, I thought of Lucas Abela: the flagbearer of Australia’s noise community, and properly recognised through this world and others for his work in playing and breaking glass while abusing its sonic capabilities through a variety of processes over his decades’ 12” + CD of sound exploration.

‘Squirrels On Fire’ is glass allowed to stress, moan and creak as Lucas’ modular synth setup takes its whimpers and amplifies them into exaggerated electronics gestures. The tape was intended to inject some funds into Lucas’ 2023 USA tour which unfortunately was cancelled/downsized. Nonetheless these tapes exist in an edition of 50 copies with two different cover prints, although I have very few available.  Mastered by Grant Richardson, packaged in drawstring bags with artwork from Lucas’ son and shards of the glass table which instigated this release to begin with.

Spiteful Womb 'Interior Castle' LP out now!

I am very pleased to announce the release of the debut LP of Nora Zimmerman’s project Spiteful Womb. ‘Interior Castle’ coalesces so many of the elements which have coursed through Nora’s near-decade of cassette and CDR releases, combining sombre dark ambient, fetid power electronics, captured sound elements and hints of melodic dissatisfaction into a architected sequence of carefully layered and viscerally powerful compositions.

Anyone familiar with Nora’s earlier works will appreciate the care and distinctiveness with which she composes, and ‘Interior Castle’ finds common (burial) ground across the range of post-industrial recesses in which Spiteful Womb has dwelled, constructing a sinister sequence of mansion rooms which expose an array of embedded horrors.

“Fourth Mansion” can be previewed now on YouTube or SoundCloud.

‘Interior Castle’ is pressed with full colour covers and multiple inserts, in an edition of 150 copies.  Copies are expected to start landing with a number of international distributors soon; if you want to know whether copies will emerge local to you then please get in contact.  Americans are encouraged to contact Nora for a copy direct, rather than brave international postage costs.

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Illusion Of Safety & Z'ev

Along with a number of other fine labels, I am co-releasing the Illusion Of Safety & Z'ev LP.  The official release date is this coming Friday, 2 December 2022; my copies are in hand and shipping to arrive on, about or after Friday depending upon where you live.  I have both black vinyl and clear copies!

Numbers on the previous releases are running low, and the Jonathan Canady cassette has already sold out.  Try Scream & Writhe, Sentimental Youth, Cloister Recordings, Tesco, Freak Animal, White Centipede and Self Abuse Records.

New releases are in the works, with big plans for 2023.

new gear

Sorry, updating this news page escapes me sometimes during the giddy throes of new release day.  New to Cipher:

(sic 125) Scar Crowe 'A Sudden And Unexplained Drop In Temperature' C-20

This subdued alter-ego of Patrick O’Neil (Skin Crime, Hanged Man’s Orgasm) finds terror in nature: the blackness of night, the wetness of soil, the chill of snow. ‘A Sudden And Unexplained Drop In Temperature’ traces the fine details of found sound and palpitating ambient through scenes of delayed decay and posed hillside victims.

Painted and printed wood covers tied to a cassette and booklet with printed hessian. Edition of 75 copies.

(sic 131) V/A 'Transgressive Collective IV' CD / C-40

Retrieved from the vaults of Reverse Records, ‘Transgressive Collective IV’ is the culmination of enquiries into the irreverent, unforgiving, callous and violent. Sharing only a broad theme, each of Sutcliffe Jügend, Satori, Isomer, Streicher, Inhibition, Dry Greed, S.T.A.B. Electronics and Stark contribute a track of their finest contemporary work, as well as a page of A5 art. Stan Reed (Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Dried Up Corpse) then added a detailed piece of collage art for the cover.

The result is a 12 page booklet paired with eight tracks on either CD or cassette (same content on each), with 100 on each audio format. A highpoint of modern audio primitivism and exploratory arts.

(sic 133) Kadaver 'My Hell Is Above' C-42

Another set of fire and brimstone from the never disappointing Kadaver. Armed with an arsenal of hellfire and militaria, Michael Zolotov advances another unforgiving barrage of maelstromic harsh noise. Includes an appearance from Murderous Vision’s Stephen Petrus on one track.

Pink chrome tapes packaged in a ziplock bag, with collage art by Ben Schmidt (Cursed Earth tapes, Bespoke Decay, etc.). Edition of 75 copies.

(sic 140) Theologian 'People Are Weak They Deserve Pain' C-40

The successor to 2018’s ‘Reconcile’ cassette on Cloister Recordings, ‘People Are Weak They Deserve Pain’ finds Theologian bracing for the imminent end of human civilisation.

As each day greets us with more news of impending annihilation, we feel fortunate to live lives of relative privilege, casting our opinions on the scales via social media as though they actually carried weight. The deities man looks to for his solace have all been revealed as sham; whether it be money, power, sex, or the voluntary stupidity of religious “faith,” avarice and cruelty have proven to be the truths which guide our society. No more hiding behind ideologies. As Cronus castrated his father Uranus to depose a corrupt power, it is left to the masses, drunk on their conveniences, to rise up. Yet… we won’t. Not here… Not in America. Lee Bartow is weighed down by a paralysis which stems from the fear that there’s no way to undo what we’ve done. All that is left, is for our society to be swept away by the winds of history.

Theologian performance at the Dominion Of Flesh USA festival presented by Cloister Recordings and Fringe Records NYC, features slightly different mixes than the original digital EP, and was mastered by J Stillings at Steelhook Mastering. Insert, sticker and labelled tape in a foil bag. Edition of 80

(sic 141) Cryptophasia 'End' 7"

The final breaths of Cryptophasia, four tracks of curdled electronics swipes, emphysemic ambient smog and faint machinery heartbeats, which seem to draw in dust and decay as the needle hits the groove. Even against a background of ashen monotone, Cryptophasia turns pallid and fades to grey: this time for the last time, as ‘End’ winds the project back through the cemetery gate at which it started.

Lathe-cut 7” with centre labels and foldout cover designed by James Keeler (Wilt). Edition of 40 copies.

(sic 142) Living Room 'The Cipher Tape' C-30

Within the Living Room vista Matthew promised me something “extra fucked” for ‘The Cipher Tape’, and he delivered. Mangled noisecore, electroacoustic mangling, ghastly electronics, and uncomfortable tape fragments all careen through a constantly unsettled upset of brave edits and unintended consequences. It’s cut-up, Jim, but not as we know it.

A5 wraparound covers with collage artwork from Matthew Reis, labelled cassettes. Edition of 60 copies.

(sic 145) Swollen Organs 'Obesity Indoctrination' C-31

After superb releases on labels of note including Breathing Problem, Nil By Mouth and Deathbed Tapes amongst others, I had to persuade Jimmy Aly to record some material for Cipher. Swollen Organs has unleashed some of the most personally punishing and plaintively primitive of modern American power electronics, capturing the genre’s distended core and wrapping it in a complex veil of guilt, paraphilia, resentment and challenge.

‘Obesity Indoctrination’ engages those obstacles anew through five tracks barely contained by analogue 31 minutes of tape, wrapped in a suitably sweaty and bloated wraparound cover and packaged with a body fat caliper: join in the dismal realisation. Edition of 75 copies.

(sic 152) Jonathan Canady 'Empty Box' C-62

‘Empty Box’ is over an hour of psychologically intense heavy electronics, individually dubbed on chrome cassettes, and limited to 57 copies. Each tape is housed in a 5″ box that also contains liner notes, and one of Jonathan’s original drawings from the “Empty Faces” series that is featured on this release. 57 drawings were individually ripped up and put into envelopes for every copy. The artwork can be reassembled and framed if you like.

new releases on new year's eve eve

 New releases available today:

(sic 144) Dead Boomers 'Aspen Liberals' CD

The Dead Boomers team of Leith Thomas and Mark Groves spent much of the early '10s honing their incisive power electronics live set, while recording a series of penetrating and perceptive releases for a number of Australian labels (including yours truly) and some further ashore.

The duo may have called it a day, but couldn't stand by without setting their sights on the political and social short-sightedness which the 2021 pandemic produced. Cue 'Aspen Liberals', an April 2020 radio broadcast piece of cruel noise, found sound memories, petri dish electronics creations and narrowed vocal delivery which places Dead Boomers' long-targeted upper class elite at the centre of the pandemic's spread.

This CD adds a number of tracks written and recorded between 2015 and 2020, some previously released in now lost editions, and others breaking to the surface for first time. While we still sweat at home under our masks, Dead Boomers remind us through 'Aspen Liberals' that the underground will always find a way - and hopefully bring down the elite in doing so.

Edition of 200 copies, digipack with an 8 page booklet, all designed by Mark Groves.

(sic 129) Savage Gospel 'Horrors Of Nature' CD

Sometimes nothing less than pure harsh bliss will satiate those needs, and Savage Gospel's unapologetic radiance of electronics fury is intended for just that. Incapacitants and Testicle Hazard fans can rejoice that another duo, Haare's Ilkka Vekka and Avarus' Janne Laurila has joined those elite pairs who are fighting their way to the sun and shedding ultraviolet furiousness on their way. 'Horrors Of Nature' is microcosm blown to macrocosm, energy focused as sound - and mastered for ultimate ear penetration by the unmatched Grant Richardson.

Jewel case edition of 200 copies.

(sic 121) NoDolby 'Exhaustion/Consumption' C-23

Earthen drone and slow electronics machinations from this careful Italian soundcraftsman. 'Exhaustion/Consumption' rises into tempest from humble beginnings, crafted from both tangible and ethereal but all coursing through its creator.

Edition of 50 copies, collage artwork by the fantastic Paul van Trigt adorning a metal tin, the tape wrapped in tissue paper.

(sic 139) Circuit Wound 'Involuntary Ruination' C-60

Oh this is fun. Two Circuit Wound live sets captured in all their room-shaking glory, pure punishing electronics with full room ambience. Jay Howard has been terrorising the surrounds of Los Angeles for over 20 years, and 'Involuntary Ruination' is the outcome should you meet up one late night.

Stickered silver tapes with an oversized cover and show flyers, all sealed up in a vellum envelope. Edition of 50 copies.

(sic 134) L.A.C.H. 'II' C-30

Lorenzo Abattoir and Clive Henry unravel remnants found in late night factory foraging, natural and unnatural sounds emerging from a cautious clamour which finds some resonance comparable to The New Blockaders' calmative moments, Lethe, or Giancarlo Toniutti.

Edition of 50 copies, cassette and collage artwork bagged up and tied to wood which has then been branded with discarded industry and coated in coloured latex.

(sic 137) Encephalic Death 'Relentless' C-21

The first release from this assured project hailing from Bangalore, India. Sickly death industrial atmospheres, prickling noise suffocation, unsettling samples, and the occasional funereal pulse, acknowledging the Slaughter Productions originators while forging its own way.

Edition of 75 copies, stickered resealable foil bag with insert. My own small tribute to Marco Corbelli's simple but unsettlingly effective presentation.

The webstore has been updated, including with a slew of titles discovered during a cleanout of the shelves.  More new titles are coming sooner than my usual pace: tapes from Scar Crowe, Kadaver and Living Room are already dubbed, there's a Cryptophasia lathe-cut 7" just back from the cutter, and the 'Transgressive Collective IV' CD is almost - finally - done, amongst others.

 Well shit I completely forgot to update this news page with June's new releases:

(sic 117) Knurl 'Lacerization' 12"

(sic 126) Soleil Satan Les Couronnes De L'Aube CD

(sic 132) God Is War Cosmic Camouflage C-30

(sic 135) Gruntsplatter & Wilt 'The Trough Of Armageddon' 2xCD and 'Poisoned Sleep/Broken' special edition C-20

Copies of all releases, including the final few of both Knurl and the special edition of the Gruntsplatter/Wilt collaboration, are still at the webstore.