Thursday, December 26, 2013

HIATUS

Due to a major computer malfunction, i am currently without the ability to keep the label moving forward.  I don't know when i will be able to resolve this, as the finances for repair are not large.  I will attempt to fill out orders as I can, but any of the "made to order" material (editions of one, any of the releases that include booklets) will have to wait until i have computer access through school; mid January.  I cannot burn, press or ink CDs nor make any music of my own until i have a functioning computer again.  I apologize, and will do my best to get things up and running again as soon as my finances allow.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

CORY STRAND "EVERYTHING LOUDER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE" C60 (VAGARY RECORDS)

My entry in James Killick's rebooted "Infinity Series" is probably one of my favorite things I've recorded lately, a gorgeous expanse of hyperkinetic vaguely melodic ambient noise walls that somehow subvert the form but hold to its tenets as well.  I think of myself primarily as a drone/ambient artist who also swims in the HNW pool, so being invited to contribute to this prestigious series was a huge honour for me, and I hope I've done it justice.  If you've enjoyed my work in the past, you'll love this one (at least I think you will).  Utilizing Meat Loaf's flawless song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" as well as elements from the songs "Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back)" and "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" (a song so awesome and anthemic that I stole the title for this release!) as source material, this tape is shot through with a desperate yearning and a profound sense of want.  It is simply massive!  It will also numb you into submission with its ridiculous repetition, a sort of krautrock destructathon.  I have 2 copies available for sale, and it's already sold out through Vagary.  Don't snooze on it!  $8 ppd. in the United States, $20 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "HALLOWEEN IV: A REINTERPRETATION" 2CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

Just received my artist copies of my latest album for OSP, a rework of Alan Howarth's (sans John Carpenter this time out, though Howarth does utilize the famous Carpenter "Halloween" theme) synthesizer soundtrack to "Halloween IV."  One of the better sequels, and a fine deeply bassy soundtrack as well.  The manipulations here are both HNW and drone themed, with the HNW forms being quite violent and caustic and the drone pieces soaking up the thick dreadmospheres of Howarth's original compositions and spitting them back out as shuddering masses of anxious isolation ambient.  The artwork came out super cool on this one as well!  I have 6 copies available for sale.  $12 ppd. in the United States, $24 rest of world.


ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Saturday, December 7, 2013

NOW AVAILABLE: CORY STRAND "EDITIONS OF ONE" ALBUMS

I have decided to do something special for the AOW devotees during the winter/holiday season.  If you purchase a Cory Strand "Edition Of One" set from the AOW store, I will make a special soundtrack reinterpretation album for you wherein you select the film soundtrack.  It can be anything you like-all i ask is that it not be a soundtrack i've already done or am currently in production on.  A lot of the OST reworks I've done have been commissions or OSTs that people have asked me to do, so I thought this might be a cool idea to try for awhile.  These will be the usual AOW style presentations, with full colour art and DVD cases, and all the quality you've come to expect from the label, but they will be editions of one made especially for their buyers-they will NEVER be released in any larger edition.  More than likely, any reinterpretation I do will be at least 3CDrs in length.
Simply include the soundtrack you'd like me to do in the "Comments" section of your Paypal order.  If you like, you may also indicate which direction you'd enjoy the reinterpretation to lead in: drone or HNW.  If you're open to anything, then i'll just go where the music takes me. Since these are created to order, it might take a couple weeks!  All of these editions, regardless of their actual size, will be a flat rate of $60 (for my time and materials.)
For purposes of clarification, here is a list of OSTs I am currently working on for mass release (meaning these films are not available for the "Editions Of One" treatment):

HALLOWEEN II
HALLOWEEN III
FROM BEYOND
SE7EN
BREAKING BAD
ALL THE HARRY POTTER FILMS
NIGHTBREED

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

OTOMO HAVA "TRANS" 2CDr (AOW 148)

Massive new work of wallcraft from Otomo Hava, a double album set dedicated to transgender and gender nonconformists the world over in praise of their resilience.  Whereas the last Otomo Hava set released on AOW was rife with nervousness and buzzing static anxiety, the two walls on "Trans" are scathing, bass-heavy destroyers that simply do not relent at any point in their runtimes.  Almost belligerent in their intent and focus, these pieces convey a sense of brutality and refusal, a sort of unwavering permanence that speaks to their creator's passion for the chosen subject matter.
Altar Of Waste is very pleased to release this work.  A very personal statement for the artist, which I will not cloud over with my own interpretations.  I will let the music and Thomas Havales' own words convey the meaning.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $27 rest of world. 

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Saturday, November 16, 2013

ERDSTALL "CAVERNS OF ENDLESS/TEMPLE OF ANCIENTS" 2CDr SET (AOW 142)

Cavernous, engulfing medieval synth drone from this mysterious underground entity.  Working in the small drone subgenre of dungeon synth, Erdstall's two albums "Caverns Of Endless" and "Temple Of Ancients" take the distinctly dark ages feel of the genre touchstones and transform them into something far more sinister and unnerving, a thick and choking soup of ancient mists and gloaming, a pallid and rotten moon on the face of a sky from eras long since lost to history.  The epic and orchestral feel that insinuates itself into a lot of dungeon synth work is here as well, but it's buried beneath globs of tarry black drone and a palpable sense of defeat and insignificance.  Not all quests end in riches and acclaim with granted titles and lands-some end in painful, violent, and bloody death, in deep and echoing stains of misery that blight generations and tarnish legends.  We have always been at the mercy of the world, crushed underfoot by processes unknown to us, mostly hidden from the darker mysteries and forgotten entities that reside in the lost spaces of the earth.  On these two records, Erdstall unveils portents and harbingers, a descent into outer realms of perceived glory and the stagnancy of human fallibility.
Altar Of Waste is very pleased to issue these albums in their first physical forms.  Previously available via the internet, these two pieces now become a more tangible document.
Packaged in a twin volume DVD case with an OBI strip, in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.   $20 ppd. in the United States, $32 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

LOVE KATY "SO WHY DON'T YOU BE HERE WITH ME?" CDr (AOW 150)

Massive new album from Love Katy in honor of the release of Miss Perry's newest album, "Prism."  This one is truly huge, the longest LK album to date, clocking in at just over 77 minutes, not a one of which is even remotely wasted.  I am hesitant to use words like "definitive" when writing about HNW but "So Why Don't You Be Here With Me?" embodies everything I love about this particular project, and across the album's expanse, James Killick taps into a wealth of emotions and moods to deliver an epic piece that blooms over with yearning, anxiety, regret, and ultimately, affirmation and a belief in joy and human connection.  It's an incredibly dynamic composition that progresses through distinct movements, becoming something like a fused together symphony of Katy Perry and the crumbling, warm, thick walls that the project is known for.  It's a masterful exploration of emotion and an amazing expression of hope, that rare work of crushing, destructive beauty that reaffirms just what HNW as a genre is capable of.
Altar Of Waste is overjoyed to release this album, one which I truly hope will be viewed as a high mark in the annals of HNW.  As Miss Perry herself sings, "A future is right now/I'm in front of you."
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

FANTOME DE SANG "DEVOUEMENT" CDr (AOW 153)

Newest album from Fantome De Sang, a brutally exhaustive affectation of lofi black metal extremity and the numbing repetition of heavier psych rock outfits like Pharaoh Overlord.  The black metal influence on "Devouement" is far more pronounced and discernible, moving away from the bleak and foggy formlessness of previous works and towards a new method of regressive primacy, an attempt to unify the violent spirit of black metal to its more philosophical concerns.  Guitars unbury themselves from beneath the dirt of the pieces here, eschewing molten noise in favor of sludge torrents and feedback deathclouds.  "Devouement" is a 76 minute sojourn to the dead pockets of the great cosmic indifference, a collection of screams from forests beyond the pale.  Listening to this record is an exercise in endurance as well as a window to a higher altered consciousness-like the earlier Fantome De Sang albums, the goal here is transcendence.  Whether you arrive through violence or temporal mind drift is irrelevant. 
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Saturday, November 9, 2013

NOTES ON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING + UPCOMING RELEASES

I hate to have to reiterate this point, but it seems necessary to do so.  I charge a flat $12.00 to ship an AOW release internationally.  I know for many people this seems high, and it is, but I want to let you know that in almost every case, it costs me MORE than this to ship your item to you, regardless of where you reside in the world.  I take a loss on pretty much every international package I ship, but I do so because I value my international support.  I chose $12.00 as the number because it seemed fair to me based on actual USPS shipping costs.  I take the loss to keep it as fair as possible, within reason.  There seems to be an erroneous belief that AOW is an incredibly profitable venture, and that I am sitting on a giant stack of money, laughing.  I can assure you this is NOT the case.  AOW is pretty much a money-losing venture.  I keep this label alive because I love it.  While I certainly do generate income through the label, it is not enough to meet the costs of production necessary for the quality of products I wish to create.  That extra funding comes from me.  Please remember that this label is run by one person that does EVERYTHING.  It is not a job for me.  I don't make a living off of it.  It is an artistic activity that i engage in in addendum to my academic responsibilities.  I find the time when I can, and I think I do a pretty good job.
Which brings me to this point: I have absolutely no control over when your package gets to you.  Once it is in the mail, it is out of my hands.  Many foreign countries allow packages to sit in their customs offices for inordinate lengths of time, and this is an issue intrinsic to your particular country.  It has NOTHING whatsoever to do with me or the manner in which I mail the package.  The only way to insure faster delivery is to register the package, which generally costs an EXTRA $15 on top of the $12 I am already charging.  I am perfectly willing to ship items in this manner, but the BUYER will be responsible for incurring that cost.  If that is an option you'd like, then simply email me after placing your order, and it can be arranged.
Finally, everything created by AOW is made by my own hands.  Sometimes, a mistake is going to be made.  If you receive a defective item, then I will do everything in my power to correct that mistake, so long as you get in touch with me and tell me about it.  Please don't get on a high horse and accuse me of "running scams."  The longevity of the label, oodles of reviews of the label's releases, and the goodwill the label has generated amongst the artists it has worked with should be evidence enough that this is a real and honest venture.  I am not infallible.  I fuck up sometimes.
Thanks as always.

The next releases will be available within a couple months:
OTOMO HAVA "TRANS" 2CDr
 LOVE KATY "SO WHY DON'T YOU BE HERE WITH ME?" CDr
NIGHTMARE CASTLE/FOUKE/DEAD BODY COLLECTION "MYTHOS AND LORE" CDr
MIDWICH "THE SWIFT" CDr
ERDSTALL 2CDr BOX SET
NIGHTMARE CASTLE "THE UNHOLY THREE: TRIBUTE TO NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL" 3CDr BOX SET
DHAMPYR "THREE EPs" 3CDr BOX SET
CORY STRAND "PARIS, DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH?" 4CDr + DVDr BOX SET

-Cory/AOW

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

NORTHUMBRIA "ALL DAYS BEGIN AS NIGHT" CDr (AOW 132)

This one has been in the works for a long time.  When I first heard Northumbria's debut full-length on TQA records I was immediately awestruck and very deeply moved.  A truly engulfing roar of beautiful, droning sludge distortion and slow-motion textures screaming with yearning, the band sounded like nothing less than ancient and eternal mountains ripping themselves from the soil and throwing themselves into the cold and indifferent ocean.  The majesty of the natural exalted over the falsity of the modern.  The record was (and is) powerful for me, an epic work of pure and true sound borne from the same place as Earth 2 and l'ile re-sonante .  I wrote to the band immediately after starting Altar Of Waste and we agreed to work on a release, something the band promised would be truly special.
Finally unveiled, "All Days Begin As Night" is a unique and expansive release as well as being a masterful continuation of the work begun on the self-titled debut.  Northumbria offer up the gorgeous and haunting title track and then give it over to five distinct entities to remix and reassemble, essentially mapping out an exhaustive array of diverse but united sounds.  From Theologian's nightmarish and stately expanse of cathedral-like emptiness, to Famine's icily melodic bastardization of IDM, to Witxes' fuzzy and glistening burble drones, to Aidan Baker's gorgeous and crackling minimalism, to the black glassy droning pool of my own epic remix, "All Days Begin As Night" is a transfixing journey into the fertile realms of reinterpretation, an album seemingly borne for Altar Of Waste.
I am really honored the band gave this to me, along with an immense amount of creative freedom and an unwavering belief in me and the label.  This is a very special release for AOW!
Packaged in a DVD case with all photography by me, in a limited edition of 50 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "DAY OF THE DEAD: A REINTERPRETATION" 6CDr (AOW 149)

Many people cite Dawn Of The Dead as their favorite film in George Romero's trilogy, but for me Day Of The Dead perfectly captures the sick and hateful darkness that cloaks the collective human heart.  Through its intense focus on a small group of survivors holed up together and losing all hope against the endless zombie hordes, descending into anger, frustration, and insane fear born from an inability to comprehend the nihilistic absurdity of their situation, Day Of The Dead better illustrates society's ultimate terminus point in the face of annihilation.  In working with John Harrison's score for the film, I have attempted to create a stifling audio environment that is as relentless and unforgiving as it is layered and disorienting.  Forsaking violence in favor of an incredibly dark ambient approach (sans for one small explosion of pure hellish destruction/consumption towards the end), this album will press down on you over and over again, an avalanche of glacial drone that becomes more and more oppressive as it marches on, unstoppable and hungry.  I highly urge you to heed the suggestion in the liner notes and listen to this loudly, with headphones.  This album was designed with isolation in mind.
Packaged in a twin volume DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $42 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

PHANTASM NOCTURNES "DARK DIMENSIONS" CDr (AOW 144)

Newest album from Betty Koster's Phantasm Nocturnes, a truly restless project that has been churning out an awesome number of releases beholden to no aesthetic other than its own.  Phantasm Nocturnes is a project after my own heart, flitting effortlessly between punishing walls of disruptive noise to severe and disorienting masses of electronic detritus to frigidly cold and empty death ambience, creating an ultimately undefinable body of work that unites all of its facets beneath a shivering veil of terror and isolation.  "Dark Dimensions" delves deep into the choking heart of the endless night, a cruel and precise exploration of thick spacey drone textures fused to the gurgling, oozing pustulence of obstinate ambient noise walls, a journey to the outer reaches of emptiness that left me with a feeling of being lost and cold and very, very far away from any sort tether to the physical world.  This is pure isolation ambient with a paranoid apocalyptic bent, an ascent into the void that enslaves you to the infinite.
Altar Of Waste is delighted to release this record, a small piece in a very large, abstract puzzle that seems beyond any sort of genre appraisal.  Greet the encroaching black and lose yourself in the suffocating slurry of stars.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwaste.storenvy.com

AUDITOR AND VENOWL "ACID REVEALING OPEN WOUNDS" 2CDr (AOW 135)

Crumbling and bloated slow-motion metallized horror from Chicago's Auditor and Venowl, turning in an agonized studio collaboration that sets a new standard for "doom."  Venowl's hyper-distorted sonic waste marries perfectly to the Auditor's electronic terrorism, creating an unholy assemblage of sound that vomits hell out onto the earth without sacrificing a sort of ghostly aura of subconscious beauty.   There is a majesty to the two massive tracks here, something heavenly and expansive buried beneath mound after mound of rot and ugliness.  Imagine Khanate on LSD locked in a room with Merzbow and you'll get a good idea of what you're dealing with here-sheer and unadulterated brutally, executed masterfully.
Altar Of Waste is psyched to bring this to light once more.  Originally self-released by the artists in a single disc unmixed/unmastered edition of 15 handmade copies, Auditor and Venowl have been kind enough to give AOW a mixed/mastered and expanded version of their intense union.  The second disc contains a live collaborative performance captured in Chicago last July and an unreleased punisher from Venowl.  You will not emerge unscathed!
Packaged in a DVD case with an OBI strip in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $27 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Also available in a super-limited four disc "Die Hard" version, available through Altar Of Waste only!  The "Die Hard" version contains the original two discs, plus the unmixed/unmastered version on a third.  The fourth disc contains two of my own compositions using audio from the Venauditor collaboration, entitled "Bleak Inferno."  A sort of meeting point between the Auditor, Venowl, HNW and over-the-top death metal conventions, a blooming flower of distorted disgust and numbing, pummeling electronics.  The "Die Hard" edition features totally different artwork in a twin volume DVD case and is limited to a scant 5 hand-numbered copies.  This one is for the AOW loyalists!  $30 ppd. in the United States, $42 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

RITUAL STANCE/CROWN OF BONE/EARTHENWOMB "SPLIT" (AOW 137)

A devastating three-way split between Ritual Stance, Crown Of Bone, and Earthenwomb, an all out assault on the senses and a seriously brain frying descent into the most tormented HNW and noise abysses imaginable.  Just shy of 80 minutes in length, this split showcases the absolute best of what each of these projects is capable of.  Ritual Stance's contribution traffics in the project's usual sickeningly bass-heavy dungeon HNW, an expression of meta-sexual power and control.  Crown Of Bone's piece is simply towering, a masterful arrangement of sound and texture that brings to mind pure demonic hallucinogenia and agony.  But it is Earthenwomb's work here that really fucks with your thoughts and dreams, an amazing, sputtering, minimalistic static cloud that feels like it's slicing your mind into about a million pieces, a seriously unique approximation of HNW's aestheticism as filtered through a haze of Lovecraftian cosmic insignificance.
Altar Of Waste is very pleased to unleash this destroyer, a brutal trip through some very sick and damaged headspaces.  Each project brought their fucking best to this one and it KILLS. 
Packaged in a DVD case with gorgeous commissioned artwork and my own usual collage approach, in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  Includes an 8 page hand-made and bound booklet exploring some of the visuals these works suggested to me.  $13 ppd. in the United States, $25 rest of world.  The booklets are made to order, so please allow a couple days turnaround time on this one.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "HALLOWEEN II: DEEP DRONE VERSION" 4CDr (AOW 146)

An alternate version or companion volume to my upcoming Occult Supremacy release ("Halloween II: A Reinterpretation," most likely coming in 2014), "Halloween II: Deep Drone Version" is exactly what the title implies: a hyper-minimalistic reinterpretation of John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's masterful score for the sequel to Carpenter's landmark slasher.  Halloween II as a film was far more violent and brutal than its predecessor, forsaking all of the daytime menace and tension depicted in the first for something more visceral and bloody-minded, a veritable slaughter that left few characters alive and more or less set the standard for further characterizations of Michael Myers within the Halloween series.  In creating this specific version I have sought to upend that intensity and transmute it into a sort of quiet and prolonged dread, the eye of a storm of utterly inhuman and hellish violence.  May it haunt your dreams.  Happy Halloween!
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $32 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

UPCOMING RELEASES AND SOME WORDS ON THE FUTURE

There will be five new releases available come Halloween eve:

NORTHUMBRIA "ALL DAYS BEGIN AS NIGHT" CDr
RITUAL STANCE/CROWN OF BONE/EARTHENWOMB "SPLIT" CDr
PHANTASM NOCTURNES "DARK DIMENSIONS" CDr
VENOWL and AUDITOR "ACID REVEALING OPEN WOUNDS" 2CDr
CORY STRAND "HALLOWEEN II: DEEP DRONE VERSION" 4CDr

I will also have a new release on Occult Supremacy come Halloween (fittingly enough, it's "Halloween IV: A Reinterpretation").  After that, I will be heading into production on some of the trickier, more elaborate and construction heavy box sets:

NIGHTMARE CASTLE "THE UNHOLY THREE: TRIBUTE TO NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL" 3CDr BOX SET
DHAMPYR "THREE EPs" 3CDr BOX SET
ERDSTALL 2CDr BOX SET
CORY STRAND "HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: A REINTERPRETATION" 10CDr BOX SET
CORY STRAND "PARIS, DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH?" 4CDr + DVDr BOX SET

I can't give an honest time frame for these because I just don't know how long they'll take and how much they'll cost-but rest assured they are in the works and coming.  For whatever reason I've been gravitating toward these larger "statement" releases lately.  I don't think it's something I can maintain for long, though-these are big projects and they take me (and my girlfriend, who helps with all the box construction and manufacturing) quite awhile to complete.
Afterwards I will be focusing on all the upcoming releases I have committed to, in an attempt to clear the deck.  For now, I will not be accepting any more projects for release on Altar Of Waste beyond what I have already committed to (if you are an artist and we have already talked about doing something, then don't worry-it will get done) simply because it's becoming too much to keep track of.  I'm going through my files and hard drives and finding records I had agreed to release that i totally forgot about, which is not a great position to be in.  I try to keep thorough records of all of the label's interactions so i know what I need to be working on at any given time, but it is simply becoming overwhelming.  I need to step back and focus on what i already have planned before I take on anything new.
The label is not in jeopardy, nor will it close-I just need to play catch up for awhile.  It may take several months, so please bear with me.  As always, i thank everyone for their continued support, and hope you will enjoy the Halloween releases.

-Cory Strand

CORY STRAND "BLOOD SIMPLE: A REINTERPRETATION" 2CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

My rework of Carter Burwell's very brief score for Joel and Ethan Coen's masterful neo noir Blood Simple attempts to get at the rotted heart of the film, with a massive gulf of empty ambient spread across two discs that burrows deep into the existentialist quandaries of the work.  There is no violence here, not even an outburst-only the hollow tomb of contemplation that the film forces you into, a grey and purgatorial place where right and wrong are inexorably intertwined with action and consequence.  There are no punishments worse than the condemning dialogues we hold with ourselves.  The Coens know this and have manufactured a stunning filmography where philosophy holds a distant and removed court over the paltry lives and actions of men.  This record is a theoretical field recording from within those imagined halls of justice.  $8 ppd. in the United States, $20 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Friday, October 11, 2013

FANTOME DE SANG "DANS LA NUIT VAMPIRIQUE" CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

More severe and melancholic blackened noise aristocracy from my LLN-influenced project Fantome De Sang.  Moving away from the massive constructs of the debut "Maladif Lune," "Dans La Nuit Vampirique" focuses the aesthetics into something more digestible but no less eviscerating.  Fantome De Sang is a project about minimalism, violence, elegance, arrogance, and nostalgic approximation, psychedelic and raw noise as filtered through the wintry lens of classic French black metal.  I have tried to attain a certain aura of the primitive on this recording, hopefully evoking frigid nights amongst the forests, with a waxy moon weeping down from above.  Howls come from the forests but also from the heart.
$5 ppd. in the United States, $17 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com 

LETHE "1989 CONFESSIONS, VOLUME II" CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

Second volume in this ongoing series for Occult Supremacy.  More nullifying death drones from Lethe crafted out of Ted Bundy's taped 1989 confessions.  This entry goes further towards an uncomfortable and unsettling approximation of flies buzzing on a diseased mind, a thick stench of tarry drone that pulls deeper and deeper into the recesses of a cloudy, fractured mind struggling to understand its own irrational motivations.  Two massive tracks spanning nearly 80 minutes.  Murder nostalgiah as a vehicle for understanding the horror of The Real.  Life is a construct whose architecture can be felled at any time.
$5 ppd. in the United States, $17 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Monday, October 7, 2013

LA MANCHA DEL PECADO "A TRIPLE FETISHISTIC TREATMENT: TRIBUTE TO RAOUL VALVE" 3CDr (AOW 138)

Staggering new drone compendium from La Mancha Del Pecado, a frightening excursion into the deepest realms of the glisteningly erotic illuminating the horrid emptiness lurking behind boudoir noir.  Utilizing the eclectic soundtracks composed by Raoul Valve for three Andrew Blake films, "A Triple Fetishistic Treatment" sees La Mancha Del Pecado transforming the vaguely banal and unobtrusive into blackest night clouds of uncertainty and self-doubt.  The artistry in Blake's films reveals layers of suggestion not oft found in standard gonzo pornography, teases of themes and relationships oft left unexplored by the mainstream in favor of quick release and exhaustive bouts of fucking.  La Mancha Del Pecado takes that artistry and rips it open, exposing both the emptiness at its heart and the lurid technicolor expanse of the images it approximates.
I am quite honored to say that the band's approach to this recording was inspired by me and my own re-envisioned soundtrack works, an attempt to draw out something new and visceral by immolating the source.  The three massive pieces here are absolute onslaughts of cathartic amplifier meltdown hyperdrone, going well beyond the void into a realm of erotic punishments and haunting psychological complexities.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $18 ppd. in the United States, $30 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

ENSEPULCHRED "CANDLEMASS" CDr (AOW 136)

The final recordings from Ensepulchred, one of my very favorite black metal bands of the recent past.  Falling somewhere between the hallucinogenic somnambulist dirges of Xasthur and the pure roaring majesty of Summoning, Ensepulchred took USBM to an incredibly cold, empty and terrifying place, a fissure in the universe where dreams went to rot and die and the ultimate nihilism of existence was laid bare.  Vastly ahead of their time, they left behind a small but incomparable body of work that still sends shivering knives of contemplative blackened horror into the brains of the uninitiated. 
The band has been gracious enough to allow Altar Of Waste to release their final recordings, two massive songs that easily rank among their best and most densely layered work.  There is a stoic and aristocratic beauty to these tracks as well as a deeply unnerving center of dream reality, a hazy winter nightmare that blooms up like a putrid garden.  Black metal approximation and minimalism at its finest, a wash of icily gorgeous synthesizers and scathing vocals buried beneath the pummeling programmed drums, a funeral march into the stench of oblivion.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $7 ppd. in the United States, $19 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "THE SHINING: ANCILLARIES, VOL. VIII" 6CDr (AOW 143)

The eight and penultimate volume in a series of recordings utilizing Wendy Carlos' unused compositions for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.  I've done a lot of work with this soundtrack in the past, and this series represents a deeper exploration of Carlos' original vision for the film score, a bizarre parade of tonal environments and shrieking ghostly ululations that for whatever reason did not fit Kubrick's vision.  The music showcased on these volumes is material that would not necessarily work as albums proper-they are individual manipulations and constructions intended to highlight specific compositions as opposed to the thematic whole of an album.  As such, they are glimpses of records that might have been, or perhaps are in an alternate realm.
"Volume VIII" is a towering 6 CD set that marks the end of my work with Wendy Carlos' magnificent soundtrack.  At this point I have worked with everything I have access to (some tracks more than once) and will let this stand as the near-final piece of my carefully crafted auditory puzzle; until i come across the bootleg 2CD set of the OST released by Overlook Productions (and if you can help me with this, please get in touch with me) my work with the score proper is now complete.  The six CDs that make up "Volume VIII" take the listener deep into thick and unctuous headspaces, terror drones and wisps of murderous suggestion that ultimately lead to discomfort and severe disorientation.  The final volume, utilizing the OST to the fantastic documentary Room 237, will be out late this year or early next.
Packaged in a twin DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $42 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Friday, September 27, 2013

ANONYMOUS "ANTIETAM" 6CDr (AOW 126)

Dense and nullifying new work from the history obsessed HNW entity known as Anonymous, a continuation of the work begun on 2012's massive "Gettysburg" set, which made my ten best albums of the year and set a new benchmark for bleak and suffocating tarlike HNW that offered virtually no respite.  "Antietam" ups the ante considerably in terms of both theme and music, with the artist offering up a crushing six album set focused on the extremely bloody battle of Antietam, a clash that choked soil with blood and caused streams and brooks to flow crimson and lurid, easily eclipsing the tragic loss of life seen at Gettysburg; the walls here serve up a similarly brutal atmosphere rife with torrents of broken and crumbling distortion drowning beneath throbbing stagnant bass textures, a paean to the terrible monotony of a nation's bloodlust towards itself.
The ultimate horror of war and the utter waste of human life are illustrated perfectly across the oppressive span of "Antietam," a march through American history's saddest hour that reconciles the absolute and necessary nihilism of combat with the stark beauty of the country's haunted love affair with its own torrid nostalgiah.  Rendered in shades of grey and inked with the black constancy of blood, Anonymous have crafted another severe masterwork, an overload of sonic intensity and a stunning vision of scattered viscera and nationalistic egotism.
Packaged in a twin DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  Also includes a booklet of accompanying photos and text illuminating the theme of the record (the booklets are made to order due to expense-full colour printing and hand-bound, so please allow a little extra shipping time after ordering.)  $35 ppd. in the United States, $47 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Sunday, September 15, 2013

CROWN OF ASHES "AT THE THRONE OV KYNE" CDr (AOW 141)

An utterly intoxicating blend of ANW and Sunn 0)))-style slow motion uberdrone given over to electronic remodeling and punishing bass texture, Crown Of Ashes' "At The Throne Ov Kyne" showcases a sound that stands well apart from the genres it approximates while completely rewriting the conceptual confines of noise and drone.  The percussive qualities of certain strains of PE hold congress here, as does the blackened roar of yawning guitar abyss-scapes practiced by units such as Like Drone Razors Through Flesh Sphere and vintage Earth, but the end cacophony is something totally its own, a bleak and empty paean to the withering of the earth and our own ultimate fallibility and mortality.  Crown Of Ashes creates an aura of the funereal, a sickly death knell for the coming eradication, a gaze into a blur of futures focused on lack and space and the ghost of habitation, a distinctly Herzogian vision of what's to come.  There is no hope for us.  The natural will defeat every "lasting" monument we've scarred the soil with.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to usher forth this tolling bell of decay, a crushing blanket of blackened static and contemplative aural pustulence. 
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

GNASHING OF TEETH/STATIC GOAT "NIGHTHYMNS" CDr (AOW 128)

A seering horrific mess of Lovecraftian devastation, crumbling black metal approximation, and the scorched-earth style vocal histrionics of Gnashing Of Teeth as filtered through Static Goat's brain-melting electronic noise psychedelia.  Imagine Morte Incandescente trapped in a room with Merzbow and Masonna and you're beginning to get in the right headspace to digest this monolithic mindfuck, a carrion call to the idiot gods from beyond the stars and the untethered minds of their burbling and obsessive disciples back on earth seeking to orchestrate their return.  A distinct aura of violence and insanity permeates this tour through the cosmic abyss, a rejection of BM orthodoxy as well as the rigid confines of HNW definition, resulting in a toxic and deeply potent blend of nightmare hallucinogenia and tortured screams from betwixt the rips in the fabric of the cosmos.  80 minutes of pure and unfettered black ritual worship and utter cosmic destructionism.
Altar Of Waste is beyond pleased to lift the veil off the deception of the night, opening up a legion of terrors for the miniscule human mind to try and comprehend.  Like taking a fucking buzzsaw right to your brain.  There is a universe hidden in the pockets of our own.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

ANTISOCIAL BLOCK/PHANTOM CADAVER/THE SLEEPING QUARTER "SPLIT" CDr (AOW 133)

Devastating three-way split filled with some of the most dynamic and complex HNW I've heard in a long, long time, an hour long trudge through a wealth of changing tonal saturations and intensely severe wallcraft.  What's really amazing to me is how each of the three entities involved with this recording matches the others in terms of compositional density without sacrificing any of their individual tendencies.  For those naysayers who think there's no variety in the HNW genre, let them be forever silenced by the crushing mass of pure writhing electric holocaust found on this split.  Beautifully curated and utterly scathing in its unrelenting ferocity, a descent into the white noise abyss and a plunge into the farthest depths of audio hell.  If you're interested in the state of HNW as a creative and expressive genre then drown yourself in this onslaught.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to release this united front against misperceived ideologies regarding modern noise.  To paraphrase one of the old guard of rock and roll recidivisim, "If you want blood, you've got it."
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: A REINTERPRETATION" 2CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

Massive new double album for Dustin's Occult Supremacy label, a rework of Charles Bernstein's masterful soundtrack for Wes Craven's classic film "A Nightmare On Elm Street."  In working with this soundtrack in particular I wanted to make something incredibly dynamic and fluid, as the score itself is already insanely awesome (if you have not heard it separated from the film, do yourself a favor and download it!)  The result is two discs' worth of agonized walls and menacing drones rife with tonal complexity and a hallucinogenic aspect evocative of the sleep-deprived state forced upon the film's unfortunate dreamers.  The artwork on this one came out looking insanely great, with rich and deeply saturated colors that just bleed off the paper.  In the tradition of all the soundtrack reworks i do for Dustin's album, this one is full of texture and atmospheric dread.  I had a lot of fun making this and I hope it keeps you up at night.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "THREE PIECES FOR LINDSAY" CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

A sequel to my album "Punishment Will Be Severe," dealing with various aspects and facets of Lindsay Lohan.  This recording trades away my usual manipulative approach in favor of all original work created from synthesizer modelers in hopes of attaining something more celestial and psychedelic, as well as beautiful and yearning.  Two massive "walls" united by a gorgeous stretch of heartbreaking ambience, a meditation on Lindsay's culture of celebrity and the downfall that culture actively anticipates.  We can't know what Lindsay dreams, what she sees in her mind when it hazes out on her, when the blur of her mistakes and the consequences of her choices begin to map out an obvious tendency towards self immolating behaviours.  This is one of my very favorite works in my vast catalogue-even i'm kind of astonished by the level of beauty i've attained on this one. 

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

LETHE "1989 CONFESSIONS, VOL. ONE" CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY PRODUCTIONS)

New Lethe work for Occult Supremacy Productions, an extension of my work dealing with Ted Bundy begun on my very first physical release, "Theodore Robert Bundy."  Whereas that album was comprised of original walls and drones meant to reflect Bundy's disintegrated mental state at the time of his murders, "1989 Confessions, Vol. One" explores a different aspect.  Two lengthy pieces, here, one drone based and the other more akin to HNW, sourced and created from Bundy's confessions to various law enforcement agencies in 1989, as he attempted to trade information on unsolved murders for a stay of execution.  It's unsettling stuff and I think a certain darkness comes through in the recordings.  This will be an ongoing series of albums released through Occult Supremacy.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Monday, September 9, 2013

50% OFF SALE IN EFFECT NOW

For an indeterminate amount of time, I'll be running a huge sale on all in print Altar Of Waste releases. 50% off everything, with the larger sets (even my beloved Harry Potter box) discounted generously as well. The reasons are myriad:

First and foremost, my financial aid for school got fucked up and I need to generate some income quickly so i can continue to have a place to live.
Secondly, I need to make room in my home for all the new AOW stuff. I release things at a far greater rate than they sell at and my apartment is small. I NEED to clear some stuff out.
Thirdly, many of the upcoming AOW releases are very art intensive/construction heavy and costly projects (i think i have four box sets, with actual fancy boxes and such, on deck for the fall/winter) and I need to raise some money to help cover the costs.

As always my prices are ppd. in the United States. For my overseas freinds, I'm sorry, but i still need to charge you some shipping. If you do order some things please try and order a few things at once to make the shipping easier (that goes for US orders as well, it just makes everything smoother if i can send a few items together.)

My greatest fear is that those people who have been very loyal to the label will view this as a crass move. I do not mean to insult anyone or disregard the support people have shown me and AOW. I simply NEED money. I live off of my financial aid and not getting the amount I was promised by my school seriously fucks things up for me. I hope everyone understands. I will continue to release records in my usual timely fashion. The label itself is not in jeopardy. I'm just drowning in backstock.

The AOW Store: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Thanks as always.

UPCOMING RELEASES (for the curious):
STATIC GOAT/GNASHING OF TEETH "NIGHTHYMNS" CD
ANTISOCIAL BLOCK/PHANTOM CADAVER/THE SLEEPING QUARTER "SPLIT" CD
ANONYMOUS "ANTIETAM" 6CD
CORY STRAND "HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: A REINTERPRETATION" 10CD BOX SET
RITUAL STANCE/CROWN OF BONE/EARTHENWOMB "SPLIT" CD
DHAMPYR 3CD BOX SET
NIGHTMARE CASTLE "THE UNHOLY THREE: AN HNW TRIBUTE TO NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL" 3CD BOX SET
NIGHTTIME IN THE ABYSS BOX SET
CROWN OF ASH CD
VENOWL/AUDITOR "ACID REVEALING OPEN WOUNDS" 2CD
YOG-SOTHOTH "EXTRAORDINARILY MAGICKAL" 2CD
YOG-SOTHOTH "III" CD
YOG-SOTHOTH "APRIL 2010 DEMO" CD
ERDSTALL BOX SET

Friday, September 6, 2013

THE DEAD END STREET BAND "SONGS OF AIWASS" CDr (AOW 131)

A cosmic slab of psychedelic horror drone from The Dead End Street Band, attaining a nightmarish atmosphere of wasted magickal ritual whilst basking in the presence of unnamed entities from beyond the stars.  The gravitational pull of occultic concepts gives way to oozing oceans of burbling synth damage, like Space Machine as filtered through a heady opium haze and a laudanum bath, a headtrip as dark and psychotic as the worlds of David Lynch but somehow rooted in a frightening and misunderstood historical reality proffered by Aleister Crowley and the manipulation of forces existing on the fringes of nature and the tangible material world.  The mind must open, the eye must crack.  The flesh must bleed and the sky must quake.  There are dense and forgotten pockets of surreality weaved into the fabric of our world, waiting to be excavated and spun into the catatonic lull of our dreams and visions.  "Songs Of Aiwass" is an incredible journey through spectral lore and a lurid flowering of drone and rotted psychedelia.
Altar Of Waste is beyond pleased to release this epic recording of inner quests and unintelligible ululations from the black beyond of space and nothingness.  The cosmos drifts, the stars die out, the galaxies fold in on themselves and become nothing more than memories stretched across gulfs of time.  This sounds like the void collapsing.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

LETHE "TOWER OF SORROW: COLLECTED RECORDINGS" 3CDr (AOW 134)

The second installment of a three volume reissue series collecting the majority of Lethe's digital recordings, "Tower Of Sorrow" focuses on synthesizer manipulation and heavily processed field recordings across the span of three incredibly bleak and despondent albums: "Mulonthanain," "Ruined Epoch," and "Nullification."  "Mulonthanain" is the most immediately visceral of the three, with guitar and synth textures bludgeoned together into an HNW-influenced approximation of Lovecraftian atmosphere and glacial progression.  "Ruined Epoch" is one of my favorite Lethe recordings, an expansive and chillingly empty catacomb of drones created from field recordings of wind.  A pustulent ooze of decay and disfiguration bleeds across the album's three massive tracks, culminating in the frigid knifelike eviscerations of "This Is All Around You."  "Nullification" works off the same principle source but opens things up to an embrace of momentum and features one of my first attempts at drum sampling and looping, employing one of the most recognizable fills in rock history.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to grant physical form to these early pieces, a truly expansive set of headphone intensity for twilight nights under a brown and rusted moon.  The sickly pallor drips from the sky like broken wax, suffocating those who writhe amongst the dirt.
Packaged in a DVD case with hyper-minimalist artwork by Gina Newman in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $18 ppd. in the United States, $30 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Thursday, August 29, 2013

HORRIBLE MESS "CONCRETE AND CLAY" CDr (AOW 127)

Numbingly dense and churning new recording from HNW iconoclast Horrible Mess, a deeply mesmerizing suite of pieces that veers close to the "immobile stagnancy" aesthetics of ANW without sacrificing any of the expected severity and anguish.  Naturalistic and unfettered, completely unadorned with the standard theatricality and violent posturing of a lot of current HNW, "Concrete and Clay" stands as an incredibly focused and intellectual work from one of the genre's quiet masters.  The five pieces here show off an enormous range in shades of grey, brown, and black, a construct composed of layer after layer of pummeled sediment and compacted aggression.  For me the point here isn't so much abrasiveness and pointless electric intensity as it is a subdued invitation to recede and meld, to dissolve oneself into the physical being of the earth, to begin to realize the utter insignificance of your presence here when weighed against the infinity of nature.  Horrible Mess have achieved a remarkable meditative state throughout this record, one that will awaken you and pull you deeper into an oceanic lull, a gentle expanse that destroys by eclipse.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to present this catalogue of rust and nullification, a truly massive and suffocating work.  If drowning is indeed the most peaceful and dreamlike delivery unto death, then this record is a lake of inky black water, its waves growing ever more tidal, beckoning you out to where the shore meets the sky.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

NIGHTTIME IN THE ABYSS "PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ABOMINATIONS" CDr (AOW 129)

An unnerving new recording from Satanic nether-entity Nighttime In The Abyss, a horrific grand guignol that treads all manner of sonic ground from death ambient to blackened drone, from scathing PE entropy to heavenly choirlike ululations offered up to a bitter and empty sky.  Nighttime In The Abyss is rapidly becoming one of my favorite projects, ultimately uncategorizable and beholden to no particular noise subsection but instead incredibly well-versed in a multitude of genres and ambitious enough to marry them in consistently unholy and ritualistic cacophonies.  NITA orchestrator Alocer Christus is a master at blending and layering sounds while infecting them with raw emotion, and "People For the Ethical Treatment of Abominations" stands as testament to his increasing reach and vision within the standard confines of noise.  Crackling electronics and tormented drones insinuate themselves into a mixture of voice recordings and samples, creating something both strangely beautiful and sickeningly eerie, a sort of Lynchian approach to the minimal work of Arvo Part or a more ragged version of Hermann Nitsch.  Incredibly impressive soundscaping from a project that just keeps surpassing itself.
Altar Of Waste is honored to send out another missive from the endless growing black, a transmission from the ghostly void and the voices choking beneath the dirt.  Rot and decay, ascension and transcendence.  The work continues.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

CORY STRAND/LETHE "THEY ONLY SEE THIS ONE SIDE" CDr (NO CATALOGUE NUMBER/UNOFFICIAL RELEASE)

A collection of recordings I was preparing for the album that ultimately became "Three Pieces For Lindsay" (recently released on Occult Supremacy Productions), "They Only See This One Side" serves as sort of an unrealized proto-version of what that album might have been had I decided to stay with the chosen source material (Lindsay's song "Rumors") rather than create my own, as I ended up doing.  This release falls pretty squarely in the noise category, although it does have its prettier and more desolate moments as well (though even those have a sort of ANW feel to them.)  The Lethe piece was created especially for this release as a sort of comment on the work I've done with Miss Lohan as well as an indication of the direction I'm proceeding in with Lethe, a massive empty drone crafted out of one of Lindsay's statements before a judge regarding her missed rehab appointments.  All in all, 73 minutes of alternate universe starlet obsession.
In keeping with the "experimental" nature of this particular recording I have opted not to release it on AOW but present it instead as its own entity, packaged quite differently than usual.  Released in an edition of 5 copies, unnumbered, in a handmade digipack with paste-on covers and artwork.  $8 ppd. in the United States, $20 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Monday, August 19, 2013

CORY STRAND "THE BLING RING: A REINTERPRETATION" 6CDr SET (WITH BONUS CD AND LIMITED ART PRINTS) (AOW 125)

Sofia Coppola is one of my very favorite directors and I've long wanted to work with one of her films.  Few filmmakers have so perfectly diagnosed and illustrated the utter vacuousness, banality, and tired sadnesses permeating the heart of modernity.  The Bling Ring may be her best work in this regard, an absolutely amazing depiction of youth culture and celebrity obsession existing at the very end of self-consciousness, where definition becomes a matter of the shit you've stolen and the fantasy clothing you wrap yourself in.  Alternating between nights of pointless, empty partying and self-aggrandizing and late-night parades through the homes and closets of celebrities too remote to lock the doors to their vast expanses of material possessions, Coppola maps out a philosophy of entitlement and consumerism that betrays the growing disaffection of young people as we stagger towards the end of culture.
In working with the soundtrack I have tried to mirror the film's pacing, with the first three discs being the more aggressive and flashy of the set.  Massive psychedelic walls of screaming noise combine with washed out club bangers and crushing percussion loops, creating a numbing repetitive sort of "dance noise" that crumbles and glitters simultaneously.  The last three discs retreat into psychic oblivion, with frigid washes of empty graying ambient mirrored by caustic HNW of the emptiest sort, all struggling to eradicate a sort of sickly sweet loveliness stinking of illusory nostalgiah and connection.  I feel i have done a successful job in interpreting Coppola's thematics and this set stands as a personal favorite amongst my works, reveling in a mass of new sounds and techniques while existing well within the defined confines of my projects.
For this release my girlfriend Gina Newman created a set of 10 art prints to accompany the record, focusing on the items stolen by the Bling Ring and the celebrities they stole those items from.  The pieces are very striking, clean and detail oriented, a hallmark of Gina's meticulous work.  Signed and numbered by the artist herself, each set comes with two of the original (one item and one celebrity) prints plus a smaller facsimile set of the entire run.  The originals are suitable for framing if you like. 
Also included is a bonus disc created by me using dialogue from the film, a chilly excursion into nothingness that stands as a fitting closer to a film ultimately about the waste and hollowness growing rancid at the bottom of the cultural pool.
Packaged in a twin DVD case with the artworks sent along in a clear plastic bag.  Released in a very limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $45 ppd. in the United States, $57 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

NECRONOM IV "PROMETHEUS" 4CDr (AOW 118)

The follow up to "From Malice, From Nothingness" finds Necronom IV still exploring the mythology of Ridley Scott's Prometheus, this time trading the cold and infinite echoes of space for the nightmare tone baths of pure claustrophobia and the numbing growth of the void.  The four pieces found on "Prometheus" show the project reaching back to its inception, awash in the majesty of stagnation and eternity, with glacially unfolding waves of sound that seem to neither change nor evolve but instead simply exist, oozing towards an end they are utterly indifferent to.  The illusion of intellectualization and the human capacity for curiousity will become folly, welcoming the embrace of death and the ultimate nullification of self-conception.  Everything is a construct, an architecture of imprisonment that stretches across the breadth of a universe.  Take no comfort and tremble in fear.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to release this continuing engagement with one of science fiction's most malleable and well-mapped out mythological spaces.  All you will find is darkness.  Packaged in a DVD case and released in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $32 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Friday, August 2, 2013

ATARAXY AND DEATH FREES EVERY SOUL "SODOM AND GOMORRAH" CDr (AOW 124)

A massive split/collaborative release from Ataraxy and Death Frees Every Soul imagining the Biblical warning of Sodom and Gomorrah through sonic devastation, a desolate crawl through incredibly weighty bass textures and severely static forms of wall-making that bring to mind both the moral decadence and the lustful gratification that brought a city to flame.  The sounds here are appropriately apocalyptic and monstrous, easily suggesting the raging vengeance thrown down by a God affronted by the wanton lasciviousness of His wretched creations.
Each project offers up a solo track and then unites for a brutally kaleidoscopic collaboration that feels like it's living in the very heart of the conflagration that tore a city to the ground.  God's unwavering eye sees all beneath His domain.  Running only prolongs the suffering.  Submit, and repent.  For eternity.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

MONUMENTS ARE NO GOOD TO THE DEAD "EARTH'S HUM, VOL. II" CDr (AOW 123)

The second volume of an ongoing five-volume project dedicated to the HUM, Monuments Are No Good To The Dead's "Earth's Hum, Vol. II" is a devastating suite of mid-range static abuse and perfectly engineered walls of crunchy belligerence, staking claim in a space that I've heard few HNW acts work in before.  The sounds here are jagged and knifelike, crumbling shards of mountain raining across a lightning-stained sky, falling into ravaged pockets of distressed and choking soil.  The song of the earth is diseased and loping towards inconsequence, forgettability.  Soon there will be naught but ash but before that great blank there shall be a reaping, a vision of scythes in the sky brought to life in full bloody and visceral exposition.  Grind yourself into dust and ferment deep in the earth.
Based on a very real and haunting natural phenomena, MANGTTD's project gives voice to the death knells of a planet.  More details on the project are available here:

http://mangttd.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-release-announcement.html

Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

STATIC GOAT "MENTAL CASTRATION" 2CDr (AOW 122)

A physical release of the compilation album originally released by Dipsomaniac Records, Static Goat's "Mental Castration" is a wasted electric head trip of the mightiest order, a tour through the obsessive psyche that disturbs and disorients as much as it truly and utterly basks in the hopelessness of improvement as a concept for continued existence.  This is a massively psychedelic and ripping auditory experience that will eviscerate you through a maddening employment of textures and hypertextures shattering off of one another, creating a total maelstrom of anxiety and dysfunction.  Wading far into the outer spaces of the HNW pool, "Mental Castration" gleefully chokes on its own vomit and licks the remnants up from the waves.  It's total neon laser damage in the most exuberant and aggressive way possible with a seriously expansive palette of sounds anchoring it to a scorched earth.  This is an intense fucking mind spiral and it will take you deeeeeeeeeeeep.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to delve into this portrait of recessed consciousness.  Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $27 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

UPCOMING RELEASES

Just a quick update to let you know what's on the horizon.  All dates are tentative but I will do my best to get these things out within the time frames listed.

AUGUST:
STATIC GOAT "MENTAL CASTRATION" 2CD
MONUMENTS ARE NO GOOD TO THE DEAD "EARTH'S HUM, VOL. II" CD
ATARAXY AND DEATH FREES EVERY SOUL "SODOM AND GOMORRAH" CD
NECRONOM IV "PROMETHEUS" 4CD
CORY STRAND "THE BLING RING: A REINTERPRETATION" 6CD

SEPTEMBER:
ANONYMOUS "ANTIETAM" 6CD
HORRIBLE MESS "CONCRETE AND CLAY" CD
STATIC GOAT/GNASHING OF TEETH "NIGHTHYMNS" CD
NIGHTTIME IN THE ABYSS "PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ABOMINATIONS" CD
THE DEAD END STREET BAND "SONGS OF AIWASS" CD
ANTISOCIAL BLOCK/PHANTOM CADAVER/THE SLEEPING QUARTER "SPLIT" CD

OCTOBER:
LETHE "TOWER OF SORROW: COLLECTED RECORDINGS" 3CD
CORY STRAND "HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: A REINTERPRETATION" 10CD BOX SET
YOG-SOTHOTH "EXTRAORDINARILY MAGICKAL" 2CD
YOG-SOTHOTH "III" CD
YOG-SOTHOTH "APRIL 2010 DEMO" CD
NORTHUMBRIA "ALL DAYS BEGIN AS NIGHT" CD

THE FUTURE:
CROWN OF BONE/RITUAL STANCE/EARTHENWOMB "SPLIT" CD
CORY STRAND AND CROWN OF BONE "NIGHTBREED" (this may come out on Occult Supremacy depending on what Dustin and I end up with)
CORY STRAND "SE7EN: A REINTERPRETATION" 6CD
CORY STRAND "FROM BEYOND: A REINTERPRETATION" 3CD
NIGHTTIME IN THE ABYSS BOX SET
"BLUE VELVET" COMPILATION BOX SET (very much aways in the future)
ALOCER CHRISTUS 2CD
VENOWL AND AUDITOR "ACID REVEALING OPEN WOUNDS" 2CD
GNASHING OF TEETH CD

Saturday, July 20, 2013

CORY STRAND "HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE: A REINTERPRETATION" 20CDr BOX SET (AOW 116)

This one might take a few people by surprise.  The "Harry Potter" films are an epic cycle for me on par with Peter Jackson's work with the Tolkien mythology, beautiful and masterfully made classicist films that both revere and reinvent their source material.  David Yates' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" stands as my favorite of the HP films (as well as my favorite book in J.K. Rowling's series) for its muted approach to what is ultimately the most tragic series of events in the story overall, as well as for its gorgeous cinematography (the burning of the Weasley home and subsequent battle in the wheat field, the Cave Of Despair sequence, and Slughorn's haunting memories of Tom Riddle) and its wonderfully minimalist score by Nicholas Hooper, cradling the events of the film in a moody and affecting palette of ambience that stands apart from the music found in the rest of the film cycle.

In working with Hooper's score, I wanted to go deep into the hushed and haunted tone of the film and create pieces that reflected the overall atmosphere as I perceived it.  This is my true and gushing love letter to the drone, with the pieces found on this set touching on virtually every style i'm known for: deep, stagnant, ominous tone baths, greyed out deathwashes, shimmering Tim Hecker-like blissouts, and despairing glacial expanses of sorrow.  If i'm remembered for anything as a drone artist i would like it to be this set-i have never been more proud of anything I've created and I am honored to share it with those who support me and Altar Of Waste.
There is an astonishing amount of material here.  The first 15 discs are my rework of Hooper's soundtrack proper, an exquisite assemblage of drone and ambient that manages to be both elegant, elegiac, and menacing in its scope.  Discs 16-20 are alternate HNW versions of some of the soundtrack pieces, as well as original synthesizer drone compositions made by me in honor of the film.  Also included is a super secret bonus disc, an hour long synth composition entitled "Hermione" in tribute to the lovely young heroine who helps Harry out of many a difficult situation across the span of eight films.

Packaged in a wooden box with locking metal clasps, with the discs themselves housed in eight of the traditional Altar Of Waste DVD cases (the soundtrack rework proper in three 5-disc capacity cases and the remaining supplementary materials in their own single and double cases).  Also includes an informational insert.  Released in a very limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  I went to a lot of work to create this package and I think it's pretty damn rad.  I know it's expensive but i truly believe the price is fair considering the amount of music (nearly 22 hours) housed in the boxes and the considerable amount of time it took me to make them.  $150 ppd. in the United States, $162 rest of world.  No trades on this one.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Saturday, July 13, 2013

NECRONOM IV "FROM MALICE, FROM NOTHINGNESS" 2CDr (AOW 119)

All new double album of epic deep space stagnation drone from Necronom IV, this time in honor of Ridley Scott's much-maligned return to the Alien mythology, the epic and far-reaching Prometheus.  "From Malice, From Nothingness" seeks to map out exactly what the title implies: the genesis and birth of the creature we have come to know as the Alien through the indifferent and perhaps cruel machinations of the mysterious and elusive entities known only as the Engineers.  The drones here are far reaching and cavernous, different from those found on previous Necronom IV efforts but heavily indebted to the same void of ideals and anti-aesthetics, an exploration of the human race's undying hubris and lack of understanding.  Intent and the inherent morality (or possibility) of action provide a framework for extermination, an evolutionary certainty cast as apocalyptic maliciousness indirectly via our supposed mastery over technology.  There is no substitute for nature, nor is there any way to truly fight it.  We cannot win, and we will be eradicated.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $27 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

ARTERIAL "THE VIOLENCE" CDr (AOW 121)

Gorgeous and destructive twin guitar fallout courtesy of Arterial, bridging the gulf between drone and noise with a mesmerizing and brutal intensity.  Parts of this album recall the severe feedback meltdowns of a Mogwai encore eviscerated through a jet engine while others recall the drifting serenity of San Agustin and and Sonic Youth at their most placid.  Together they create an incredible statement of intent for the electric guitar, an anti-expanse for the disassociated mind and a severely disorienting bit of hypnotic and sickly textures united with a knowledge of drone aesthetics that would make the heavens bleed.  There is beauty in disfigurement; there is a spectre of immolation and sacrifice hidden beneath the veneer of lucid calm, restless and haunting.  "The Violence" is a breathless and masterful elucidation of the possibilities of the guitar, a deep excursion into the lovely burning heart of electricity.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 30 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CROWN OF BONE "LORD OF ILLUSIONS" CDr (AOW 120)

The third film tribute I've had the pleasure of releasing from the mighty Crown Of Bone, this time in honor of Clive Barker's woefully undersung nightmare noir masterpiece "Lord Of Illusions."  Whereas Crown Of Bone's last two releases with Altar Of Waste have seen the project exploring more textured, screamingly psychedelic, melodic, and expansive approaches to soundtrack revisionism, "Lord Of Illusions" is a total return to scalding HNW primitivism, with Dustin turning in some of his more severe material in honor of Barker's tale of occultic magic and blood ritual.  This record absolutely shreds at your speakers, with masses of distortion and bass textures intricately layered against one another for maximum auditory devastation.  Crown Of Bone's work here reflects the growing sense of detachment from the real that Barker's film so evocatively depicts; as the screaming noise destructionism grows ever more volatile, you begin to recede into the depths of your own mind and float away on the ethereal raft of the possibility entire.  If that isn't a mission statement for HNW then Altar Of Waste has no purpose whatsoever.  Another triumph from one of modern noise's most skilled practitioners.
Altar Of Waste is beyond pleased to unleash this devastating tribute to one of horror's absolute masters.  Crown Of Bone's tribute to "Nightbreed" will follow in the future!  Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $22 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "THE SHINING: DESCENDANCE" 2CDr (AOW 117)

All new double album of reinterpretations of Wendy Carlos's score for Kubrick's The Shining.  "The Shining: Descendance" is a massive rework of one track, "Day of Wrath," divided into two distinct movements, hopefully soundtracking Jack Torrance's elliptical descent into homicidal madness.  There is no gratification here via an eruption into violence; instead this set attempts to create a distinct and palpable sense of growing unease and discomfort, the encroaching dread and maniacal self-loathing that come to drive Torrance to his bloody work rendered into epochal slabs of buzzing and sickly drone.  Like flies upon the flesh after the sticky sweet blood on the walls, a miasma of hallucinogenic bloodlust tempered with the cavernous appetites of a life completely unfulfilled.  Again, all I can ever hope is to do the original work justice and provide worthy additions to the mythology.  Go down deep into the night.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $27 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com