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