CORY STRAND "I AM BEYOND YOUR EXPERIENCE: THE NIGHT STALKER" 3CDr (AOW 154)

With Richard Ramirez's death in 2013, the serial murder cult of celebrity lost one of its most vocal and strangely charismatic figureheads.  His passing was felt in the noise scene as well, with many of my contemporaries openly lamenting his death.  Ramirez's exultation was (and still is) incredibly bizarre to me; compared to other serial murders (like Edmund Kemper or Ted Bundy) Ramirez had difficulty expressing himself and explaining the motivations for his crimes, and it seems to me his murder journey wasn't so much driven by true psychological compulsion as it was focused and considered courses of action manufactured to bring about a certain image.  Perhaps Ramirez's true disregard for society is what draws so many people to him; perhaps his alignment with a self-created Satanic path allowed him a feeling of actualization that rendered him beyond any real explanation. 
I personally find Ramirez tedious and incredibly self-serving (as all serial murderers are at heart); his crimes were pointless and callously brutal, and his reflections on his life, if you can call them that, add up to little more than an endless cloud of noxious hot air void of insight.  With other serial murderers an intellectual/psychological blueprint can be created and some sort of understanding can be reached.  With the Night Stalker, there is only a roaring emptiness.
These recordings were created using elements of interviews with Ramirez and snippets of his favorite album, AC/DC's "Highway To Hell," which he would listen to prior to his murders.  I hope these compositions illustrate the intensely violent nothingness that Ramirez projected.
Presented as three separate albums that work as one, along with a bonus disc.  Four CDs of ripping HNW and gigantic swathes of death ambience, in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $43 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

SWALLOWING BILE "GUERRILLA" CDr (AOW 163)

Swallowing Bile has been on a tear as of late, dropping amazing albums on Depravity, Distorted Visions, Repentance, Faith Is Panic, Crystal Lake Tapes, and a wealth of others.  This album, "Guerrilla," Swallowing Bile's first (but certainly not last) AOW appearance, is no different-an amazing four track punisher of rippingly caustic and abrasive HNW dedicated to the noble idea of violent resistance.  Given the political activity in Europe this release seems particularly in touch with the now, a reflection on tyranny and the dedicated underground heroism of those rebellion-minded few who have the fortitude and courage to resist.  It's only a matter of time before our own infrastructure begins to collapse and we're left with no other options than the one Swallowing Bile presents us with here.  These pieces will shred and flay.
Altar Of Waste is proud to release this thundering call to action.  Ethan worked tirelessly to craft a destroyer of an album.  It's intense!
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 20 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $23 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

NAR "ISLAND" 4CDr (AOW 164)

Severely dense and claustrophobic isolationist HNW from Nar, a misanthropic exploration of the self that seeks to eradicate any notion of the outside world over its caustic 5 hour runtime.  Pure void ascension here, nothing hymns to the endless black that are as unrelenting as they are thick with tone and texture.  Beautifully and decadently ambient in the Vomir vein, a hedonistic gluttony of sound that straddles the line between uncompromising brutality and nullifying "eternal music" so well that intention becomes subservient to visceral interpretation, leaving behind only a husk and the total consumption of hours of your life.  Cradle your ears and your psyche, retreat to that private and well-hidden place within the reaches of your own heart, and drop the fuck out.
Altar Of Waste is pleased to offer up this massive set from one of HNW's more reclusive and mysterious entities, a testament to the unwavering sorrow of existence and being.
Packaged in a DVD case with ultra-minimalist artwork in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $33 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

EXTREME CHAFING "EPIDERMAL NEVI, NEOPLASMS, & CYSTS" 3CDr (AOW 154)

Holy shit.  Extreme Chafing's newest album in their "skin disease" series is an incredibly massive brain-melting psychedelic mindfuck of horrific and insane hyper noise textures, nearly four hours of some of the most varied, intense, colorful, and vivid HNW i've heard, possibly EVER.  I could listen to this ten times in its entirety and still not digest everything that Joe the Stache has crammed into this record-it's one of those rare pieces of work that pretty much lays waste to the genre and manages to exist as an iconoclastic convergence of influences ultimately beholden to none of them.  This is pure idea music.  For me this recalls Merzbow and Masonna in equal measure, with a healthy dose of the Rita and Vomir thrown into the mix.  Your brain will be eviscerated and left for psychic mulch after this record gets through with it. 
Altar Of Waste is extremely pleased to issue this first collaboration with Joe the Stache, one of the most tireless and dedicated practitioners of the wall currently working.  This thing is a masterwork, and I hope it will come to be regarded as such.
Packaged in a DVD case with all artwork and layouts by the artist himself.  Also includes an 8-page booklet.  Released in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $33 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

DHAMPYR "THREE EPs" 3CDr BOX SET (AOW 140)

Gorgeous box set physical issue of three EPs from Dhampyr, an unclassifiable musical entity that flirts with all manner of dark sounds, from hallucinatory drug-addled black metal to pastoral psychedelic folk to the blackest extremes of ambient and the psychic kosmiche.  When I wrote to the band several months ago, I was told I could pick out any of the project's albums to release that weren't already in production.  Naturally i gravitated towards doing something large, and when I heard the three linked EPs that form this set I knew what the AOW release had to be. 
Presented here are the EPs "Ave Atque Vale",  "Echo Of Memnon", and "Qabalah of the Papaveraceae", all hazy and vaguely melancholic pieces of blackened blurgaze that recall the shoegaze drift of Tim Hecker and the washed out nightmare inductions of vintage Xasthur.  Eternal loveliness staring into the deadened eyes of the eternal black, a call from the deepest echoes of space.  Night music for your time in the void, a beautiful vacuum of nothingness, regret, and yearning.  Your heart will ache and your sense of self will be recessed.
Packaged as a triple volume DVD set, with each EP having its own artwork and package.  The entire set sits in a black box similar to the Nightmare Castle set, with paste-on artwork on the front.  A limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $43 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

LINDSKOLD/FANTOME DE SANG "WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE" CDr (AOW 171)

My two black metal inspired projects unite on this devastating split of Tolkien-themed hymns to the void.  Lindskold's side, the first new (and possibly last) material I've created for the project in over a year, is comprised of two majestic tracks that push the Summoning worship hinted at in earlier recordings further and reflect a more "traditional" black metal sound, albeit infused with my meandering psychedelic guitar work and blurry noise overtones.  Epic and dripping with depression and darkness.  Probably my favorite Lindskold material ever!
The two tracks from Fantome De Sang represent a slight shift in subject matter but certainly not sound-pummeling BM drums fused to cascading torrents of blackened filth and ugly pockets of noise alongside engulfing stretches of murky ritualistic death ambient.  If you've been enjoying the recent Fantome De Sang work, this will not disappoint.  The evil has awakened-the Lidless Eye looks on, eternal.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $23 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "THE SHINING: ANCILLARIES, VOL. IX" 6CDr (AOW 162)

The final installment in my "The Shining: Ancillaries" series seems eerily appropriate.  "Vol. IX" is my rework of the OST to the meta-documentary "Room 237," a brilliant mindfuck of a movie that purports to be a dissertation on the hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's film but instead becomes a meditation on the nature of obsession itself.  Given my seemingly obsessive need to return to "The Shining" over and over in both my own music and film work, the idea of working with this soundtrack was incredibly attractive.  Also, the OST just flat-out slays, so if you haven't heard it, seek it out (same with the film-it's dizzying.)
My reinterpretation trades the kraut-styled kosmiche of the original soundtrack for a glacial display of hauntingly melodic ambient and drone, a thick, foggy, and incredibly dense set of tonal disconcertitude and psychic secession.  This is deep and dark music for inward meditation, an invitation to create your own interpretations and realities as they relate to the Overlook and the awesome power it holds over film, music, culture, and personal identity.  A fitting end to a long-running engagement with one of my very favorite works of art.
Packaged in a twin volume DVD case with artwork that references my original album of "The Shining" reworks, bringing everything full circle as best I can.  This is a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $43 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "FLATLINING THE SURREAL" CDr (AOW 170)

Third album in a new triptych of recordings created to accompany the release of the "Paris, Do You Speak French?" deluxe edition.  It's more Paris Hilton than you'll ever need (or if you're like me, then maybe it isn't!)  These three albums ("Don't You Wanna Be Totally Hot Like Me?", "Nothing In This World Can Stop Us Tonight", and "Flatlining the Surreal") do go together as a thematic whole, but they can be enjoyed individually as well for those experiencing trepidation.  If you do purchase all three, I will do my best to match the hand-numbering so you'll have a matched set.
"Flatlining The Surreal" is the hazy hallucinatory walk down the neon-lit streets at the end of the night, drunken and vaguely invincible.  Utilizing a bootleg recording of Ms. Hilton laying waste to Kim Carnes' classic "Bette Davis Eyes" at an LA karaoke bar, "Flatlining The Surreal" is a blank stare of a track that suggests beauty but ultimately becomes nothing other than a black hole of sex tape scandal, reality TV filth, and inflated ideas of self.  36 minutes of putrid nothingness to drift away on.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies. $10 ppd. in the United States, $23 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "NOTHING IN THIS WORLD CAN STOP US TONIGHT" CDr (AOW 167)

Second album in a new triptych of recordings created to accompany the release of the "Paris, Do You Speak French?" deluxe edition.  It's more Paris Hilton than you'll ever need (or if you're like me, then maybe it isn't!)  These three albums ("Don't You Wanna Be Totally Hot Like Me?", "Nothing In This World Can Stop Us Tonight", and "Flatlining the Surreal") do go together as a thematic whole, but they can be enjoyed individually as well for those experiencing trepidation.  If you do purchase all three, I will do my best to match the hand-numbering so you'll have a matched set.
"Nothing In This World Can Stop Us Tonight" is a crushing reinterpretation of Paris' single "Nothing In This World," transformed into two expansive pieces of brutally loud ambience and wall-like blasts of unbroken static.  Easily the most uncompromising and intense of the trilogy, this album grants an austere severity to a song that was originally little more than the overt glamorization of an adolescent wet dream (watch the video if you want to see what i mean.)
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $23 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "DON"T YOU WANNA BE TOTALLY HOT LIKE ME?" CDr (AOW 166)

First album in a new triptych of recordings created to accompany the release of the "Paris, Do You Speak French?" deluxe edition.  It's more Paris Hilton than you'll ever need (or if you're like me, then maybe it isn't!)  These three albums ("Don't You Wanna Be Totally Hot Like Me?", "Nothing In This World Can Stop Us Tonight", and "Flatlining the Surreal") do go together as a thematic whole, but they can be enjoyed individually as well for those experiencing trepidation.  If you do purchase all three, I will do my best to match the hand-numbering so you'll have a matched set.
"Don't You Wanna Be Totally Hot Like Me?" is an epic album of ultra-gauzy super-washed out remixes and reconstructions of Paris' single "Platinum Blonde," here stretched out to ambient swathes of burbling melodic infinity and blurgaze roar.  It's kind of like clubbing with Paris while you're bombed out on cough syrup.  Everything seems pretty, but really it's all very empty and nullifying.  Nightlife illustrated in tones of grey.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $23 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "PARIS, DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH?" 4CDr + 2 DATA DVD-r BOX SET (AOW 147)

DELUXE EDITION SPECS: Contains the original 4-disc album "Paris, Do You Speak French?" with each disc packaged individually, with glorious full colour artwork featuring Ms. Hilton.  Also includes 2 data DVDr's: one is Paris' massive 90-some minute DJ set from Ibiza, the second is a full length psychedelic noise rework of said set entitled "Hearts Over Ibiza."  Both are packaged individually with their own artwork as well.  The entire set is housed in a hot pink box with paste-on artwork.  A very limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  It's really one of the most beautiful things I've created for Altar Of Waste, and i am very proud of it.  As of now (3/10/14) I only have ONE available for sale-the rest were reserved in pre-order.  If more become available, i will add them to the shop.  If you are interested in this, don't sleep on it!  $60 ppd. in the United States, $73 rest of world.  No trades on this one, sorry.

"Paris, Do You Speak French?" is my massive engulfing rework of Ms. Hilton's sublime 2013 "comeback" single "Good Time," a song that has grown on me over many, many repeated listenings despite its utter vapidity and inanity-just listen to Lil' Wayne's verse and you'll see what I mean.  In some ways the song is absolutely amazing because it gives the listening public en masse exactly what it demands, but for whatever reason, the single sort of flopped, leaving Paris exactly where she was before-indifferent amidst piles of cash, drugs, and torrid demeaning sex with celebrities.  For me, for reasons that are increasingly difficult to explain to people, I find Paris' musical output to be of significant cultural importance.  This release is my attempt to expand on that idea, as well as to explore new avenues of harsh and beautiful sounds-HNW, ambient, blurgaze, my washed-out remixes, and cold stagnant drones are all well-represented here.  I am still a little amazed at the amount of material i was able to create out of a 3 minute track.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

NIGHTTIME IN THE ABYSS INTERVIEW

Musique Machine has just published an excellent, lengthy interview with Christopher Ropes, aka Nighttime In The Abyss.  It is well worth a read.  NITA's music stands apart from so much other electronic/industrial/noise detritus because it so obviously a personal exorcism of feeling and emotion.  Mr. Ropes' music is unabashedly REAL and infused with a depth of personal attachment that renders much other sonic art woeful in comparison.  As expected, Christopher's replies to MM's questions are incredibly thoughtful and detailed.  The NITA box set will very much be a reality in the future, as will the 2CD Alocer Christus record Christopher mentions in the interview.

http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=334