Friday, September 26, 2014

SHIPPING UPDATE.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that all copies of Small Hours "Olivia II" have shipped.  If you've been waiting for other stuff from me as well as the Small Hours, all those orders have been shipped as well.  I would sincerely like to thank everyone for their patience-virtually everyone told me it was okay to hold their orders until the Small Hours came in, so i could ship everything at once.  It helps a lot, especially for shipping things out to my friends overseas.  I'm hard at work trying to complete the massive "Fargo" box sets as we speak-they're a lot of work.  Things might be a little quiet at AOW for the next few weeks as I ready everything.
I am working on a new Fantome De Sang double album as well.  This will be the first FDS recording to feature vocals (not from me.)  Very excited!
I hope everyone that ordered the Small Hours package will be happy with it!  I think it's awesome.

-Cory

Saturday, September 20, 2014

THE EBONY TOWER "1Q84" 6CDr (AOW 232)

New and lengthy work from The Ebony Tower, a very focused HNW project that bases all of its music on great works of literature.  This release tackles Haruki Murakami's recent novel "1Q84"; while I have not yet read the book (although I have read other Murakami works), Mitchell (of The Ebony Tower) told me that it "asks a lot of questions and then doesn't answer them."
The resultant work takes the same approach.  This is incredibly meditative HNW; while on their surfaces the pieces appear to be very static, almost zen-like in their obstinance, deep and intent listening will reveal a dizzying multitude of minute textures and tones at work.  This is one of the best HNW works i've heard in some time, and I am honored that AOW is releasing it-this sort of work is emblematic of the label's mission and aesthetic.  "1Q84" will numb you, sedate you, transport you, and will ultimately allow you ascension and transcendence if you give yourself over to it fully.
Packaged as a triple volume set in double DVD cases, each with their own artwork utilizing interpretive images drawn from passages in the novel.  Released in an edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $35 ppd. in the United States, $48 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com


CORY STRAND "HOTEL CHEVALIER" CDr (AOW 234)

No filmmaker inspired as much division during my time in film school than Wes Anderson.  People either liked or hated him with equal passion.  I was clearly in the former camp; seeing "Rushmore" was one of the cinematic experiences that made me very much want to study film seriously (the other film: Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights.")  While i love all of Anderson's films for their emotional vulnerability and beautiful enclosed universes, none strike me as more heart-crushing and beautiful than his short masterwork, "Hotel Chevalier."  Few films so accurately capture the potent mixture of anger, yearning, and desire that can haunt the memory of failed relationships; few films so beautifully depict the psychological damage those memories can inflict.
This release represents three different approaches to working with the film.  The first piece is an HNW manipulation of the film's real-time audio track; the second is a lengthy death ambient treatment of the film's audio, stretched to a gray and empty evocation of decaying dreams.  The third piece is a blurry, vaguely melodic transformation of Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" as it appears in the film. 
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 "CODA" CDr (AOW 235)

A sort of epilogue piece to my two large Paris Hilton reconstruction sets, "Paris, Do You Speak French?" and "Overdose My Heart."  "Coda" is a blending of the two source tracks used on the big sets (Miss Hilton's "Good Time" and "Come Alive"), transformed into a massive slog of vaguely gorgeous deep ambient sludge blur.  The piece effectively functions as a relaxing end to a severely intense and massive listening experience (if you have both sets, try listening to them plus "Coda" and see how it works.)
This is not my last work with Paris Hilton material, it's simply the end of this particular cycle.  I have tried to create something lovely but nebulous, much as Miss Hilton as with her recent singles.
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

Saturday, September 13, 2014

G'MORK "UNTITLED" 2CDr (AOW 225)

Newest release from Hal Harmon's G'Mork, a project that bases its HNW pieces on the beloved 1980s fantasy film The Neverending Story.  A favorite film of mine as well, I was immediately smitten with G'Mork's debut release on Vagary records, and I approached Hal shortly after to inquire about releasing a G'Mork album through AOW.  Viewed as a noise provocateur grouped alongside Joe the Stache, James Killick, and myself for our nontraditional approach to themes and art in HNW, Harmon's work here is distinctly hopeful but suffused with a penetrating nihilistic sadness that seems to make momentum nearly impossible; the onus is forced onto the listener.  Much as the film The Neverending Story encourages the viewer to find reserves of courage and selflessness within, so too does G'Mork's work, asking the listener to find within themselves the meaning of the work and its relation to their being.  This is an absolutely gorgeous release on every level, and I am honored to be releasing it.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 15 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $28 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "STONER WITCH: A REINTERPRETATION, VOL. I" 2CDr (AOW 233)

First in a multi-volume rework of the Melvins' most widely-regarded album, 1994's "Stoner Witch."  This first double CD reconstruction splits the album into two distinct sections ("ambient" and "rock/noise"), much as the album proper itself.  The ambient disc is another slice of menacing, sonorous drift and drone, daring you to find connection to the album beyond simple comparisons to "Lividity."  The second disc embrace a more violent and "rock" oriented approach (ha!), resulting in a multifaceted 50 minute slog through tone, texture, and sludge, a torrent of vomit and filth that hopefully matches the Melvins' own anticipatory attempt at HNW structures as evinced by "Magic Pig Detective."  This volume attempts to look at the album as a whole; future volumes (i am unsure of how many there will be) will look at each song individually.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $15 ppd. in the United States, $28 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "LYSOL: A REINTERPRETATION" 5CDr (AOW 230)

Rightfully regarded as one of the Melvins' finest and most influential albums (one of the models for my personal guitar tone was King Buzzo's on this record), "Lysol" is drone metal par excellence, a crushing dirge of slow-motion feedback laden destruction that virtually no one has been able to touch since its release decades ago.  In working with the pieces here i have sought to intensify the drone experience the album provides, crafting five discs of extremely deep and glacial tones that achieve a heavenly sort of ambience; the result sounds a bit to me like a more despondent Arvo Part, a neo-classical sort of sound dripping with sorrow and yearning.  One of my best recent recordings, easily, a set of massive constructions to absolutely immerse and lose oneself in.  Beautiful and haunting without sacrificing a modicum of power.
Packaged in a DVD case in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  $25 ppd. in the United States, $38 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CORY STRAND "SONIC SEASONINGS IN HELL" CDr (AOW 229)

Another "evil twin" recording, this one being the extremely dark mirror to my "Sonic Seasonings: A Reinterpretation" release.  This time, I played everything all at once and manipulated the resultant din into a massless piece of ambient menace, which I then re-manipulated into a baroque grand guignol noise symphony.  It's short (about 23 minutes) but extremely brutal and restless; the tones are ever-shifting, unsteady, angry, nebulous, hungry for void.  Wendy Carlos' original recording was already rich with menace, malevolence, and a sort of cautious beauty; this piece pulls more desperately at the violence lurking deep beneath the solstices.
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 "SONIC SEASONINGS: A REINTERPRETATION" CDr (AOW 228)

It's been awhile since I've worked with any Wendy Carloes material, so I thought i'd resume my attempt at transforming one of her most oblique and strange albums, "Sonic Seasonings."  I had tried, quite unsuccessfully, to work with these pieces around the time I was making my "Beauty In The Beast" rework; the pieces on "Sonic Seasonings" seemed to large and unwieldy for me to really transform them in any significant or interesting way. 
This time, rather than working with the album's four suites separately, I bled them all together as one epic piece, and based my manipulations on that.  The result is an epic piece of microtonal drift, full of glacial changes in tone, mood, texture and atmosphere; I feel what i've done with this record aptly reflects Carlos' original vision of darkness and unease spread throughout a year.
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 "UNTITLED PIECES, VOL. II" CDr (AOW 227)

The second volume in my new series could be thought of as the evil twin to the first volume, since I use the same source materials but manipulate and contort them in a vastly different way.  This collection is pure wall, perhaps best described as a mixture of HNW and ANW type textures.  Deep, bassy, and crumbling, bearing none of the melodic overtones that characterize the first volume; these are massive, violent pieces that perfectly reflect the stark and shapeless artwork chosen to adorn the package.  Again nearing 80 minutes in length, these pieces are devastators in every sense.  I don't often make wall noise that doesn't have a theme or some sort of intellectualized conceit carrying it (or maybe weighing it down?); here is another slab of pure sound.
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 "UNTITLED PIECES, VOL. I" CDr (AOW 226)

Inaugural volume of a new series collecting some of my various recordings which have no unifying theme or influence, but are rather explorations and flights of interest for me.  "Untitled Pieces, Vol I." is a highly melodic collection of blurgaze ambient pieces very much in the vein of Tim Hecker (astute AOW regulars will notice by fairly consistent emulation of his sound), but imbued with more of a hollowness and seemingly nihilistic drift, especially towards the end of the album.  If you hear anything familiar in these pieces, it is because the source materials used in their creation is a giant mash-up of songs by one of my girlfriend's favorite bands, Asobi Seksu.  Inspiration is everywhere!  Just shy of 80 minutes in length, this is a massive and haunting assemblage of manipulated sound.
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

Friday, September 5, 2014

SHIPPING INFO/UPDATE.

I just wanted to say that with school starting for me this week and having just gotten a new job, I'm running a little behind on getting packages out.  As you might know, the big multiple disc sets I create are almost always made to order items-i finish the music and artwork and then press each set up/create the packages as I receive orders for them; the process takes a bit of time. I will spend most of this weekend trying to get everything made and packed up, and hopefully sent off by next week.  I appreciate everyone's patience.  Small Hours is at the manufacturer as we speak.  Thanks to all for the continued support.  There will most likely be 5 new solo releases in the next two weeks as well.

-Cory

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

At last, my long-awaited and long-talked about rework of "Halloween II."  I think i first started planning this one after my rework of Carpenter's "Halloween" almost a year and a half ago; i'm sure i mentioned its continuing gestation when i released last year's "Halloween II: Deep Drone Version" as well.
Simply put, these are some of my densest, thickest, sludgiest, most devastating walls.  I wanted to create a record that was completely violent and punishing to reflect the film's emphasis on gore and upping the body count.  As always, if you listen deeply, you can hear ghostly sorts of melodies and tonal shifts moving throughout.  I find this album to be brutal, yes, but also incredibly entrancing and hypnotic, at points reaching a sublime sort of beauty.  A high point in my canon.
$12 ppd. in the United States, $25 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

FANTOME DE SANG "UNE OBSCURITE VAMPIRIQUE DANS LES ETOILES" 2CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY)

Huge new Fantome De Sang double album, easily my favorite work I've done with the project.  This is a big, chaotic, thrashy, punky, metallized slash of severe and disorienting blackened noise destructionism, touching on a wealth of styles and aesthetics.  The nine pieces here reference both the project's nebulous, ultra-blackened formless beginnings and its more current incarnation as a belligerent blast-beat driven approximation of black metal form and imagery.  It's everything you could possibly want from a Fantome De Sang release, and it will wipe you the fuck out.  NO FUCKING MERCY! I love this album and am incredibly proud of every aspect of it!
$12 ppd. in the United States, $25 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

CROWN OF BONE/CORY STRAND "THE THING" 2CDr (OCCULT SUPREMACY)

Split album between Crown Of Bone and myself in honor of one of our favorite films, John Carpenter's masterful blast of Lovecraftian paranoid terror, "The Thing."  Crown Of Bone turns in a massive one track onslaught of scathing, screaming frigid arctic alien noise while my album is a full on rework of Ennio Morricone's score for the film.  My approach on this was similar to the other film-themed splits Dustin and I have done, wherein I allow many of the original OST elements to surface amongst the static and noise.  This is a big trippy set of psychedelic noise washout!
$12 ppd. in the United States, $25 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Monday, September 1, 2014

SMALL HOURS "OLIVIA II" UPDATE + STATIC GOAT INTERVIEW

Small Hours' "Olivia II" super deluxe CDr has now sold out!  Thanks to everyone that ordered it-you made this release possible, and I thank you for your support of Altar Of Waste.  It means a lot to me, and to James Killick as well, that you believe in this project as we do and want to see it complete.  I'll be sending everything off to the manufacturer this week.  Hopefully the packages will be here soon!
Also, Izedis of psych-noise destruction unit Static Goat (and Enbilulugugal) has given a humorous interview to Roger over at Musique Machine.  It's pretty fun; it reminds me a lot of old metal interviews where the artist tries to convince people they're as misanthropic and kult as their albums suggest.  You can read the interview here:

http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=346

Static Goat's "Mental Castration" 2CDr is still available, as is the four way split featuring Enbilulugugal.