Monday, January 30, 2017

WOUNDWORT "THE BLACK RABBIT OF INLE" CDR (AOW 439)

Amazing, utterly crushing and bleak new HNW project from James Shearman (A Raja's Mesh Men) exploring the world of Richard Adams' fantastic novel Watership Down.  It's one of my very favorite books, and when I first heard this record, i was amazed how wonderful a job James has done in creating the nightmarish atmosphere of unrelenting dread and horror that permeates the novel (and the film; the film's aura of total horror comes through extremely well on this album.)  The four walls here are all massive and devastating, roaring cascades of fuzz and distortion that suggest viciousness, feral primacy, and wide-eyed, totally haunted fear.
I immediately knew I wanted to release this on AOW; it's absolutely astounding, a breathtaking collection of immersive textures and sludged-out severity that does its source material proud.
The record can be streamed in its entirety here:

https://woundwort.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-rabbit-of-inl

Packaged in a DVD case with beautiful artwork by James himself.  (There will be a very limited cassette version of this release on AOW in the future, which will include a booklet of James' drawings for the project.)  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

Saturday, January 28, 2017

UNSER VERHANGNIS "THIS HELL CONTINUES" 2XC60 (AOW 420)

Very pleased to be releasing this epic double cassette set from Peter Keller's (Condo Horro, Dirac Sea) ANW project Unser Verhangnis.  Unser Verhangnis is as dense and tonally unrelenting as Peter's work with his other projects, but the focus here is on much more menacing and suffocating atmospheres of darkness and dread.  Peter describes Unser Verhangnis as "Ambient noise walls for the contemplation of our undoing," a remarkably apt and appropriate description of the sounds offered here.  "This Hell Continues" is comprised of four pieces of complex ANW drift, each one dense with deep distortions and ever-present bass tonalities, and suffused with a deep and crushing sense of emptiness and growing despair.
Packaged as a double cassette set, with each cassette packaged separately with complementary visuals.  As always, beautiful artwork and layout by Peter Keller himself.  A gorgeous set from this fantastic new project.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $36 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

GORDIACEA "IAMWORNSDEYUH" C62 (AOW 434)

Very pleased to be releasing the debut cassette from Gordiacea, a new project that traffics in deep, throbbing, and suffocatingly engulfing bass-laded HNW.  "IAMWORNSDEYUH" is an incredible cassette, with its three walls each giving themselves over to crushing assaults of bass-driven fuzz and cold, distant textural distortions.  Disturbingly empty and hypnotizing, a sort of black hole of dense and cavernous ambience driven to a roar.  From time to time, higher pitched sounds emerge from the density, asserting themselves in desperate cries before sinking back into the bottomless audio muck.  A beautiful layering of sounds.  Truly symphonic in its textures.
The album can be streamed in its entirety here:

https://gordiacea.bandcamp.com/album/iamwornsdeyuh

Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

SHADOWPIERCER "I HEAR VOICES, I FEEL FINGERS, I SEE SHADOWS" CDR (AOW 454)

So very pleased to be releasing a new Shadowpiercer full-length on AOW, after the stunning 2016 set "Martyrs."  "I Hear Voices, I Feel Fingers, I See Shadows" is an equally massive assault of textures, tones, and dead and buried melodies (or lingering memories of melodies, destroyed and decayed, rising into consciousness like ghosts), masterfully arranged by Dakota for both extremely unsettling and beautifully hypnotic effects.  As always with Shadowpiercer, the walls here are thick and crumbling, dark and dense to the point of distortion implosion, utterly catastrophic and desperate, crackling and falling apart.  Layers and layers of sound; symphonic distortions.  When i first heard this record, I knew I wanted to release it on AOW.  Dakota continues to be one of the most creative and distinctive voices in HNW right now.  I hope 2017 will see several more of his releases on AOW!
The record can be streamed in its entirety here:

https://shakhburz.bandcamp.com/album/i-hear-voices-i-feel-fingers-i-see-shadows

Packaged in a DVD case with beautiful artwork and layout by Dakota.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

THE FLESH, FULL OF BLACK SAND "ASHES ROSE INTO THE SKY AND MIXED WITH FALLING SNOW. EVERYTHING TURNED DARK WITH BLOOD AND THE ASH-GREY SNOW." 6CDR (AOW 455)

Gorgeously hollowed out and depressingly beautiful deep ambience from Dakota of Shadowpiercer.  "Ashes..." is an epic-length drone composition spread across six distinct movements that make full use of stereo mixing and panning; across its runtime the listener is carried into a disorienting Stygian void of gloaming roars from an abyss hidden in shadow and obscurity.  The work here is patient and cosmic, yawning itself open and exposing itself the horrors of the world.  Shot through with sadness, yearning, desperation, fear, and a frightening vulnerability, "Ashes..." is a true journey, full of beauty, awe, and terror.  Listen in the dark, alone, with headphones.
The album can be streamed in its entirety here:

https://darkdreamflesh.bandcamp.com/album/ashes-rose-into-the-sky-and-mixed-with-falling-snow-everything-turned-dark-with-blood-and-the-ash-grey-snow

Packaged in a six-disc capacity DVD case, with lovely artwork and layout by Dakota.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $30 ppd. in the United States, $46 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

ECHOLALIAC "STELLA GLOW" 3CDR (AOW 438)

Sophomore AOW release for Echolaliac, returning with an epic new set of beautifully varied and richly textured HNW compositions crafted from the soundtrack to the visual novel game "Stella Glow."  With 15 compositions spanning three lengthy discs, Echolaliac demonstrates the same penchant for textural variety and exploration that made the debut album "Symphonic Rain" so arresting and mesmerizing.  There is an astonishing range of sound on display here, from crushing HNW assaults to queasy electro-throbbing disortion sludgewaves to distant and cold shivering HNW/ANW hybrids.  An intricately and methodically composed work of dense complexity.  Very happy to be releasing this one!
The record can be streamed in its entirety here:

https://echolaliac.bandcamp.com/album/stella-glow

Anyone who purchases the physical album through AOW can redeem a digital version of the record from the artist.  This version includes a second version of the entire album, with the OST samples edited.  Instructions for redemption will be sent along via AOW with purchase of the physical.
Packaged in a triple DVD case with gorgeously colorful artwork.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $20 ppd. in the United States, $36 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

SUMBRU "DESTROY" C60 (AOW 442)

New full-length cassette from Sumbru, a project from the ever-creative Julien Skrobek.  Though a relatively new project, Sumbru has already turned in some absolutely devastating HNW masterworks (including the epic "Afterlife Signals," one of my fave releases from 2016) that showcase a more aggressive and crushing approach than some of Julien's other active projects.   "Destroy" does exactly what its title suggests: utter and complete HNW terror.  Across two massive and yawning walls of unrelenting thickness and bassy fuzzed-out distortion, Sumbru channels a certain sort of black metal aestheticism in regards to the violent qualities of the walls.  This is wallmaking at some its most brutal, simple, and focused.  Totally primal and caustic.
Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

STARE DECISIS "MONTGOMERY VS. LOUISIANA" CDR (AOW 382)

AOW debut for Stare Decisis, an ANW project whose work revolves around important and precedent-setting legal cases.  The five pieces that make up "Montgomery Vs. Louisiana" are minimalist, challenging and hyper-focused explorations of severe and isolated textures, resulting in an epic suite of disorienting and menacing distorted lull.  Totally engulfing.
The album can be streamed in full at:

https://staredecisis1.bandcamp.com/album/montgomery-v-louisiana

If you purchase the physical copy of this album through Altar Of Waste, the artist will give you a digital download of the album as well.  Instructions for redemption will be sent along via AOW to purchasers.
Packaged in a DVD case with ultra-minimal art and layout.  Released in a limited edition of 10 hand-numbered copies.  $10 ppd. in the United States, $26 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com