cassette craze chronicles XLI feat. CH'AHOM, DÉLIRANT, DIRK SERRIES, GORGONIS, HAGER/KAPUTT, MIIRA, NEVER SOL, THE MOND and URN

Phew, they keep piling up! Time to spin some tapes again!

DIRK SERRIES - Fog Curtains (2025)

Let's start with the elephant in the room, the one which obviously sticks out in the picture above! Released by Momentarily Records, a label specialized on small cassette releases in special packaging, Dirk Serries' latest(ish?) solo album comes as an unexpected haptic experience in a grey block of concrete.
There's something oddly satisfying about this inconvenient housing which you cannot even fully close. Just holding this solid thing in your hand, feeling its surface - and also being glad that this is not the standard for all tapes.

The music fits the grey colour and just like the concrete surface is a rather textural experience, in which maybe three or four layers of sound keep meandering around each other, just like... uhm... "Fog Curtains". Droning, whooshing, resonating, this is a pure sound experience, the core of Ambient guitar music.

The Bandcamp description actually almost says it all:
"The four songs on the album are a beautiful and captivating journey through a misty landscape. The artwork consists of a self-cast concrete shell and a colourful credit inlay, which perfectly matches the slightly hazy colour of the tape."

One might only add that you probably won't even notice that these forty minutes are divided into four parts, because all changes are very subtle, the principle of organic formlessness never changes. "Fog Curtains" certainly requieres attention and deep listening - yet the album rewards you with a freeing and relaxing sensation not meant to be put into words.

GORGONIS - Choice Paralysis (2025)

A pink mutant cat shooting lasers from its eyes - yeah, this release by Fuzzed Up & Astromoon Records surely caught my attention with its packaging, too. Even though I was at work I immediately checked it out hoping that the music would be good enough to justify ordering it. And damn, this shit is not just good, but absolutely on fire!

Gorgonis from Boston are a big band project with a Rock'n'Roll line-up plus a brass section and additional gang vocals, combining a wide array of styles like Garage Punk, Rockabilly, Horror and Morricone soundtrack music, Psychedelic Rock and johnzornish Avantgarde Jazz to an exciting wild ride that could totally work as the score for a Super 8 Tarantino tribute short film.

Speaking of short: The songs are compactly on point, so the nine tracks don't even add up to a total playing time of twenty-five minutes. But that's just the right length for this fun little album. You can - and should - just always spin it again if you need more. It's a feral, loudly meowing killer!

DÉLIRANT - Thoughteater (2025)

I've already reviewed this deliciously horrifying slab of Dissonant Deathened Black Metal back in February, but as so often with releases from Sentient Ruin Laboratories it took a while until this awesome looking tape became available for a reasonable price in Europe.

And not that this fact needed further confirmation - but yes, Délirant's "Thoughteater", a sonic nightmare in seven chapters, remains of of the sickest Extreme Metal releases of the year. Yet after almost six months I still cannot close my review of this gloriously discordant maelstrom better then I already did, so I'll just lazily copy that whole last paragraph:

"Thoughteater" feels like the horrific freeze frame of the moment Saturn's son realizes that Francisco Goya is making his father fucking eat him alive. What a dickhead! And what a brain-levelling blast!

CH'AHOM - Knots Of Abhorrence (2023)

Alongside Délirant I also purhased a Sentient Ruin tape, which is a little older. Ch'ahom's debut album has been released in 2023, the same year I got the compilation of their first four demos.

"Knots Of Abhorrence" doesn't stray from the band's former path, yet only increases the quality of the German Death/Black Metal group's music. It's still dedicated to Aztec blood cults, intercuts its attacks of dissonant brutality with accordingly ritualistic flutes and percussions - and almost tries to hide its Progressive influences and technical masterclass in a swampy low-fi aesthetic. So if you don't pay attention you might miss that this actually a pretty amazing, atmospherically dense Death Metal killer.

With "Path to Ixtab" there's only one track that had already been released previously, the other five tracks (including the digital only twelve-minute bonus "Ts'Ono'Ot") are all new - or were new in 2023 -, so there's absolutely no reason not to include this in your sick collection of advanced ghoulish insanity.

NEVER SOL - Tell The Sea I'm Coming Back (2024)

From Sentient Ruin Laboratories to a label which dedicates itself even more to tapes, the diverse Czech underground herald Stoned To Death!

A while ago I couldn't resist their friendly discounts, which introduced me to the singer and solo artist Sára Vondrášková aka Never Sol. Her three-song EP "Tell the Sea I'm Coming Back" is based on the full droning sound of the pipe organ, so there's of course no way around comparisons to the great Anna von Hausswolff. And concerning the slowly moving monolithic instrumentals this is more than fair.

Vocally however Never Sol doesn't reach the same eccentric Kate Bush heights, but mostly stays more reserved inside a warm range which reminds me of the lower registers of Angel Olsen.
It's only during the mini album's second half that the singer explores a higher, more mystical and dramatic tone with higher notes. Both organ (plus some added synths) and voice build a huge and intense atmosphere, contributing to a very good release.

Even though I don't feel that Vondrášková has reached her full potential in terms of songwriting yet - the pieces are still missing a certain something to really make them stand out - I can only recommend this tape.

URN - Self Sabotage (2024)

Slovak composer, guitar player and long-time Danish resident (now living in Tuscany) Jakub Volovár released another album of tracks recorded in Aarhus under the moniker URN. And no, "Self Sabotage" isn't much easier to put into a box than "Recitál" from 2019.

Or maybe it actually is? Yeah, especially since with very few exceptions the upright bass and drumming remain stylistically consistent this can all in all safely be labeled as Jazz, even if the guitar occasionally explores other territories like Blues, Flamenco or Experimental Ambient.

Reading the description on Bandcamp I would argue that I don't experience the album by far as depressively melancholic as intended. The vibe of "Self Sabotage" is intimate and most the thirteen tracks seem rather relaxed - at least on the surface. There are subtly interwoven dark undertones. And there are also hints of funkier Fusion on one and rebellious Heavy Jazz on the other side. But URN doesn't approach these influences in a radical way, yet rather introduces everything harmonious and playfully. This whole album by design feels more like an eased juggling of ideas than a presentation of completely finished songs - and that's what actually makes up a large part of its appeal.

An interesting, somehow very private take on contemporary Jazz.

THE MOND - The Mond (2016)

The third Stoned To Death tape of this bunch is clearly the oldest release here. Yet as I am writing this there's still one last copy of this insane live recording available! So if you're a friend of chaotic improvisations between Psychedelic Rock, Avantgarde Jazz and Noise - don't think twice and get it!

The 2016 debut of Experimental maniacs The Mond delivers a very enjoyable take on free musical madness, mainly because the trio's instrumentation of "electrified trumpet", modular synths, drums and keyboards establishes an interesting, recognizable and hands down just cool trademark sound. "The Mond" is not the reinvention of music, but a very fun album for fans of raw Heavy Jazz and pleasently weird soundtracks to stuff falling down stairs.

MIIRA / HAGER/KAPUTT - Split (2025)

Am I saving the best for last? Maybe. I actually don't want to tie myself down on that. Yet undoubtly this split cassette on Nasse Records (limited to fifty copies) is something special.

Side A belongs to the German guitar/drums duo Miira and their twenty minute Post Rock epic "Unfollow Function". It's just amazing how big their sound feels. And this piece is more emotional, sophisticated and dynamic than their previous album "Wellness".  Huge and heartfelt.

Framed by church bells side B belongs to the duo of Philipp Hager (Zement) and Franz Joseph Kaputt, whose even longer track called "Beschluss der Ewigen Anbetung" ("Decree of Perpetual Adoration") is a calmer affair, which mixes a beautiful saxophone with acoustic guitar and Ambient sounds. It feels as if Smooth Jazz was meeting Appalachian Folk under the umbrella of Post Something on a small, softly lit living room stage.

Both sides complement each other perfectly, making this cassette an exemplary split release, which leaves nothing to be desired. 

cassette craze chronicles XXX feat. ASAGRAUM, CH'AHOM, MIZMOR, ORDER OF DECAY, THE KEENING and YOB

I know, as if compiling all thoses end of the year lists wasn't enough, there's still the regular business of tape reviewing going on. Spoiler: It's very likely that you'll see at least one these releases again in a ranking soon.

THE KEENING - Little Bird (2023)

Last heard together with her former SubRosa bandmates, but already split up into The Otolith and her solo project The Keening on the brilliant 2020 "Women of Doom" compilation - but there only with an instrumental piano piece -, Rebecca Vernon is now finally back in full band mode! Which still means that she performed a huge chunk of "Little Bird" herself: drums, piano, organ, hammered dulcimer guitar and obviously vocals, leaving bass the only "standard" Rock instrument not in her hands.
But then there are also harp and many strings, winds and guest vocals, all in vital roles, which helped her to create an amazing album far beyond what was appropriate to expect.

I can't believe how much I missed her voice! That is her actual singing voice as well as her whole artitistic voice as a composer, player and - not to be underestimated - lyricist. Even the most epic song "The Truth", in which she's telling such vivid stories and raising existential questions with so few words, is significatly elevated by its profound poetry.

Musically The Keening continues where SubRosa left off both with their last studio release as well as with their more atmospheric "subdued" Roadburn performance. Vernon also doesn't shy away from possibly becoming more accessible for a wider audience beyond Metal circles without sacrificing her integrity. No, it's not as crushingly heavy as her former band, but it's still definitely categorizable as Doom, in an equally wide sense like you can call it Contemporary Gothic, Alternative, American Dark Folk or simply gorgeous and meaningful music. There's so much to love in these six tracks... but we have five more cassettes to listen to, right?

Speaking of the media, I actually also bought this album on CD, because my tape copy somehow doesn't play as clean as I would like it to - and I also just wanted a version with readable credits and lyrics. So even though I prefer the upright format for the cover artwork, I wouldn't necessarily buy this stunning work on cassette again.

MIZMOR - Prosaic (2023)

Mizmor mastermind A.L.N. wanted to make "less self-indulgent" and concept-heavy music on his new album. Well, I was completely fine with that, but you do you. So for once we're not getting the huge hammer of atheism. And that's ok, since it ultimately doesn't have a crucial influence on the sound anyway. "Prosaic" still gives us four long and devastating tracks of bleak and sludgy Blackened Doom with pained brutal vocals, which will wring the soul out of your body.

I don't have the desire to rank Mizmor's discography here and now, but if you think this is the best album so far I won't object. I'd still take "Wit's End" from the same-named EP over the individual songs here though. Which naturally doesn't mean too much. All of this is peak Doom. Especially the awesome fourteen minute closer "Acceptance" is exemplary for everything great about this band.  

YOB - Elaborations of Carbon (2002/2023)

From Mizmor to a band whose guitar sound and Doom heaviness is quite similar, even though Yob's style of course includes a whole array of different influences plus Mike Scheidt's unconventional, sometimes surprisingly high vocals. Even though on their 2002 debut their style wasn't fully evolved yet, a lot of trademarks like the very dry guitar chugging before opening the sound up wider and wider are already recognizable. And the song length already goes up to seventeen minutes on this album too.

Now remastered and thankfully graced by a new cover artwork "Elaborations of Carbons" still proves to be a worthwhile edition to the inspired quality Doom Metal section of any music collection.

ORDER OF DECAY - Mortification Rites (2023)

More metal, please! How about some nasty Blackened and Doom-infested Death Metal straight from a namless Scottish crypt? The first time I listened to Order Of Decay was by accident, because Sentient Ruin Laboratories had uninentionally put one track from them into the digital promo package for Disimperium's "Grand Insurgence Upon Despotic Altars". It took me a while to even notice that, because both bands for sure have some similarities, and I just thought "Blood Libation" was the odd  somehow less chaotic, more melodic (in the way of Autopsy) and abyssal track.

But luckily there's this whole album, so eventually when I saw it being available in Europe I got this nice and foul tape. These "Mortification Rites" don't re-invent the wheel, but they roll deadly and with malicious conviction. Interesting for anyone who likes their Death Metal as atmospheric as dangerous. 

CH'AHOM - Camazotz Cult (2016/2018/2021/2023)

Moving at least one escalation level up from Order Of Decay we enter the ridiculously extreme low-fi hell of the German-Aztec blood cult Ch'ahom. I'm not even fully up to speed with their infernally grinding Blackened Death emissions, since "Camazotz Cult" isn't the newest actual release, but a compilation of their first four demos, originally released between 2016 and 2021 on one sixty minutes long tape. Most tracks - of whom a couple appear several times in different recordings - bear titles like "Tlacaxipehualiztli", "Path to Ixtab" or "The Breath of Miclantecutli", but on the "Lustfully Sinning For Death Metal" EP they also play covers of the band Sadogoat (later Sadomator), featuring the attempt on most offensive Metal song title "Sexual Metalcoholocaust".

Some of these recordings really sound like most people with prejudices against the medium would imagine a demo cassette to sound, but it's always powerful - and you shouldn't let yourself be fooled by the production or the band not taking themselves too serious all the time to think that this is just utter primitive garbage. Sometimes it kind of is, because it wants to be, but then there are also moments of Slayer soloing, complex contemporary Dissonant Death Metal or Ch'ahom sounding like Morbid Angel on "Covenant". But it's all embedded into very South American underground aesthetics, so at first glance you can think you're listening to some extremely old school Sepultura / Sarcófago stuff, while in truth the band is rather paying tribute to a sound which fits their specific concept. Which also includes long atmospheric drums and flutes intros / interludes for probably ritualistic purposes. 

And if you're a regular reader and think that some parts of this review sound familiar - yes, there are indeed parallels to Grave Desecrator. This rips good.

ASAGRAUM - Veil of Death, Ruptured (2023)

I've seen the two "satanic witches" Obscura (vocals, guitars, bass) and drummer A. Morthaemer twice with additional live members now and I liked both shows. I still didn't expect the new Asagraum studio album to blow me away as much as it acually does.

Most Black Metal releases I love have at least some special gimmick which helps me to explain my affection. "Veil of Death, Ruptured" not so much. The lyrics being partly English and partly Dutch certainly isn't it. Asagraum simply celebrate stylistically pure Black Metal with a great sense for riffs and melodies and the right amount of ferocity in both instrumental performances and vocals. The classic spirit of the genre presented with a flawless recent production, which allows every detail to be detectable, but doesn't  soften up the music while doing so.

With around thirty-six minutes playing time this isn't a very long work, but it has enough to say and does it with a great dramatic curve, where each of the seven tracks (plus one interlude) somehow feels like a rise. The only thing I'm missing are maybe one or two more minutes of the closer "De Waanzin Roept Mijn Naam". It's already the longest song, but it ends a bit too abrupt for my taste. Yeah, that's my whole mighty hammer of critique. Devastating, I know.