New releases last four weeks: Industrial/Noise

Review: Originally released on cassette in 1984, Borghesia's Clones album now resurfaces on vinyl courtesy of the dons at Dark Entries. It's a fine glimpse into early electronic experimentation from 1980s Ljubljana, all created using borrowed gear and recorded live without overdubs. The results are an album of hypnotic proto-techno and acid-inflected instrumentals intended for video installations and performances, all of which speak to the raw, pioneering spirit of the scene in Yugoslavia at the time. The A-side has driving club energy, while the flip drifts into more immersive ambient territory. It might be four decades old, but this album still has a visceral impact on mind and body.

Review: Swedish EBM icon Celldod returns to Electronic Emergencies with a new album pressed on striking transparent magenta vinyl. Pa Liv Och Dod is a superbly emotionally charged release that channels the raw energy of D.A.F. and Front 242 while blending dark electronic beats with intense lyrical themes. It has collaborations with Leroy Se Meurt and Michael Zodorozny, plus Anders Karlsson's haunting Swedish vocals exploring death and life's meaning also appear across tunes that are both urgent and dance floor directed. Pa Liv Och Dod will force you to confront fear and chaos head-on while offering a soundtrack that offers some catharsis from it all.

Review: "Random, tense, scary and compulsively fascinating". That's how Chris Connelly describes the period in which the tracks on this album were originally written. As the main man behind some of the most iconic and influential industrial bands in history - Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder.Inc... - he's definitely well placed to make this kind of judgment. And it comes across even more understandable if you grasp the fact he's meaning all that in a good way. Throbbing Gristle should need no introduction, having pretty much written the blueprint for industrial musick in the nuclear age. A sound that screamed "get us out". Combine that oeuvre with this guy, then, and you have something which is uncompromisingly explosive and effective. Not to mention fitting, given half the people on the street seem convinced we're rushing headfirst into another atomic standoff, if not something much, much worse.

Review: Ultra Point Of Intersection Exist is a landmark album in Japan's noise and industrial scene that was created by Ichiro Tsuji in 1987. All these years on, Dissecting Table still delivers a standout and relentless fusion of harsh electronics and mechanised rhythms that echoes the dystopian intensity of Whitehouse, SPK and Einsturzende Neubauten. Straddling noise, industrial and experimental extremes, the album captures the radical spirit of its era alongside peers like Controlled Bleeding and Ramleh and so has long been a highly anticipated reissue or noise fans. It comes with a new design that respects the artist's wishes to forgo the original layout.

Review: Formed in 1975, the British industrial group Throbbing Gristle - Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter, and Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson - had pushed sonic and cultural boundaries over the edge, with their transgressive performances, experimental electronics, and confrontational aesthetics. After disbanding in 1981, TG's reunion in the early 2000s was met with both excitement and skepticism; rather than nostalgia, they continued evolving, creating new works like Part Two: The Endless Not (2007), which managed to scupper expectations beyond the mere expectation that they scupper expectations. This Berlin performance, on the cusp of a new year, captures their raw, improvised power, in the space of five tracks which would be released on the 2007 record. Haunting, mechanical, and utterly uncompromising.

Review: Walhalla Records reissues Underground Wave Volume 4 from its exciting series that helps collect and release minimal synth gems from the 1980. Belgian acts dominate this expertly curated edition, including M Bryo, Schicksal, Ratbau and Bene Gesserit, each contributing tracks that pulse with analogue nostalgia and DIY grit. Schicksal opens the record with 'Power Hate Destruction', an exclusive track that sets a dark and brooding tone. M Bryo's entry is particularly arresting with Mark Burghgraeve's knack for eerie atmospheres. The Arch delivers 'Ice In Your Eyes',, a swirling track said to be their live concert closer in 1988, oozing with gothic tension. Side-B has 'Genetic Factor', a haunting 1982 cut by Richard Zeilstra that evokes early Klinik. Elektronische Maschine adds a refreshing 90s synth pop twist, while 'No Honey From These' stuns with a raw, Suicide-like energy. Paschen's Law channels YMO and Logic with intricate programming, before Bene Gesserit closes things with the mesmerising 'Les Aliens, a track that fuses eerie piano with an Attrition-style evolution. This compilation is a passionate preservation of underground history, led by Walhalla's curator Lieven De Ridder's deep archival instincts and unmatched dedication.