Cipher Productions Ultra-digital computer nerd noise. Sounds better than my description, and how can you not pick up a disc titled after a nunsploitation movie?

Opposite Records
Brand-new, good for you, another killer horror-movie-inspired Thirdorgan disc

Outer Space Gamelan
Thirdorgan is the evil I know, as I saw him play a gig last year or the year before or something. Although I don't really know who "him" is as there was just one guy playing the show but the Wikipedia page says that Tutumimoto Takshi and Nakamura Yoshio ended the Thirdorgan project in spring of 2006 after 16 years of activity. Well, that's a downer. So I guess this, "Satanico Pandemonium", would probably be one of his/their final recordings. It sounds a lot like what I remember other Thirdorgan stuff sounding like - incredibly digitized blurts, static washes and glitchy mayhem. "Intro" begins with that line from Dawn of the Dead about hell being full and the dead walking the earth, which leads me to believe it's going to be followed with some gargantuan death metal blast, but instead the sounds that come out of my speaker sound like a dial-up modem throwing up all the numbers it had ever crunched in its lifespan. Then the four movements of "La Sexorcista" commence, all similar in their matrix attack. The album's built around the 22-minute centrepiece "La Sexorcista B", which showcases Thirdorgan's trademark reworking/deconstruction of a female Japanese singer's pop song. The pure digital overload may grate after 40 minutes and it's never loud or offensive enough to prove an endurance test for the hardened noise listener, but the loopy circuit board tinkerings are disorienting enough for me to make sure this is nowhere near the stereo after the bottle's been passed around.

The One True Dead Angel
It's good to see that Thirdorgan -- one of the more cryptic and interesting of the second-wave Japanese noise units -- is still around and still up to beefy noise antics. What you get here are five tracks -- an "Intro" filled with junk-noise, bleeping and blooping, and other harsh, broken sounds -- plus four longish tracks, "La Sexorcista" A-D, that are essentially longish collage noise jams. This is old-school noise, divorced of any political subtext or misanthropic urges -- in other words, noise for the sake of noise and nothing else. The "A" track is an extended workout in sound collision, filled with static, glitches, noise, and other ugliness; the "B" track starts out as the overmodulated sound of a Japanese pop record -- talk about cognitive dissonance! -- and eventually segues into more noise chaos. The other two tracks are -- prepare to be surprised here, doom children -- more harshnoise-and-static collages. The album's overall effect is not as blindingly harsh and heavy as one might expect from the description, and its execution (and sound) definitely put it squarely in the tradition of second-wave acts like K2, Contagious Orgasm, and maybe even later sonic manglers like Mammal and Kites. Swell sonic ugliness.

Heathen Harvest
Shit, a Noise Album. How the fuck am I meant to review a genre in which I don’t have significant interest? I’ve heard a fair bit of the stuff, but little really leaves me feeling warm after wards. Thirdorgan are Japanese. At least he has that going for him. I can name more Japanese Noise projects than you ever want to hear. Masonna.Left me cold. Merzbow. Interesting but there’s no way I will even attempt to hear all his stuff. Gerogerigegege. Utter Shite. Robochanman. Brutal, and Decent. Not to mention Japan’s ultra obscure, stupidly minimal Sukora. I digress; at least Thirdorgan come from the home of musical sledgehammers. Can’t say I want to hear this though. Anyway, Satanico Pandemonium is Thirdorgan’s ten millionth release (or something) and is on the new and increasingly popular dead sea liner record label. Various other sources tell me that Thirdorgan is actually one of the most popular noise bands on the circuit. I’m not sure what a Sexorcista is, but I definitely don’t want to hear come shots again. I had enough of those in Hilter’s “Sex Films” album. The album starts off ok. The intro is a somewhat clichéd sample, “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth”, is looped, over an increasingly violent sample, before Lucifer comes out of the speakers and inserts 3 burning pokers into your nostrils. Nice rhythmic assaults, static torrents of fury, and no sexual noises. I still have memories of the time I listened to Cock and Ball Torture. There is some seriously wonderful stuff going on here though, unpredictable synthetic squeaks, feedback, before the terror drops to a silent halt and we hear what sounds like an 8-bit arcade machine, with typical funfair computer noises. I can almost vision Angelina Jolie in “Hackers”, sat at the terminal chain-smoking cloves, possessed by the bastard spirit of a Balrog from Moria. My Brain is fucked. In fact the album is quite true to the standards of many Japanoise bands. 4 out of 5 songs clock in at less than 5 minutes in length, and the other one is a 22 minute bastard display of formidable hatred, torment, and the death throes of a hideous snake, coiling up and hissing it’s venom with potent incipit intensity. Let’s not forget the totally out of place and well thought-out quieter moments, several bizarre, almost erotic samples weave throughout here. This; as Noise CD’s go is significantly better than any other I have cared to hear, (Except maybe Control and its bastard offspring, Exsanguinate). All things considered though, I still cannot say I absolutely love it, and I doubt I will be playing it many times in the future. Noise fans however will certainly, certainly enjoy this. Despite the confusing titles, and lack of sexual references, this is easily one of the best Noise album’s of 2006, and it beats its only real contender – Poland’s “Brandkommando”. Enjoy if you can.

Aural Pressure
You know that thought you sometimes get. The one that creeps into your head. The one that needs answering. The one that says "I know of you. I'm sure of it. I just can't place you". I experience this all the time. Getting old is my excuse. Forgetful I've become on a regular basis. Maybe I've got the start of Alzheimer's disease. Maybe not. How the fuck would I know if I did have it. Answer me that one Doc. Thirdorgan. Thirdorgan. Thirdorgan. No matter how many times I say that name I can't get my head to fathom out where I've encountered this artist before. I've searched my expansive record collection. A time consuming exercise. Nothing there. Even checked the old ladies collection. Just in case. Still nothing. Yet the name means something to me. That name has been driving me crazy. One day it will come to me. Too late for this review mind. But one day I'll remember. Until then I've only this CDR to act as a guide. Thirdorgan is the work of Japanese artist Akihiro Shimizu and "Satanico Pandemonium" is the forth release on the highly impressive Dead Sea Liner record label. Another low priced (£2.00, including postage, to you Guv) release that this time falls butter side up on the 'difficult' music side of things. Comprising of 5 tracks and 40+ minutes of degenerated sounds that are a strain on the brain. Which would lead you to believe that I didn‚t approve of this music that Akihiro has created. Far be me to crash your party but nothing could be further from the truth. Starting with a sample from the great zombie flick Dawn of the Dead as an intro the music then descends into a controlled chaos of electronic hisses, static, glitches, sonic manipulation, avant fuckery and noise collages all tightly tethered together. Pandemonium you seek. Seek no further young Jedi. Can you guess whose been watching the old Star Wars films? Witness the cut and paste of some Japanese pop group being pulled kicking and screaming through a mangle. Experience the 22 minute noise holocaust that constitutes the third track and try regaining your composure after that fucker. Hear this man deconstruct music and rebuild it as an aural nightmare given flesh. The lunatics have finally taken over the asylum. Yet one can‚t help but kind of appreciate all the effort put into producing music that is so far off the scale of normality that it flies in the face of all conventional reason. I mean... who in their right mind could get off on this stuff? Well I could... and did... for starters. "Satanico Pandemonium‚ is a gas. A blast. A fucked up piece of work that doesn't take itself seriously. No gung ho political or sexual rhetoric to be found on this little beauty. Just plain old noise workouts for the sake of it. For the sheer hell of it. Which is reassuring in a perverse way. Akihiro Shimizu is your everyday, unashamed and proud of it, artist that creates this type of music for all the noise fans out there. And why not. There's a big market just gagging for more of the same. Akihiro is only delivering what they desire and deserve. Those of a weak constitution should approach with a degree of caution though. "Satanico Pandemonium" will seriously test your patience and fuck you over big time. You'll not find a cheaper introduction to this form of music anywhere. Cheers. I'll drink to that. Ah ha!! It comes to me. I have heard the name Thirdorgan before. I... wait... no... it's gone again. Fuck!!