Friday 3 December 2010

▲NGST - Still Grim Up North!

A few days ago I got sent an email promoting an album called "Still Grim Up North" by an artist called ▲NGST. Now as a big KLF fan this really caught my eye and I quickly downloaded the complimentary free Bandcamp download of the album and set about researching the band.. Hoping beyond hope that this could be a new KLF project in secret!
After a few Google-ings and click throughs I still haven't got much to go on. ▲NGST hails from "Rotterdoom" in the Netherlands and is an artist creating long ambient, doomy, claustrophobic dance music that he labels "Witch house, spirit tech, doomcore and doomgaze"


Still Grim Up north is the "first release (under this alias) by ▲NGST". (So, you know, this is still feeding my KLF fantasies! - first release under this "alias"!)
Just released on the 26th November as limited cassette edition on the now restarted 90's cassette label Orange Socks its also available to buy for €5 from the wreckhavoc shop online here or as a download for €2 from Bandcamp here.
This album is up close and intense, slow and Witch Housey like ✝ DE△D VIRGIN ✝, Untitled ___N___ or ✝ NO VIRGIN ✝, ambient and evil and trip hop like, if trip hop was all about huffing glue and shooting babies. And at points it goes in a slight Breakcore direction with some intense Gabba-esque drum shots. The ▲NGST Myspace is sparse but has all the top Witch House bands like Salem, Mater Suspiria Vision, White Ring etc, as top friends to show (I guess) the angle this project is coming from.
Now after some careful observation I feel that this could be the new project by someone like Dutch jungelist FFF, or someone similar, like its a break away side project or some such.
It's all good intriguing stuff! It is still grim up north and this is a soundtrack to that reality, face the cold winds down and warm the ears in giant headphones as this album wrenches you from any warmth and comfort to a land of ultimate doom.

2 comments:

  1. I'm going to write this up soon too, it's pretty heavy and involcved. Not amateur stuff. Been listening to it a lot this week, and it will be coming up after the UKBM week next week.

    I like the way you keep bringing up KLF as much as possible - the radio played What Time Is Love this morning!

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  2. yeah glad you like it, its good stuff and I like the mystery with it.
    And yeah KLF kick ass so just cant help bring them up all the time.
    I mean what beats this? -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frd5YmSjjII

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