Regarding VIAL III and Cadavres Sonique.
From SEVEN, online,
by JC Smith
Album rating: 5 of 5
Cadavres Sonique is the sonic interpretation of the mindset of its founders (Louis Fleischauer/Aesthetic Meat Foundation, Patricia Cram/Editor, Vial Magazine), one in which dreams, ritual, and the apocalypse of our present times (an apocalypse of hopelessness, of media corrosion and humanity subterfuge via apathy) are honed into three long tracks of immense power that traverse the landscape of the earth, heaven and hell, plying the sampled debris of psychological decay, the corrupt residue of our disintegrating modern times. Their method is nothing less than ingenious, gathering deconstructed samples from over 30 contributors (including The Haters, Instincts, MZ.412, R/A/A/N, Toroidh...), and reconstructing them into miasmal whirlpools of torrential grime, caustic congestion on the highway to revelation. The three tracks unravel like dreams, but with a more ominous sense of unease, melding unique textures in a gurgling ambience fraught with discomfort, flowing through cranial dungeons, in which voices echo and sounds swim in pools of blood and agony.
Track one, "Algor Mortis," opens with the churning bowels of the earth laid bare, rumbling and tearing and haphazardly stitched together with sickened tones and samples that sound confused as much as anything else. The disorientation moves through many stages, never one to simply drone or murmur for long, looped and shifting at every turn. Hesitant nuances of a spiritual origin hover towards the end of the track, but it's never a spirituality of comfort, more of uncertainty. Halfway through track two, "Livor Mortis," spirits howl at the disregard of modern times, ache and moan as a lamentation to the dreadful inevitability of existence with no passion. It's horrific and compelling at the same time. Track three, "Rigor Mortis," the longest track at 24 minutes, includes amidst the torrential sonic onslaught, a multitude of manipulated voices drowning in pools of convolution within the arterial flow dynamics of the sounds, and, finally, devoured by the throaty demonic vocalization and the scrape and growl tenacity of the loop at the end of the track as it swallows...everything! I am reminded a bit of Schloss Tegal's Black Static Transmission release, though the collage construction is even more psychotic here (more contributors = more diversity; sense is molded into shape, as opposed to the ST honed focus. Both discs, though similar, work for different reasons).
Cadavres Sonique serves as a warning, inviting the listener to understand on a deeper level, the worth of Self without the influence of the preponderance of inanities exhibited by the world we all exist in. It seems that the point of this disc is to enlighten via sound, and intrigue via words (both the "Manifesto Sonique" within the foldout - "We are the descendents of oblivion" - as well as the accompanying Vial magazine, a more than intriguing collection of dark philosophy, some poetically inclined, others, slipshod random, just like the dreams they recall) and art (the charred, patchwork artwork, bruised bones and gothic inclinations in beauteous disarray. The warning inspired by the audio dream apocalypse suggests one deny the ritual of the dread existence for the sake of consumerism and cliché, and embrace the ritual of living (LIVING!) beyond the norm, evolving beyond the need and into the realm of flesh and soul: It's time to feel again! Cadavres Sonique is amazing work, highly recommended!
Regarding VIAL III and Cadavres Sonique.
From INDUSTRIAL NATION, issue 19,
by Lisa Swiss
When Vig gave me this magazine and said he saved it for me because he thought I would like it, I asked, "Why? Is it creepy? Is it gross? Is it bloody? Are there zombies and necrophilia and dead things and all that good stuff?" you know all the things that are on my mind when I am in a particularly cheerful mood. All he said was, 'I think you'll like it." So I started leafing through this gravely dark and "Vial" magazine when, if you can believe this, the first sentence I read asked, "Can I kill you and fuck your dead body?" My first thought was, 'Fuck Yeah! This is gonna be GOOD!" My next thought was, "I am sick in the fuckin' head" and I smiled to myself as I skipped off on my merry way to indulge my overactive imagination in the pages of this delightfully evil 'zine. It made my mood go from cheerful to almost disgustingly happy. Home-based in San Francisco, Vial magazine is full of strangely beautiful and disturbing artwork, real nightmares and dreams written like demonic and evil little fairytales, stories filled with fornicating acts of lust and intrigue, and poetic lines that make you ponder our whole existence and what it's all worth. And they do all of this without coming across as pretentious, but instead with honesty, integrity and some slight humor. There are also impressive interviews with gruesome and ingenious writers, artist and musicians such as the writer/ editor Loren Rhoads of the magazine Morbid Curiosity, drummer. Musical entrepreneur Martin Atkins of Pigface, Killing Joke, Ministry, etc., Mortiis, and Charles Latewood. My favorite interview was with artist/ photographer John Santerineross. When the interviewer asked, "What do scars make you think of?" His response was simply, "Sex." Right on. I once dreamed about a spooky and sexy boy that had scars all over his legs. He made me promise that when I am a corpse and still warm inside and slowly turning a shade of blue, my body is his to fornicate…. Oops. Maybe that's a story I should save and submit to Vial Magazine! Anyway, editor and designer Patricia Cram does a horrifically exquisite job on this mag and it's obvious she, and all of the contributors, are very passionate about their dark and evil thoughts. So, my top three favorite things about Vial Magazine? #3 The horrific nightmare "Mirrors Covered in Blood" which contains blood snorting, vampires eating cake, and demons gang raping women. #2 The grim tale "Operation Corpse" about a Goddess with silvery streaks of napalm in her hair who fornicates with a burning female corpse and pees on her to put the fire out. Because of her blatant necrophilia, she's captured by secret service men who threaten to gouge out her eyes and skullfuck her. Eh. Eheheh. They said skullfuck. So, my #1 favorite thing about Vial Magazine? That it exists. Kudos. I am not the only creepy girl out there who doesn't really think nightmares are not scary. In fact, they are embraced.
Regarding VIAL III and Cadavres Sonique.
From PHOSPHOR, issue 109,
by Paul Bijlsma
The Vial Magazine is A4 sized white and black magazine including 60 pages based in San Francisco, which combines themes like morbid dreams and nightmares, apocalyptic poetry, the work of the Italian illustrator and mail artist Claudio Parentela, a story about a mass rape, an interview with John Santerineross, who published an eccentric photographic book entitled Fruit of the Secret Gods and interviews with Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd., Ministry and so on) and Loren Rhoads, editor of the San Francisco-based magazine Morbid Curiosity. The magazine comes together with a CD called Cadavres Sonique. This album consists of one long continuous track full of deconstructed sounds. Cadavres Sonique heads off with deep rumbling by Angelrape and one knows from that moment on that this album will be a devastating journey through your most extreme nightmares and unconscious desires. Over 30 artists/groups contributed to this noise collage, of which Avatar, the American noise formation The Haters, Cold Meat Industry's MZ412, R|A|A|N and Toroidh are the most known. Louis Fleischauer (Aesthetic Meat Front) and Patricia Cram (VIAL) reconstructed the sounds. The result is a combination of dark industrial soundscapes and samples of terrifying screams, as if somebody gets tortured. Ominous electronics fuse with a sample of a bombastic choir. Mysterious voices go hand in hand with mechanical rhythm-like rhythms. Deflowered dreams crawl through a labyrinth of sonic mayhem and aborted hope. Strange ghostly voices lay on top of organic and bombastic synths. Cadavres Sonique tries to reflect the malevolence and neurosis of dreams, as interpreted through definitions of genocide, torture, and our present apocalypse, and they succeed very well at this. This album puts your nightmares in sonic perspective and translates your worst fears into musical output deprived from any feeling of sorrow.
A very strong album for those in control of their feelings.
Regarding VIAL II.
From Psionic Plastic Joy, issue 9,
by Jason Rodgers
VIAL is an exploration of dreams and paranoia. Strange dream logs, the Gysin/Burroughs dream machine, and an interview with Aesthetic Meat Foundation. Filled with interesting surreal imagery, only occasionally using imagery for no other purpose than to look strange. Sort of like a dream, sometimes lucid, sometimes hard to understand, sometimes murky, sometimes a juxtaposition.
