Small Noise
During TXDS, I stayed at one of the artist Airbnbs. One of the many roommates that weekend was the person who runs Malevolent Relics Records (MRR). MRR was one of the many vendors who brought most of their merch to sell at tables during the fest. For them, they also brought their merch in a truck which looked like it could be used for mineralogical surveys. During my time at dungeon synth (DS) festivals I have enjoyed talking to merchants and vendors who are just as much fans and oftentimes musicians. In the catacombs of Elysium, MRR was set up in a corner table shining a flashlight on all of the tapes which were laid out. MRR’s aesthetic is understated as an understatement and when I was handed a tape of Upon the Return of all Radiant Creatures, I was assured by MRR that the design was more dynamic in better light. They were right. I did not see all of these subtle colors since at the time I couldn’t see shit. I found this table fascinating as even in a genre of outliers its merchants seem to be even more outliers. MRR is no stranger to DS but its catalog was more haunted and spectral than something like pipe smoking wizardry or barbarian fantasy. This was something more incorporeal. Much like labels like Attic Shrines, there is something alluring about a haunted aesthetic which offers noise not as a weaponized assault but rather something to be encountered in the ruins of forgotten structures. DS, as a genre, is incredibly haunted so spectral noise is something that isn’t far from here. I saw other people throughout the weekend find their way to this table and I’m sure, much like myself, had their world changed by what they found in the darkness.
I think a main connection (between dungeon synth and noise) is production & release methods. Both genres really grew from people in their bedroom with whatever commercial recording machines of the 80s/90s they could get for cheap just trying to record their visions and get it out the door. the early demo & tape trading cultures really reflect their common origins, with a lot of the physical and sound design ethos being shared (dot matrix printers, ultra cut & paste art, 4 track recorders), contact me addresses printed on the insert, the music growing and changing because one person was making a tape for their 7 trader friends they know only by their addresses and letters, and stumbling upon something odd. I think the modern connection is the same with one person making a tape for their 7 online friends just to see if they can entertain them, and then stumbling upon cool blends of influences. The labels themselves are true believers in strange sounds wanting to get their work and the work of other true believers out there to be heard, whatever means necessary. MRR was inspired by small noise and DS labels that would release maybe 4 tapes in an edition of 10 each, and then just disappear into the ether but leave behind these wonderful sounds.
DS has always been an experimental electronic genre and despite the fact the majority of the music is ambient and calming, its creators are akin to wild eyed alchemists who will drink poison and eat plants to find out its effects. Because the music encourages community participation, celebrates minimal production, and praises fucked up sounds, its potential for someone to try something new is always high. Dungeon noise, as an earnest genre, began to be discussed around 2017. You can read forum posts around the time with people in the genre talking about the potential for this sound to be a genre. As a reminder anything happening in DS at this time was discussed either on this forum or on Facebook since the genre was a few years away from decentralized Discords and in person scenes. While noisy DS predecessors existed throughout the 1990s and the revival of the 2010s, dungeon noise as an intentional genre began with these few people, many of them pioneers in the field, talking about the potential for it to be a genre.
For as much music as DS creates, it also has just as much conceptual discussion as if this was a scientific symposium attempting to discover something new. This small forum post is fascinating because you can see figures like Ranseur, Chaucerian Myth, and Einhorn, all artists who significantly contributed to this nascent experiment, discussing their work like inventors sharing notes. This was also occurring at the time when the DS revival had established itself in terms of aesthetics which means its experimentalists were hard at work tearing it down. Once a genre becomes comfortable, its vanguard seeks to continue to push its boundaries much like a forward team of scouts always looking for new horizons and to sell tapes illuminated by flashlight. While the above anecdote could be the beginning of a widespread dungeon noise genre, the dungeon noise is not as common as one would think. Aside from the genres being conceptually, visually, and sonically compatible, the prevalence of actual dungeon noise is small and relegated to a handful of artists and labels who really get it. This is why I find Upon the Return of all Radiant Creatures, a dungeon noise compilation from MRR, interesting as I feel it is one of the more salient example of artists actively employing the two styles. Either by curating DS artists using noise in their production or noise artists exploring the world of DS, this new compilation might be a watershed moment for 7 very excited online internet friends.
The common thread behind (MRR) releases is a dedication to sounds degraded by analog processes and tape compression. Everything produced is done in house, from layout design to printing to tape duplication. originally opened as a private tape label for friends only, it’s expanded a good bit over the last couple years as interest has grown. MRR welcomes any release that is committed to finding the ghosts in magnetic tape, whether you’re dungeon synth, noise, ambient, whatever. The goal in our releases is to curate a collection of sounds you wouldn’t hear anywhere else, challenging, strange, and beautiful.This comp was an outgrowth of the music I love in the DS scene, and also knowing that a lot of these artists make out there noise projects on the other side of their work. For me, this tape is important in bringing together a lot of the artists that have influenced me and that I’ve always wanted to work with. Of course that ends up with a group of DS tracks filtered heavily through dark ambient and noise production methods. I really asked everyone just to bring us something weird and blend together unexpected sounds. Genres stagnate when there isn’t a heavy experimental aspect to the music. Even if a blend of sounds doesn’t end up working, it’s another shot at expanding the sounds a scene is conscious of. and that’s a lot of the reasoning behind what is released under the MRR banner. Are you doing something new with your sounds either for yourself or a scene at large? I want to give artist’s space to push themselves.
Upon the Return of all Radiant Creatures is the 21st release from Malevolent Relics and first compilation for the label. Over the course of a couple years I have understood noise as a concept much more when meeting the creators and connecting with them personally. Since the audience for this music is much smaller, its fanbase and artist base meld into one group of weirdos in a room full of weirdos. MRR deals in tapes, zines, and CDs all with a highly curated visual aesthetic which reminds me of a time when I bought black metal that was sent to me on unlabeled media in plastic bags. Compilations like this from a label of this nature are intriguing because it isn’t just a roster assortment but rather a group project from mostly new artists. There was an intent for this release as a collective statement.
My interest in this compilation was the tracklist which hosted artists either well known in the DS scene or complete strangers visiting from another world. The identity of these artists varies from known, to unannounced, to anonymous. My time in this genre has shown me the intrigue of mystery but also the understanding that the identities of these artists are secondary and perhaps superfluous to the music itself. Identity is an ambiguity in a world where ghosts don’t have names and even if they did it wouldn’t matter like it would in other places. Upon the Return of all Radiant Creatures is a slideshow of sound with each stop on the carousel a vignettes of a world beyond the real. The music is a tableau which invites each listener to experience which is less of a compilation and more nine stories told from entities of varying tangibility.
Dungeon noise has always interested me due to its openness to anything. While one would think that the music would just be dungeon synth played to the volume of harsh noise wall, Upon the Return of all Radiant Creatures showcases variety with spirit of innovation. While there are certainly noisy selections from Pallid Blood and Ineffable Slime, there is quiet melancholy from Mortwight and Shattered Spirit. This isn’t just noise as a weapon but rather noise as a ritual with the experiences one has when traveling to another world. Roman Master, a very early dungeon noise act, even offers something more akin to hypnosis rather than sonic assault. While Moon In Scorpio aims for unease with dislocated audio samples, Desiccated Hemlock and Bergtatt play music which sounds like its broadcast from beyond the grave. This entire compilation is bookended by Morbærsanger, a custodian who opens and closes the ghastly theatrical production .
I like to think my time spent around these types of labels and artists have helped me shape my understanding of noise and its flirtation with adjacent genres. What I have found is a network of people who operate in the realm of the obscure who trade in Google Drive links or by tapes that you really cant see now because its so fucking dark in here. I like to think of myself becoming a part of those 7 online friends who are slowly forming into a microscene of people who hang around the afternoon at a fest since all of their sets are early in the day. These people don’t really strive to be obscure or misunderstood rather they don’t feel the need to soften their vision for more listeners. I want to thank people like MRR who reach out from the darkness to hand me a tape I can’t look at until later. Dungeon noise might not ever be a big thing but I don’t think its creators are looking for mass appeal rather a close connection between a very small but very conceptual group of artists who all sort of get what everyone is doing.
Upon the Return of All Radiant Creatures is available this Saturday (5/31/25) through the MRR website and the unlisted video stream is below.
Thank you to MRR and the roster of artists who participated for always being weird and never afraid for trying new things.
It was an experience writing this article and listening to this compilation in the morning with my coffee.
See below for some more recommendations from MRR if you were looking for even more music for your next party.
KAP: I want to listen to some really weird things.
I’ll take weird as difficult but rewarding sounds. These things might turn off after 5 minutes on the first try but you go back to when your mind clicks into place. Pauline Oliveros and the idea of deep listening is really influential on me, though I still struggle to get to that ‘deep’ place.
Mirror – Ringstones (Some Fine Legacy, 1999) is longform drone with an intensely creative combination of sounds and timbres. The album a huge inspiration to how two people can make otherwordly tones that evoke a whole chorus of voices. Mirror released a few albums in this style in the late 90s, but this is the most beautiful and haunting.
For some music, the concept is almost as important as the composition. Alan Lamb – Night Passage (Dorobo, 1998) is one of my favorites in a simple idea (wires) taking to the absolute extreme. It is a collection of truly strange sounds sourced from extremely long wires across western australia. you don’t always need a juno to make wonderful music.
Because of John Zorn, i wish i had learned saxophone. his music is just a whole wall of noise. plus the early design work for what he released on Tzadik in the 90s is incredible. Painkiller – Guts of a Virgin (Earache, 1991) made the drummer from Napalm Death leave his band to make weirder music, so that’s cool.