Initial Shock

RICHARD RAMIREZ began recording in 1989 and released his first album in 1990 with Black Leather Jesus. The first solo release under his own (and yes, real) name was in 1992 when he started the label Deadline Recordings. RAMIREZ has worked with the likes of MERZBOW, PRURIENT, THE HATERS, THURSTON MOORE, JUSTIN K. BROADRICK, THE RITA, MSBR, ATRAX MORGUE, and others. Gay adult themes are sometimes used to complete the harsh sounds of his work.

THIN MOUNTAIN is a passionate and prolific noise artist approaching 24 years of activity in ensembles and solo works, most recognizably as a long-standing core member of Black Leather Jesus. THIN MOUNTAIN was born out of pandemic gear buying, an obsession with the world created by Weird Horror author Jon Padgett, and a desire to create wall noise that is brutally harsh, but creepy and hallucinatory.

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Reuniting for a special performance this year at the fest is Canadian duo SLIME STREET. Additionally, each member will also be performing solo sets at the matinee show on Sunday.

SLIME STREET was born in the year 2010 when Dallas Kruszelnicki met Jon Vaughn upon relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from Brighton, England. The two immediately bonded over their love of psychotronic horror films, 4-tracks, blazing up, and counter-cultural music scenes and began conjuring spine tingling, sludge infested, supernaturally psychotic soundscapes. Over the following years, Dallas and Jon would perform many times, sharing the stage with such artists as MERZBOW and splitting releases with EVIL MOISTURE and ORLOP, remaining faithful to ‘Slime Street Mondays’ for over eight years. Their appearance at INITIAL SHOCK II marks their first much anticipated reunion in six years since moving in opposite directions, coinciding with the release of their new c60 on Disaster Sources entitled ‘Séance’.

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GREEN MIST is the audio performance of Dallas K, who has been manipulating cassette walkmans and electronics for 20 years. Notable festivals that he has played include No Fun (Brooklyn), Colour Out of Space (Brighton), Glamorama (Antwerp), Sounds Like (Saskatoon), Fake Jazz (Vancouver), and Minimidi (Beijing). After two decades of conjuring up demented tape squelch and heavy doom electronics, GREEN MIST is proud to perform at Initial Shock’s AFTER SHOCK matinee.

JON VAUGHN (they/he) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, independent publisher, and experimental musician living in Regina, SK. They have collaborated with artists such as TIM OLIVE, ÂMES SANGLANTES, TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA, SCANT INTONE and others and worked with labels such as Magnetic Domain, No Type, Panospria and Oral, Flish, Slapart, and Krakilsk. Vaughn has opened for artists such as MERZBOW and THE THING and performed at such festivals as Mutek, send + receive, Vancouver New Music Festival, RE:FLUX, Suoni Per Il Popolo, Rien A Voir, Sight + Sound, and Akousma.

There are no advanced tickets for the After Shock matinee. It’s $10 PWYC at the door!

FLATGREY is the harsh noise and drone project of Lashen Orendorff that began in 2001 in Vancouver, BC and has released over 20 recordings on multiple labels including Brise-Cul, Abhorrent A.D., Absurd Exposition, RunDownSun, and Phage Tapes. Thick and suffocating high frequency electronics.

MOLENA hail from Vancouver, BC and are long-known for crushing noise walls which build and slowly dissolve into violent discourse from field recordings and masonry/metal manipulation. “Barre,” their 2023 collaboration with THE RITA on Absurd Exposition, was well received and highlights the attentive precision of the project.

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DEEP GREY is a laced punchbowl of conspiracy theories, social media, comedy, horror, technology, cultural reference, science fiction and unhealthy obsession, strained through the same lens that for decades noise has used for it’s creation; here we are today, getting high on life. Can you afford it?

“More like a mirror we reflect society…” – Joe Roemer

MURMUR is a noise and experimental music project that has been operating since 2021. Using various sources and methods, the project has released solo and collaborative work on Absurd Exposition, White Centipede Noise, Buried in Slag and Debris, and Tribe Tapes, as well as self-releasing tapes and CDrs and a photo booklet.

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SKIN is documenting, creating and destroying the physicality of fleeting moments. Focused on enshrining the momentariness of sound through fragile cassettes, harsh vocals, one-off lyrics and field recordings. Every performance is distinct and will never be played again, leaving behind an ephemeral experience for those in attendance. Solo power-ambient tape worship from Montreal.

PARASITE NURSE is the solo experimental electronics project of Samantha Hernandez. Established in 2019 in New York City, PARASITE NURSE has evolved from harsh pedal noise to intricate cut up electronics and droning, atmospheric synths.

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ECHTHROS is sheer sonic agony in the form of meticulously arranged industrial/power-electronics, delivering a central theme of ongoing colonial violence perpetrated by the Canadian Government and Catholic Church against the Indigenous Peoples of so-called Canada. Haunting and poignant samples of living survivors of the Grouard Indian Residential School as well as contributions from other Indigenous kin are featured throughout their body of work. ECHTHROS’ storytelling delivers anguish, vengeance, determination, and celebration through a wall of harsh drone balanced with the calm uneasiness of what is to come next. Latest release “God is Love” was released on Iron Lung Records.

DEATH GLAZE arose from the tumult and boredom of 2020. It is the concept of longtime noise, experimental music and horror movie fan, Thomas Brust. Initially an HNW project, it has evolved into something more dynamic while continuing to celebrate the sustained coarse and crunchy textures characteristic of the aforementioned noise sub-genre. On recent works, caustic and overdriven harsh noise is conjured from processed recordings of metal, junk and other detritus. The combination of sonics and thematics which DEATH GLAZE utilizes is meant to be emblematic of the inevitable demise of mankind.

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As INITIAL SHOCK II is only a few months away, it’s time to begin profiling the artists playing the festival this year.

The Nausea combines experimental violin, harsh noise, and soundscapes to create dismal sonic environments. Sounds and textures are created live, and then processed to contribute to the development of live compositions with musical and anti-music elements. Touring an LP out on Absurd Exposition and Buried in Slag and Debris, The Nausea’s appearance at Initial Shock will include material from the debut LP “Requiem” as well as new material to debut at the festival.

Paxillus Succubus, a project blending field recording, industrial noise, theremin and drone, draws inspiration from the spirits of the earth, mushrooms, tree communication through roots, underground waves, and the sky. It explores the symbiosis between urban brutality, industrial zones, ghettos, and the rustling of the forest, with banshees and the laws of nature. Paxillus Succubus shares her life experiences, growing up in working-class neighborhoods, gun shots and violence, surrounded by city noises, finding freedom in the woods during summer, and delving into the human experience in all its cruelty and truth. The work intertwines memories, experiences, and an individual’s role in the world, both in material and imaginative realms.

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