Alto Stratus – The Ritual (1989)

Country: England

Tracklist

1. The Golden Dawn 08:34
2. Scrying 11:01
3. The Astral Dark 04:30
4. Bardo Thodol 06:46
5. Ceremony 18:14
6. Trancemission II 04:44
7. Mandrake (The Man Root) 05:07
8. The Captive 15:21

The duo of brothers Alan and Steve Freeman (owners of Ultima Thule label),

spent much of their spare time during the 1980's experimenting with electronics, synthesizers and sound collage,

recording more than thirty releases as Alto Stratus and other projects

like Vrije, Q.S.O., Electric Junk, The Newt Hounds, Biomechanoid etc.
Descriptive of man's rituals and ceremonies, the music on this album attempts sonically to reflect

the calm serenity of meditation, the tense air of the ritual dance and the weird realms of occultist magic 

with synthesizers and sound sampling, to create surreal sound paintings, taking the listener way beyond physical realms.
"The Ritual" was the culmination of ten years of sonic exploration and self-training,

developing their own language as non-musicians.
Recorded over a period of four days, it was one of the few recordings that they took advantage

of the multi-tracking possibilities of a 4 track Teac reel to reel,

so for the first time they could play back and dub live without loss of quality.

During recording the band members immersed their selves in the concept of magic and mysticism, 

engaging in hypnotic and entangled patterns of sound, using synthesizers,

keyboards and sequencers, plus loops and sampling.
Some well-known voices can be heard imparting their wisdom in a repeated looping fashion,

all adding to the ritualistic feel.
The bonus track "The Captive" was taken from the 1985 cassette compilation "A Cage Went In Search Of A Bird".

Memory

Rale – Až Zahřmí (1998)

Country: Czech Republic

Tracklist

1. Až Zahřmí 05:32
2. Přiznání Odysseovo 04:07
3. Řeka 04:23
4. V Každém 03:17
5. Na Niti 04:53
6. Zahrada 07:02
7. Galloping 02:39
8. Žalm Svatojánský 04:18
9. Ve Skulině 05:41
10. Netopýr 02:40

Rale arose in East Europe in the 90s bringing together musicians from folk, world, rock,

improvised, and experimental music backgrounds, retaining the delicate appeal of folk acoustic guitars, 

the complexity of avant-prog, and the distinctive touch of Czech rock.
Formed in 1993, Rale came to life through a chance meeting at the International Music Festival MIMI in Marseille, France.
There the guitar duo from the musical group Dunaj, Vladimír Václavek and Josef Ostřanský 

befriended the Japanese violinist Takumi Fukushima 

(who, among other things, collaborated with Volapük on their album "Polyglöt")

and French-Vietnamese singer and dancer Cynthia Phung-Ngoc.
The four of them sat down to write the material for their first eponymous album that was released in 1994 on Wolf Records.
Their various influences were cemented in East-European folk traditions,

giving the band a sound somewhere at the crossroads of Dunaj,

Iva Bittová (with whom Václavek recorded the album "Bílé Inferno"), and Pavel Fajt's Pluto.
Lyrics were written and sung in English, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Czech, and Japanese

while Phung-Ngoc's voice on record and presence on stage quickly gained the group a cult following in Europe.
The group was later expanded to a quintet with the arrival of cellist Andrea Konstankiewicz 

who she had already played in one of Ostřanský's other projects, the avant-alternative rock outfit Boo.
Two CDs featuring this lineup saw the light of day before the decade closed, "Až Zahřmí" (Rachot Behémót, 1998)

and "Twilight/Soumrak" (Indies Records, 2000) that featured Miloš Dvořáček as a guest on drums/percussions.

Memory

Militia – New European Order (3xLP 1996)

Country: Belgium

Tracklist

1. Natura Magica 12:35
2. Stahlkadanz 01:16
3. Lebensborn 05:57
4. Kampfbefehl 12:03
5. Sieghymne 01:53
6. The Face Of God 07:48
7. Necronomicon 02:33
8. Victory 04:40
9. Maschinenzimmer 11:10
10. Radio Europa 03:32
11. Subterra 09:30
12. Silezia 06:28
13. Pogrom 03:02
14. New European Order 06:15
15. Retrospectiva And Reveille 05:44

Militia is a Belgian industrial band from Bilzen-Rijkhoven in the province of Limburg.
Co-founder Frank Gorissen was active as an industrial music DJ

at the independent radio station Radio Demervallei in Diepenbeek.
For his radio show Radio Militia, he sometimes invited musicians who played in the radio studio.
There he met Jo Billen and together they founded the industrial project Militia in 1989.
In 1990 Jo Billen left the band and continued with his projects Onehouse and The Lama Home Band.
Most of their percussion instruments are made out of oil barrels, old metal parts from cars, machines and scrap material. They combine these self made instruments with conventional drums, toms, cymbals and electronic instruments.
The band members also play a variety of wind instruments (self made and others)

while their live shows are completed with the projection of documentary films and slides.
Militia present in 1996 their first official album "New European Order", a 3 LP set in large fold out cover, 

released by the German cult label Praxis Dr. Bearmann.
In 2017 the album was re-released as a double CD via Old Europa Cafe.

Memory