Back from the dead...
So a funny thing happened on the way from May to October: I got ridiculously busy, sick, busy, sick again…and back around to busy. I realized today that it had been a few months since I’ve been in touch with all of you wonderful people, so I’m gonna do my best to get y’all up to speed.
Actually…that would probably take awhile and be overwhelming, so let’s just break this out into bits and pieces, shall we? Rather than cram everything into one update, I’ll take the next few transmissions to share everything. For today? Today we’ll talk about the resurrection of Philip K. Discs.
If you’re here via the Philip K. Discs Bandcamp store (or maybe the IG account), you already know the deal. But for everyone else, the short story is that after going dormant through the pandemic and after, I decided to revive PKD, at the very least to help some of my friends release some absolutely fantastic music that needs to be heard by a larger audience. One of the main reasons why CM-6 has gone radio silent for this stretch is because of my shift in focus to getting PKD back up and running, coordinating and planning the three releases that are out this year. Two of those three albums are out now, with the third coming out at the beginning of December. The PKD catalogue is sporadic and slowly growing, but one of the things I’m most proud of is that each of the releases so far are simply outstanding. At least, the non-QOHELETH ones are…I leave the critical assessment of my own band’s output to others. I can confidently say that the artists I’ve had the privilege to work with are creating thought-provoking and compelling sounds and it’s an honor to just be a small part of what they’re putting out.
With that said, I simply want to highlight two of these new PKD releases for y’all. First up, Adzes’ INVER. I’ve been a fan of Forest Bohrer’s project since the beginning. As someone who’s been deeply influenced and inspired by the experimental heavy music arising out of labels like Hydra Head and Neurot, hearing Adzes a few years ago was revelatory, hearing someone take those influences and fashion something authentic and new out of them was exhilarating. So when the opportunity came about to help him release his sophomore album (alongside Euphoriadic), I was thrilled. INVER is out now on CD, showcasing Adzes further exploration of the heavy music space, creating space and meditative movements throughout the album.
The feedback on the album has been fantastic:
So take a listen, watch the video I created for “Quietus,” and dive into those interviews and support Adzes.
Lastly, I’m so freakin’ excited to introduce Anabaptists, a previously secret music project that is finally coming into full light. This is the story of two Johns, separated by nearly 500 years, oceans, and continents, but connected through that time and space by a wrestling with the question of religious violence.
In the 2010s, fresh off the release of Domestikwom’s A Peace That Destroys, a brilliant sophomore album journeying through his own Anabaptist ancestors' struggles with violence in the Russian Civil War, Jon Michael wanted to expand the scope of his inquiries. Christianity is correctly accused of often participating and enabling imperialist and colonialist projects, but a closer read of history reveals the complicating stories of people like Thomas Müntzer and The Diggers, whose faith was not driven by the promise of an afterlife, but by the material concerns of this world. Even the Anabaptist commitment to pacifism was not always a constant. This brings us to our second John.
In the 1530s, a Dutch Anabaptist minister, John of Leiden, moved to Münster, Germany, intent on starting a new religious community. Viewed as a prophet, John ran the religious and political powers out of town and outlawed both money and property. This didn’t sit well with neither Catholics nor Lutherans, so they put aside their own fighting to lay siege to the city. Ultimately, the Münster Rebellion was defeated, and the Anabaptist leaders were tortured with hot tongs ripping at their bodies, their tongues pulled out, and murdered with a knife to their hearts. Their remains were placed in iron cages that were hung off the steeple of St. Lambert’s Church.
Armed with these hopeful, yet grotesque and often absurdly violent stories Jon Michael set out to make his next musical excursion a fitting aural companion; a frenetic (and somewhat tongue in cheek) burst into grindcore and noise.
“You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.”
Taking on Leiden’s name as a pseudonym, Jon subversively released Anabaptists with no fanfare, press, or background info in 2018. After brainstorming with him on some fun creative ideas, I’m thrilled to be unveiling Anabaptists to the public on December 1st as the final PKD release of 2023. At 5 tracks and nearly 9 minutes long, this self-titled album will be available digitally and on limited edition custom mini CD-R. Each disc will come in a unique gel-printed, hand-cut/hand-stamped sleeve, paired with a custom print. Preorders start tomorrow over the PKD Bandcamp and y’all are getting the first glimpse at the packaging and art.
Lots more to talk about in the coming days, but for now, I hope you’ll close out this chaotic year with us: tune in, zone out. Enjoy the noise.