2011 Xmas sale !

Oh oh oh ! With Christmas approaching, we decided at Zugzwang Productions to do a special offer on our products, ZZP releases and Distro included.

Every single item available in the ZZP roster and in the tape & vinyl sections of the distro will see its price reduced by 1€ !

Every CD from the distro or the second hand sections,will see its price reduced by 2€ !

Those new prices won't be displayed in the shop section. You'll have to do the substraction yourself. For the second hands CDs, the already existing promotion (-20% for 5 items, -40% for 10 items) is still available, but the reduction will be calculated from the Christmas price. This reduction does not apply on preorders.

This special promotion will end on January 1st 2012. If you have any question about this promotion, please drop me a line at contact.zugzwang (@) gmail.com.

Happy shopping !

Episode 2 of Playing Peeping Tom : Huata - Atavist Of Mann.

Episode 2 of our thrilling series "Playing Peeping Tom", where you can enter the creation process of Zugzwang Productions' trademark : customized packaging warfare.

Still working on the tape edition for Huata - Atavist Of Mann, which is probably the most complex design and creation process we made this far. Everything is going smoothly. Boxcutter and double-sided adhesive tape in hands. It should be available before the end of the year, and probably before the release of CD and vinyl version. Hope you'll like the result ! 

We also received the tapes, that we were lucky enough to find in a color that is pretty close the paper we're using. Those will enter homedubbing soon.

Episode 3 will be about the complete unveiling of the packaging. Stay tuned !

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Preorders still open : 5€ (Europe) / $8 (World), including shipping.

Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !

The saucepan of Doom.

I had to paste over a thousand of these, so don't give me that look, okay ?

Thining the herd.

The Trimmer.

Hours of fun ahead.

Yay.

Episode 1 Playing Peeping Tom : Huata - Atavist Of Mann.

Hi people, today I have decided to try a little something. From now on, in a series called "Playing Peeping Tom", I'll try my best to document all the process needed in the creation of an album packaging. From the first draft made with cornflakes boxes to the luxurious final product, with all the mind-numbing paper cutting, folding, pasting that goes in-beetween.

Considering that I only have two arms and little to no impulse control, I probably won't be able to take pictures at every step of the production. So expect some gaps in the timeline.

So, to begin with our new series, here's as promised a first glimpse of the packaging for Huata - Atavist Of Mann on tape. This is just a part of the packaging, so expect some more surprises about it. And to make things clear, this is NOT silkscreened, but classic black/white prints. For those who own a Open The Gates..., we went to the same shop, so you know it's good. For those who don't, it's good, believe us.

Step 1 was about cutting and tracing the folding lines in these covers. Step 2 will be about abusing a roll of double-sided tape. Oh, the fun we're having.

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Pre-orders are still open : 5€ (Europe) / $8 (World), including shipping !

Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !

Trade from the Cold But Loving Mother Russia

After weeks of wait due to the conjoined laziness of both russian and french postal service, I could finally get my hands on "IT".

"IT" being a trade package from my good russian friend dirt, the mastermind behind QUAGMIRE, home and purveyor of the sickest, dirtiest and most repulsive music from this side of the iron curtain.

This guy already released some RAPE-X, SETE STAR SEPT, HUATA, FISTULA and more... He also makes music as EMOTION OF LOSS, aka the first ZZP release ever !

Here's what he graced me with...

SHAMAN - Ritual Of The Rainforest (Tape)

SHAMAN offers over 30 mn of droning, suffocating ambiant/noise that will get you lost into the deepest entrails of the forest on a moonless night. From the man behind THE WHOREHOUSE MASSACRE.

For its first release, Quagmire worked wonders with the packaging of this little baby. This hand-painted tape comes in plastic case with the artwork pasted on the case, for an absolutely stunning result. Safely packaged in a sealed envelope (the one on the pic is my copy, but the one on sale is still sealed) with a sticker of, quoting dirt himself, "two dirty alcoholics" (and THAT is a selling point).

OINTMENT - Satan's Sandbox (Tape)

This one has been literally dug up from oblivion. OINTMENT was formed in 1989 in Boston, by Big Daddy, drummer of the legendary corrosive sludge act KILSLUG. Before splitting up in 1993, they recorded in 1991 these eight tracks. Twenty goddamn years later, they're finally available. And like every good wine left to stew for two decades, they taste like the piss and vinegar we'd happily drink before going on our sunday morning roadkill spree. Packaged in a bodybag black ziplock bag, with insert and an interview of Big Daddy.

RAPE-X - Paul Stanley (CD)

Harsh noise terrorists legends. Seven tracks based on digital manipulations of the words of Paul Stanley. Layers over layers of speech colliding with harsh noise walls to create an exhausting yet captivating experience.

V/A - Tribute To Seaman Popeye (7-ways split tape)

Title says it all : Tribute to Seaman Popeye, fuck yeah ! The seven bands on this comp go from noise, grind, more noise, sludge, more grind, more noise with samples, more grind, southern rock, and finally more noise. All this in about 15mn. See QUAGMIRE's release page to learn more about the bands.

All these babies are available at our SHOP section, so don't be a fool and buy them all. Guaranteed success next time you show your records collection to girls.

Proud Father album preview ! - "D°S°C° III"

Proud father sent me a "single" from his upcoming album, Hearu Shi no Proud Father (The Death of Proud Father). There's no release date at the moment, but we are working hard on it ! For now you can enjoy this single or, for those who want more, browse through his already quite impressive discography (with a special notice on "March" and "eizo sakushin shu Proud Father").

End of transmission.

SOON ! /// Proud Father - Hearu Shi no Proud Father (C80 Cassette)

Most of you guys probably don't know about Proud Father, from New Orleans, LA. And that's a shame, trust me.

But at ZZP, we're sensible people, and we know what's good for you. Plus it's almost Christmas and stuff, so it's the perfect time.

Yup, the perfect time for releasing Proud Father longest effort to date : "Hearu Shi no Proud Father" aka "The Death of Proud Father". 80mn of tape collages & manipulations, soundscapes, samples, ambient, harsh noise & much more weird sounds.

Honestly, i'm not usually fond of this genre, but Proud Father stuff is absolutely FASCINATING. Carefully orchestrated chaos drips from your speakers. It floods your room softly, like a tide. Glimmering clouds and fuzzy swarms of drone angler fishes lure you in the depths.

Listen to preview extracts here and here.

Preorder should be open soon, as we're still working on the packaging for this release.

SOON! /// Huata - Atavist Of Mann (C70 Cassette)

Second release with the fuzz-zealots of Huata, and this one is a mean baby ! Their first full-length, "Atavist Of Mann", will be available on tape on Zugzwang Productions !

This long awaited magnum opus will be released with an alternate artwork, embodied in a cool, handmade packagings. Limited to 50 copies ! More infos about this packaging soon.

Sonically speaking, Huata crawled their way up from the sewers, leaving behind cohorts of toothless, hysterically laughing tramps and giant cave rats, bathing and hunting in their waste. Their ascencion led them to emerge through the ruins of a collapsed church. Gazing at the sky, all they saw were waves of gleaming steel, vomiting fire on the terrified masses. Slowly, they gathered their instruments, even digging and old organ under the calcinated fragments of a broken cross. And then, began the mass.

And if my prose sucks, you can just listen to "Atavist Of Mann" in its entirety here on how it's about to kick your ass.

Preorders are open ! 5€ (Europe)/$8 (World) including shipping !
Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !
Contact me at contact.zugzwang@gmail.com

By the way, the 2xLP vinyl version can also be preordered here.

Good vibes

Some news regarding Zalhietzli, my noise/ambiant/whatever solo project.

Did my first live show saturday night ! Thanks to Pierre & Elisabeth for the place, Ben & Emilie for the pictures, and to anyone who attended or shared this show.




Some reviews of Sainte Rita on Polar Sunspots, Inb4track and Defeated Sounds. A big thanks to you guys ! By the way, there's only 5 tapes left, get yours fast !


Working on news songs and upcoming shows. Yay !

ZZP-004 /// Zalhietzli - Sainte Rita

My first release as Zalhietzli, Sainte Rita, has been available as a free download on Bandcamp for a few months now. Today, the tape edition is finally available.

These are C-24, limited to 20 copies. As usual, everything is homemade.

Tracklist :
A1 - Juvenile
A2 - Les Incurables
B1 - Sainte Rita




Sainte Rita, or Rita de Cascia, is the patron of the sick, the barren and the widow. Of the lost, desperate and forgotten causes.

This tape should ring a bell for the fans of Swans, Tribes of Neurot, Sunn O))), Monno, Fuck Buttons, and the like.

A big thanks to anyone who already preordered one ! Those are now avalaible for 4€ at the SHOP section.

 

Distro updates

Hi everyone ! A new distro update, this time from a trade with The Path Less Traveled Records (US). A big thanks to him, go check his site, lots of cool stuff !

So, let's see what we have here...

***

These three are releases from TPLTR.



BODY HAMMER - Jigoku
Industrial cyber grind. I'm usually not really fond of this genre, but Body Hammer is still pretty interesting, by adding a lot of ambiant/noise parts.

IMBROGLIO - Sleep Deprivation
Heavy, noisy, chaotic-y. For fans of Swarm Of The Lotus, Coalesce, Today Is The Day

FLOURISHING - A Momentary Sense Of The Immediate World
Technical melodic grindcore with a sense of melody.

***

Fuck yeah tapes !


EIBON - Entering Darkness + s/t EP
Doom metal with hints of black, ambiant, indus...


GODSTOPPER - Empty Crawlspace
Suffocating noise rock. Painful and heavy.

***

And finally, two CDs with some cool packaging.

PULLING TEETH - Paradise Illusions
Holy Terror Hardcore.



SINK - The Process
Drone doom, ambiant, noise. A lot of different stuff, yet very cohesive.



You can buy all these, and much more, at the SHOP section.

Rainy summer news

Howdy boys & girls ! Today, some additions to the distro, with some motherfucking HUMMINGBIRDS OF DEATH ! For those who don't know them, two words merged into one that has to be pronounced as fast and as loud as possible : FASTBLAST.

I must thanks TO LIVE A LIE Records, for this bulk offer that he send me for dirt cheap. Props to him !

As you can see, he also added four xBrainiax - Deprogrammed. I have never heard of them before, but they convinced me in one listen. About half an hour of furious, pissed-off grindcore, get this ! (also 11mn sludge track at the end yay!)

Man, where do I have heard this before ?

On another note, Incurably Optmistic did an incredibly enthusiastic review for Zalhietzli's Sainte Rita, here's some extracts :

"[...] Zalhietzli demonstrates a keen mastery of a large span of experimental and ambient musical elements and creates one of the most real, darkest sounding albums of the year that will stick with you. "

"Admittedly, I'm not even that big of a fan of ambient music but Sainte Rita resonates with the same expertly crafted dark sounds as some of my favorite heavy records like Sunn O)))'s Black One and Earth's Earth 2."


Wow, I'm even a bit embarassed now. A big, big thanks to Tyler for this review ! Be sure to check this great blog, with extensive and very personal reviews. And don't forget...

MAKE ME RICH

ZZP-003 /// Resonance Of Spiral - DEVBLU EP

Resonance Of Spiral's first EP "DEVBLU" is finally available !

This little gem come in 3" CD, in a tiny packaging, but trust me, it is as heavy, crushing and mean as it gets !


Hailing from Japan, RxOxS deliver a sick mix of indus, hardcore, noise and dope beats. It's like a big melting pots of screams, screeches, samples, thunderous basslines, all tied together by a crushing drummachine.

This EP is "only" 24mn long, with 3 tracks, but the first minutes of Shinagire will be enough to set your brain to kill mode. For fans of early ISIS, Godflesh, Tetsuo, Atari Teenage Riot etc.

You can listen to two tracks from the EP here.

The packaging is 100% handmade. Quite enigmatic when folded, it reveals a bigger composition when opened. The sleeve of tracing paper keeps everything together.

Here's some more eye-candy :




Glimpses from the back of the packaging :



The sleeve :



I noticed with Huata's tape that a video presentation of the packaging is good for business, so here you go ! What your hear in the vid is an excerpt of track 2, "The Value Of Knights".

SOON! /// Zalhietzli - Sainte Rita demo (Tape)

Zalhietzli is a personal project I had in mind for several years now, and I am happy to announce its first demo release, Sainte Rita.

Zalhietzli (or ZLTZ, for short) mixes noise, ambient, loops, feedback, soundscape & various sounds manipulations. This first release contains three tracks, for 24mn. You can hear the demo in its entirety on the Bandcamp page.

The demo will be released on tape in september. Limited editions on 20 copies, with handmade packaging, yadda yadda, you know the drill by now. You can already preorder yours for 3€.

Thank you for your attention.

RxOxS coming soon & distro update !

Hello people ! Things are moving here. Resonance Of Spiral's first EP will be out soon on 3" CDs ! Japanese Psycho Crusher industrial hardcore ! For fans of early Isis, Godflesh, Tetsuo & Atari Teenage Riot ! Limited to 100 copies !

This also means that the preorder offer for it (4€ post paid instead of 6€) will be soon over ! Don't miss it ! Here's a preview :



Also, there's a big update on the shop section (Habsyll, Atolah, Ramesses, Negative Reaction, Rumpeltiltskin Grinder...), as I received a trade package from PsycheDOOMelic Records. A big thanks to Mark for being such a nice guy ! Buy stuff from him too !

Stay tuned !

SOON! /// Resonance Of Spiral - Devblu EP (Pro mCDr)

TACTICAL DARK WAVE

FROM HELL FAR EAST NOISE FRONT

2MANCELL TILL DEATH

--

THREE MOVEMENTS

1424 SECONDS

CONTRABAND MANUFACTURING

--

RESONANCE OF FUCKING SPIRAL
COMING SOON

ENLIST

ZZP-002 /// Huata - Open The Gates Of Shambhala

For its second release, Zugzwang Productions is proud to announce the re-edition of Huata's first EP, "Open the the Gates of Shambhala", on tape !

For the few lost souls who have not heard of the Mighty Huata yet, three words : Doom. Stoner. Satan.

The fantastic inner drawing is the work of the very pious ZeroPixelGrind. May Satan bless his soul.

This release is limited to 66 copies, with a special handmade packaging. Here you can catch a glimpse :

Now I know what you're thinking : "wow, those blurry, low-res close-ups sure aren't that informative about something that is probably fucking awesome, as Zugzwang ALWAYS does awesome stuff (even when he does nothing but slacking off)."

So that's why I decided to do a little demo vid of how that rocket science of a packaging works, as a blurry video is always better than a thousand blurry pictures.



You can get yours at the shop section, but be quick ! There's only a few copies left at my store. You can find more on Huata's blog, and soon at Quagmire, Psychedoomelic, Throatruiner and Boue Records.