A N E M O N E T U B E

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Anemone Tube
DEATH OVER CHINA

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Format: CD
Release date: 1st of June 2011
Cat. no.: TP024 | stx.11
Label: Topheth Prophet (IL) & Silken Tofu (B)
Ltd. edition: 731 copies, hand numbered
Packaging: luxurious 5 panel folder with metallic/black print, 19 x 14 cm, packaged in transparent bag
Artwork by: Anemone Tube

Promo teaser video

www.topheth.org

www.silkentofu.org

Tracklist:

1 Black death rise 7:25
2 I shall forever invoke 6:56
3 Prayerwalk 5:17
4 Brooding haze 7:06
5 The announcement (Death over China) 10:56
6 The descecration from within 7:30

Playtime: 45:00 minutes

notes:
All music recorded, edited and mixed by Anemone Tube between July 2007 and December 2009. All music solely created with field recordings made in Nanjing and Shanghai 2007, additional synthesizer used only on “I shall forever invoke” and “Prayer walk”. Mastered by James Plotkin 2010.
Poetry by Anemone Tube 2008-2009.
Graphic design by Anemone Tube 2011. All photos taken by Anemone Tube in China 2007, except photo of advertisement facade taken by Jan Ciecierski, ulysses and the sirens painting by H.J. Draper, 1909, historical photographs taken ~ 1905 in Beijing documenting the last public execution utilizing leng tch’e.

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PRESS RELEASE

One year after the highly acclaimed "Dream Landscape" CD ANEMONE TUBE returns with the new concept album "Death over China".

No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take, if at all possible, decades to undo. China`s rise as an economic power has no clear parallel in history; thus, its pollution problem has shattered all precedent developments.

"Death over China" is a retaliation of nature against humankind. In the same moment it is a dedication to our untamed curiosity for the essence of death and our (inherent in our collective action) secret death wish. In China`s uncompromising economical and social development we see demonstrated, how we - even with the immolation of our health, environment and tradition - are the servants to material progress. Though we are aware of the approaching ecological disaster, we hazard the consequences. Sustainability is sacrificed on the altar of egoist quest for happiness. We consume, we destroy, we thrive, we conjure: "Deathly kingdom of desire, you sustain the life in me, Black death rise!"

Using field recordings, collected in Nanjing and Shanghai in 2007, ANEMONE TUBE creates an unsettling yet intriguing, apocalyptic soundtrack with a sinister atmosphere and a depressive undertone - a unique blend of dark ambient, post industrial and power electronics in the tradition of European industrial music.

"Death over China" is the second part of "The Suicide Series", for which field recordings provide a conceptional basis. In a poetic way ANEMONE TUBE combines analytical realism of the phenomenal world with buddhist psychology and nihilist rhetoric influenced by the works of Michael Haneke, Hayao Miyazaki, H.P. Lovecraft and Yukio Mishima.

All music recorded between July 2007 and December 2009. Mastered by JAMES PLOTKIN 2010.

Definitely ANEMONE TUBE`s best and most mature album yet.

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REVIEWS (EXCERPTS)

“Only one year after the magnificent ‘Dream Landscape’ the new Anemone Tube album ‘Death over China’ is released and exceeds all expectations.”
IKONEN MAGAZINE, July 2011

"... Effectively Anemone Tube achieves a sound that spans the divide between ‘academic’ experimental material and ‘underground’ industrial territory. Likewise within this context Anemone Tube have achieved a particularly unique sound, which these days can be a challenge to say the least within ambient/ industrial spheres."
NOISE RECEPTOR, Richard Stevenson, February 2013

"... an ambitious artistic statement realised in sound and images from Anemone Tube. (...) I’d be tempted to align this with many other noise records that push the “apocalypse culture” buttons, but Anemone Tube’s distinctive sound-art here is dramatic and powerful and very creative too. (...) An exceptionally strong and unsettling work."
THE SOUND PROJECTOR, January 2012

“Anemone Tube uses field recordings masterfully (...) A combination of brutal, grim noise, recorded sounds, spoken word and machinery turned into heavy, slow rhythms (...) ‘Death Over China’ is painfully alive, bursting with an agonizing tension. It grips the listener with admirable force, never letting go until the 45 minutes of the recording are over. Rating: 5/5"
HEATHEN HARVEST, October 2011

“Excellent work of noise art."
VITAL WEEKLY, July 2011

“I played this album 5 times without removing it from my CD player. And it still makes me want to listen to it again. I'm a sucker for loops and physical sounds."
SPECIAL INTERESTS, MIKKO ASPA, July 2011

“Individuals who look for a soundtrack for the creeping end of the world must not miss this masterpiece."
KULTURTERRORISMUS, June 2011

“To say it in one word: BUY! Rating: 9/10"
CONNEXION BIZARRE, August 2011

“A masterpiece of its kind."
ART ABSCONS, July 2012

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REVIEWS

"Although a 2011 release ‘Death Over China’ is the latest from Anemone Tube and an album I had read a number of very positive reviews about before checking this out myself. This also constitutes the second release in a trilogy which commenced with the ‘Dream Landscape’ album from 2010. Conceptually the album is focused on China and from an analysis of the track titles and various cover photos (included within the beautifully designed DVD sized 10 panel cardboard fold out cover), it appears to be making conceptual commentary on the negative cultural and environmental impacts of rampant industrial development and progress experienced in China over recent decades.

At its most simplistic level the sound of ‘Death over China’ is very much one rooted in a sphere of dark ambient and heavy industrial, which edges towards power electronics territories during a couple of segments. However such a statement effectively ignores the means of how this album was constructed and composed. Interestingly the album’s liner notes states that all music was solely created by field recordings made by the artist during a trip to China in 2007 (specifically Nanjing and Shanghai), with additional synthesiser elements added to only two of the six album compositions. This sort of dedicated concept for the construction of the music makes the overall sound and atmosphere of this album all the more remarkable.

Of the six varied album tracks they each take a multi-layered approach to composition, where recognisable field recording elements (car horns, passing traffic, police whistles, loudspeaker/ radio announcements and general urban chatter etc.) are looped in combination with other less recognisable distortion and static driven sounds to achieve vague soundtrack like movements. Likewise with new looped elements being continually introduced, the atmosphere is one that morphs and builds in tone and intensity as the tracks progress.

With the sound source predominantly consisting of field recordings it engenders the album with a varied and interesting tonal quality, which is rich and unique when compared to dark ambient and industrial material that is reliant on synthesised and computer generated sounds. Effectively Anemone Tube achieves a sound that spans the divide between ‘academic’ experimental material and ‘underground’ industrial territory. Likewise within this context Anemone Tube have achieved a particularly unique sound, which these days can be a challenge to say the least within ambient/ industrial spheres.

With is central reliance on field recordings ‘Death Over China’ avoids the pitfalls of the field recordings which can come across as unnecessarily abstract or academic. Anemone Tube has also successfully realised the concept of utilising field recordings as a instrument and in the process has executed an album which is intricate and tonally varied, yet highly listenable. With its complexities and nuances this warrants and demands multiple rotations and detailed attention."

(Noise Receptor Magazine, Richard Stevenson, February 2013)

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"Death of a thousand edits: Also worthy of the epithet “intense” is Death Over China (TOPHETH PROPHET TP024 / SILKEN TOFU STX.19), an ambitious artistic statement realised in sound and images from Anemone Tube. Anemone Tube is a latterday Industrial noise musician active in Germany since 1996, and he has collaborated or performed with Shift, Sudden Infant, Christian Renou, and William Bennett of Whitehouse, among others. This release is packaged in a luxurious fold-out card device decorated with a gallery of the creator’s photographs from his trip to China, along with some archival photo material including the notorious Leng Tch’e photographs from 1905, and verses of grim poetry about “Black Death” also penned by Anemone Tube. I’d be tempted to align this with many other noise records that push the “apocalypse culture” buttons, but Anemone Tube’s distinctive sound-art here is dramatic and powerful and very creative too. Apparently it’s all made up of field recordings from his trips to Nanjing and Shanghai, and synths are only used on a couple of tracks; he builds up suffocating walls by making numerous loops and layers from his materials, piling it on relentlessly until the effect is overwhelming. Yes, the atmospheres he builds can be as menacing as that of any given “transgressive” music made after 1979, but I sense there is also something quite complex and unknowable taking place here, as though he had managed to capture the darker spirit of contemporary China in his tapes like spirit photographs, and is bringing that darkness to the surface through his layering, looping and editing. I’m not advocating that all field recording work ought to emulate this approach, but it is a very unusual and effective method. It works particularly well on tracks 2 and 3 which are spectacularly chaotic, reflecting urban sprawl as a hideous nightmare and depicting a modern Hell worthy of Bosch. But ‘Brooding Haze’ has a terrifying air of menace constructed mainly from sounds of the wind, and ‘The Announcement’ allows some audible English phrases to bubble to the top of its seething cauldron of churning loops; we hear a voice repeating “there is life, there is hope”, a sentiment which is completely at odds with the overall pessimism and uncertainty of this track (and indeed the entire release). An exceptionally strong and unsettling work."

(The Sound Projector, Ed Pinsent, January 2012)

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"In einem Land, in dem Turbokapitalismus sich mit einem autoritären Regime paart, sind die Konsequenzen für die Umwelt katastrophal und weithin dokumentiert. Verglichen mit dem in einer Reihe von chinesischen Städten zu atmenden Miasma, das Atemluft zu nennen ein Hohn wäre, mutet Manchester zur Zeit der industriellen Revolution wie ein Luftkurort an.

Der zweite Teil der so genannten „Suicide Series“ des deutschen Projektes ANEMONE TUBE – der Titel bezieht sich auf das selbstzerstörerische Verhalten der Gesellschaft, in dem sich ein „geheimer Todeswunsch“ zeige -, dessen erster Teil auch auf diesen Seiten besprochen wurde, konzentriert sich auf das Land der Mitte, dessen Facetten im Innern der großformatigen Verpackung durch eine Reihe von teils kontrastierenden Bildern illustriert werden: Buddhastatuen, jedoch auch Baukräne, Wälder, aber auch eine Häuserfront voll Werbung für westliche global player, (überraschenderweise) den von den Sirenen bedrängten Odysseus und schließlich drei Bilder, die die letzte öffentliche Ausübung der so genannten Leng Tch’e-Folter dokumentieren und die einen nicht unerheblichen Einfluss auf Batailles Vorstellung des Ekstatischen hatten (und von denen das berühmteste Foto einige vielleicht vor einigen Jahren im Kino in der Apotheose (und der Überschreitung wie auch dem Endpunkt?) des zeitgenössichen “Terrorkinos” (Stiglegger) Martyrs sehen konnten).

Dabei bestehen die Stücke – bis auf zwei Ausnahmen – lediglich aus Feldaufnahmen, die der Musiker 2007 in Shanghai und Nanjing gemacht hat. Gleich der Opener „Black Death Rise“ mit seinem Chaos aus Stimmengewirr, Verkehrsgeräuschen und einem auf-und abschwellenden Dröhnen illustriert das geordnete Chaos der die Straßen dieser Städte bevölkernden Menschenmassen sehr gut. Auf „I Shall Forever Invoke“ wird das Wirrwarr durch eine im Hintergrund spielende nur zu erahnende Klangfläche ergänzt: Stimmen rufen, schreien, rezitieren inmitten des Durcheinanders. Auf „Prayer Walk“ werden die Feldaufnahmen durch am Synthesizer erzeugte analoge Noisekaskaden ergänzt, wodurch sich das Stück (bedingt) Power Electronics annähert (aber besser ist). Bei „Brooding Haze“ glaubt man sich in einer Fabrikhalle, man hört erneut Stimmen(gewirr), Presslufthämmer (?). Verglichen mit diesen Stücken mutet „The Announcement (Death Over China)“ ruhiger, weniger hektisch, fast schon meditativ an. „The Desecration from Within“ beginnt mit einem Sprachsample aus Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, bevor inmitten des Lärms die Stimme des Musikers auftaucht, die vielleicht das künstlerische Programm, die Intention dieser Veröffentlichung verbalisiert: „I am the mirror of your disguise/the desecration from within/I am…your decay“. Durch die recht dominante Stimme knüpft dieses Stück vielleicht noch am ehesten an traditionelle PE-Projekte an (leichte ANENZEPHALIA-Einflüsse hatte ich schon auf dem Vorgängeralbum ausgemacht), aber wie auch schon auf „Prayer Walk“ ist die musikalische Umsetzung wesentlich gelungener, weniger vorhersehbar und an keiner Stelle epigonal. Das wie schon der Vorgänger von James Plotkin top gemasterte Album ist unbequem, im besten Sinne des Wortes, es hat (zum Glück) wenig Unterhaltungswert, was es auch wahrscheinlich nicht haben soll. Oftmals sind noch so vermeintlich atonale Alben durch Rhythmus oder vorhersehbares Instrumentarium und wenig überraschende Topoi weitaus weniger störend und transgressiv als das die jeweiligen Künstler (und Fans) wahrhaben wollen, auf „Death Over China“ beeindruckt jedoch wie fast ausschließlich aus der Montage der Feldaufnahmen dichte und differenzierte Klangwälle geschaffen werden, die ein unangenehmes Gefühl hinterlassen (auch dann, wenn man nichts über das Konzept weiß). Die Stimmung, die das gesamte Album durchzieht, wird in angemessener Weise durch das (hier allerdings in der englischen Übersetzung abgedruckte) Zitat aus Dürrenmatts Die Physiker illustriert: „Eine Geschichte ist dann zu Ende gedacht, wenn sie ihre schlimmste Wendung genommen hat.“

(Black Magazin, MG, July 2011)

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"Nur ein Jahr nach dem großartigen „Dream Landscapes“ erscheint nun mit „Death over China“ das neue Anemone Tube Album und übertrifft alle Erwartungen. Optisch wurde der Longplayer an das Format und Design seines Vorgängers angepasst und kommt im ausklappbaren Digipack. Das Cover zeigt eine Photographie einer von Schmerz entstellten Skulptur, die eines der Themen des Albums vorwegnimmt – den menschlichen Körper.

Den Informationen im Inlay entnimmt man, dass das Werk fast ausschließlich auf der Basis von Field Recordings komponiert wurde, die 2007 in Nanjing und Shanghai aufgenommen wurden. Lediglich zwei Stücke greifen zusätzlich auf einen Synthesizer zurück. Im Falle des zweiten Tracks „I shall forever invoke“ wirkt dieser als untermalendes Ambient-Bett und hält die collagenartigen Sound-Fragmente mit ruhigen Harmonien zusammen. Ansonsten regiert auf „Death over China“ die Dekonstruktion. Die teils bis zur Unkenntlichkeit verfremdeten Field Recordings arbeiten gegeneinander, zersetzen sich, und lösen sich auf. Im Hintergrund laufen Sprach-Samples, die weder inhaltlich verstehbar, noch einer eindeutigen Provenienz zuzuordnen wären. Das Sounddesign ist sehr aggressiv angelegt und deutlich power-electronics inspiriert, bleibt allerdings ausgewogen und deckt meist größere Frequenzbereiche ab. Beim Hören werden Emotionen von Beklemmung bis Unwohlsein evoziert, die durch die unverständlichen und realitätsentfremdeten Vokal-Passagen nur noch verstärkt werden. Im fünften Stück „The announcement (Death over China)“ findet das Album seinen vorläufigen Höhepunkt und kulminiert in einem sich immer wieder wiederholenden Sprach-Loop, der sich einem Bohrer gleich in die Gehörgänge fräst. Hier werden Beklemmung und Bedrohlichkeit so stark, dass sie eine fast physische Dimension erreichen.

Die Körperbetonung des Albums kann nicht nur im Cover gefunden werden, sondern zieht sich auch durch die zahlreichen Photographien und Bilder der aufklappbaren Mappe. Neben einem Gemälde des englischen Malers Herbert James Draper (Ulysses and the Sirens) kamen ausschließlich Photographien aus China zur Verwendung. Diese in schwarz/weiß und gold abgedruckten Illustrationen sind ähnlich dem warburgschen Bilderatlas angeordnet, entstammen unterschiedlichsten Kontexten und lassen doch Assoziationen zu der uns so fremden Kultur zu. Dem Körper wird, mit der in gleich drei Abbildungen gezeigten Leng Tch’e Folter, ein besonderer Raum zuerkannt. Diese 1905 auf Bild gebannte Form der Hinrichtung wurde dem westlichen Publikum zuerst durch Georges Bataille bekannt, der diese Darstellungen in sein Werk „Die Tränen des Eros“ aufnahm. Seit dem findet dieses zum Symbol für Transgression gewordene Motiv immer wieder seinen Niederschlag vielen Werken, wie zuletzt im Spielfilm „Martyrs“ (2008, R: Pascal Laugier). Dass diesem Bild hier nun religiöse Abbildungen gegenüberstellt werden, eröffnet eine assoziative Verbindung zwischen sakralen und juristischen Prozessen und problematisiert deren Interdependenz.

„Death over China“ gewinnt durch diese Verschmelzung intertextueller Verweise und Zitate und ordnet sich so in einen Diskurs ein, der kulturelle und spirituelle Grenzphänomene fokussiert. Akustisch und visuell liefert Anemone Tube hierzu einen fruchtbaren Beitrag auf hohem ästhetischem Niveau. Das Album macht die thematisierte körperliche Grenzerfahrung erlebbar und auf einer emotionalen Ebene spürbar. Ein wichtiger Beitrag in umfassend gelungener Ausführung – sehr empfehlenswert!"

(Ikonen Magazin, Patrick Kilian, June 2011)

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"Asche über mein Haupt, dass Anemone Tube bisher nicht im Kulturterrorismus Erwähnung fanden, dessen neue Arbeit “Death Over China” fast ausschließlich auf Feldaufnahmen beruht, deren Ursprung in Nanjing und Shanghai liegen, welche brillant die Vergeltung von Mutter Erde gegenüber der menschlichen Rasse in Szene setzen bzw. vor Augen führen.

Mit Topeth Prophet (Israel) & Silken Tofu (Belgien) publizieren zwei renommierte Manufakturen die zwischen 2007 und 2009 entstandene Publikation “Death Over China” des in Berlin ansässigen Projektes Anemone Tube, das in einer edlen Pappverpackung, die das gewählte Thema mittels perfekt ausgesuchter Bilder eindrucksvoll vor Augen führt.

Kein anderes Land als China zeigt besser wirtschaftlichen Aufstieg (wie den daraus resultierenden Wohlstand) und gleichzeitigen Verfall, der sich an katastrophalen Menschenrechten, Zerstörung der Natur usw. widerspiegelt, welcher letztendlich im totalen Untergang (Wie er ausschaut? Keine Ahnung!) endet. Im Endeffekt kann Mutter Erde dabei zuschauen, wie wir die Menschen uns selbst ausrotten (gleich einer Art Todessehnsucht!), den alle Naturkatastrophen sind hausgemacht. “Death Over China” bildet zusammen mit dem Minialbum “Dream Landscape” (2010, Silken Tofu) den Auftakt zur “The Suicide Series”, die sich auf analytischem Realismus, buddhistischer Psychologie & nihilistische Strömungen der sich auf die Autoren Michael Haneke, Hayao Miyazaki, H.P. Lovecraft & Yukio Mishima stützt wie begründet. Passend zum Kontext erschuf Anemone Tube auch selbst ein paar Zeilen, woraus das folgende Zitat stammt:

Insgesamt eine spannende Thematik, deren Anfänge meiner Ansicht nach im alten Rom liegen, das eine ähnliche Entwicklung durchmachte wie Deutschland (Wir sind im letzten Stadium Dekadenz und Verfall) aktuell, welche irgendwann auch auf China zutrifft, die sich im Gegensatz nur rasanter wie extremer selbst hinrichten.

Aus musikalischer Sicht präsentieren Anemone Tube mit „Death Over China“ einen sperrigen Industrial/ Noise Soundtrack, der zu 99% aus verfremdeten Feldaufnahmen besteht, wodurch den Konsumenten ein fiktiver Spaziergang (basierend auf Originalgeräuschen) durch die Städte Nanjing & Shanghai erwartet, welcher unverblümte Einblicke in die dort vorherrschenden Zustände gibt, die im Kopf einen schleichenden Tod versinnbildlichen. Vor allem die große Bandbreite an unterschiedlichen Sprach- wie Tonsamples machen aus diesem erdrückenden Opus ein Licht für Freunde der anspruchsvollen Geräuschwelten, aber auch für Industrial- wie Noise Fetischisten, zu deren Favoriten besonders Formationen aus den Häusern Malignant Records & Tesco zählen. Wer nur die absoluten Schmankerl der Szenerie sammelt, kommt um den Kauf von “Death Over China” (limitiert auf 731 Exemplare) nicht umher, das alleine aufgrund seiner Ausdruckskraft (welche total vereinnahmt) zu den Anwärtern auf die “Platte Jahres 2011″ zählt.

Fazit: Individuen, die nach einer Vertonung des schleichenden Endes der Welt suchen, sollten sich dieses Meisterwerk “Death Over China” von Anemone Tube faktisch nicht entgehen lassen – meine absolute Empfehlung."

(Kulturterrorismus, Raphael Feldmann, June 2011)

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"Anemone Tube is a noise-project formed in the Southern part of Germany in 1996. Strong influences to the compositional approach of the project is the nihilistic rhetoric works of Michael Haneke, Hayao Miayazaki and H.P. Lovecraft combined with buddhist psychology and concrete sounds from the real world. All tracks of this album titled "Death over China", are exclusively developed from the use of field recordings. The piece "I shall forever invoke" is the only piece where there are integrations of synthesizer. For this particular piece the synthesizers adds a nice atmospheric soundscape on the background of field recordings. The piece "Prayer walk" is an abrasive beast where the noise drones makes a pure impact on the listener. Screeching noise drills into the ears with additions of distant voices adding a great apocalyptic atmosphere to the piece. Also the piece titled "Brooding haze" drills a deep impression into the listener thanks to the monotonous high frequency noise-sounds operating on top of crushing power electronics and concrete metal sounds. "Death over China" is a part of the so-called "Suicide Series" - a series that aims to express the self-destructive tendency by the modern population due to the social and highly industrialized global development. The album comes in a beautiful art-work in dvd-sized format with early photographs and paintings from early 20th century. Excellent work of noise art."

(Vital Weekly, NM, June 2011)

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I'm glad to see AT is getting more attention that it used to. To me, this album is one of the proof how modern technology can work well for experimental music when used well. Anemone Tube has nearly completely abandoned synthesizers and focuses on treatment of field recordings. Clarity and texture of various sounds recorded in his trips in China perhaps could not have happened in times when portable high quality gear was expensive and perhaps too big to carry in your pocket. Possibilities to edit and layer sound on software allows many possibilities to fail, yet also many possibilities to adjust and take care of every detail.

Despite sources being a collection of every day life, we aren't talking of academic sound art. Death Over China is most of all post-industrial release... whatever that means anymore? It's structure has more common with genres of dark ambient, death industrial and such, but simply textures of material is much more interesting than the traditional keyboards and rhythmboxes. Extensive usage of loops and effect heavy processing still allows the natural sounds come through, and this is absolutely the strength of this album.

It may carry the cinematic feel, occasionally nearly soundtrack type atmosphere, but isn't cheesy. Cover is like previous album. Multi-panel DVD size cardboard sleeve, with golden printed poetry, photos related to the music. I played this album 5 times without removing it from CD player. And it still makes me want to listen it again. I'm sucker for loops and physical sounds. If one has to go and find negative sides, perhaps next time Anemone Tube will be able to create pieces with more drastic shifts or modulation within the track itself. This is often faulty of digital layering, where density of loops may appear to be enough, but after repeated listens, you feel the hand crafted unpredictable movement to unknown ending of track would be nice. Instead of elements just being there until song ends. Almost like it started.

(Special Interests #6, MA, July 2011)

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Behind Anemone Tube is SH, a gifted musician who might not release much, but always astonishes with the sounds that hit the street as well as his live-performances.Being a co-production between the Belgian Silken Tofu and the Israeli Topheth Prophet, ‘Death Over China’ is actually the first full-time album since 2001 by Stefan alone. In between he did release some collaborations – one of them with none other then Christian Renou of Brume fame – and only last year a mini CD with DVD were released by the before mentioned Silken Tofu.
So a full album, being as beautifully designed as this one, gives us high expectations. And all of them are without any doubt fulfilled to the maximum. 45 minutes are divided into 6 tracks and starting with the first tones in ‘Black Dead Rise’ we are guided by an obviously gifted musician through a part of the world where things aren’t as they seem.
The music is a combination of well chosen / found / recorded sounds, beautiful pads and sounds in well arranged compositions, topped with aggressive and intriguing noises of unknown origin. The constant shifting of layers makes each track a little party in your brain, because at the moment you think you’re “in”, you notice there as been changes in other perspectives or layers of that track you’re listening to.
‘The Desecration From Within’ is the final track of the album and from a combination of drones, ambient and noisy soundscapes which made this album a beauty to begin with, suddenly the music turns almost into power electronics! With this last track Anemone Tube shows us that he is capable of way more then what we could expect to begin with.
The field-recordings were recorded in China on a trip SH made in 2007. That same trip was the time when he made the pictures which form the base for the artwork, which shows his professional background / daytime job as a graphic designer as well.
To say it in one word: BUY!
[9/10]
(Connexion Bizarre + Witte Ruis, Bauke van der Wal, August 2011)

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"Anemone Tube is a German project which started out in 1996, and is counting several releases and collaborations between 1997 and 2003. After that a 7-year break ensued, and the project appeared again in 2010 with “Dream Landscape”. “Death Over China”, co-released by Israeli label Topheth Prophet and Belgian label Silken Tofu, follows immediately after that, signifying a new era of productivity for Anemone Tube. It’s a limited edition of 731 hand numbered copies, and it comes in a 5 panel folder with a 19 x 14 cm metallic/black print, packaged in transparent bag. In the artwork is included the painting “Ulysses and the Sirens” by H.J. Draper, a photograph by Jan Ciecierski, poetry by the artist, various photographs taken in China in his 2007 trip, as well as historical photographs taken around 1905 in Beijing, which depict the last public execution employing the especially cruel method of Leng T’che (the slicing of parts of the body, with the purpose of torturing the person to the extreme, and delaying the penalty of death). Now these are extremely shocking photographs, certainly not for the fainthearted – you have been warned!
“Death Over China” is comprised entirely of field recordings made during the artist’s trip in China in the year 2007, more particularly in Nanjing and Shanghai. Additional synthesizer is used only in “I Shall Forever Invoke” and “Prayer Walk”. Despite the manipulation done on the field recordings, the original ambience of the places is retained, to a degree where a complete traveller’s impression can be conveyed through the album. A somewhat distorted impression for sure, and one that digs too deep under the surface for comfort, but an impression nonetheless. Its trademark is a combination of brutal, grim noise, recorded sounds, spoken word and machinery turned into heavy, slow rhythms. Other unidentified sources provide a multi-layered complexity. A distinctive trace of dark ambient melodies lurks ominously in the background, giving a cheerless, despondent tone to the whole. Anemone Tube uses field recordings masterfully, reaching down into their inner core, surgically removing and replacing the various elements to bring to the surface their true spirit.
“Black Death Rise” begins calmly with traffic sounds from a nearby street, and slowly introduces us to the rhythmic use of found noise sources. Harrowing screams can be discerned in the background, and a monotone male voice loops over the rhythms, resembling the hypnotic chants of an urban shaman. “I Shall Forever Invoke” begins with the utilisation of patterns very similar to the previous track, adding more layers and cautiously increasing its volume, while the sharp metallic sounds and its fiendish melody inhabit an imaginary scene. In “Prayer Walk” a female voice loop prevails, repeating a public announcement. A guide from beyond, it carves a path through an infernal, frightening landscape, while static noise moves frantically, imitating the howling of the wind. “Brooding Haze” is an entanglement of many different sounds engaging in a demonic dance, the back and forth of its tempo resembling the ebb and flow of the tide of souls, the internal heartbeat of the city. In “The Announcement” the dark ambient elements of Anemone Tube’s music are more easily perceptible, as the track contains the least amount of noise in comparison to the rest. Droning and voice samples create a varying, desolate landscape, a ghostly emptiness from where occasionally spring the remnants of hope. A hope soon to be irrevocably crushed in “The Desecration From Within”, a massive wall of rhythmic death industrial, the grandiose, military air and relentless repetition of which cry out “utter annihilation”. Undoubtedly the best track of the album, and one of the best I’ve ever listened to. In the unlikely occasion of the rest of the album failing to grab your attention, this one surely will.
The combination of Draper’s paintings with the title, the overall atmosphere and the disturbing pictures of public torture, facilitates the apprehension of the concept. Death hovers over China like the ancient, eternal creature that he is, and the impressions he receives surpass the boundaries of time, in an admixture of past, present and future. Locations are haunted by their historical significance, countless little incidents, and just as many big ones, all merge under the darkness of Death’s wings. His presence can be actual, metaphysical or symbolic, can be distinguished in an individual as well as a collective level. It is found in the demise of matter, the corruption and decay of human flesh. In pain, chaos, confusion, fear. In the crushing sounds of an insatiable industrialisation, replacing memories with structures, beauty and natural order with mechanical production, human nature with its hybrid counterpart, a creature half-engine, half-man, carried away by Death’s alluring song, merging with the functions of the machine. Because the demands of life are also the demands of death, what is born must necessarily expire. Death is the ultimate ruler of all. We must necessarily succumb to life’s charms, and the moment we do so the idea becomes reality, the image becomes matter. Each beginning is indeed, an end.
That is of course, an interpretation based on my own imagination – you may very well apply your own. The fact remains however, that “Death Over China” is painfully alive, bursting with the agonizing tension of such an understanding. It grips the listener with admirable force, never letting go until the 45 minutes of the recording are over. Its devastating voices, hopeless atmospheres and stifling, crushing noise are parts of the monstrous, roaring machine that destroys everything in its path, laying its wheels sluggishly on the dusty, blood-stained ground. The screams of the perished souls pierce the air in a hellish crescendo. Despite the fact that extinction is sure to follow, you cannot help but be enticed, and willingly, even excitedly, approach it.
Rating: 5/5
(Heathen Harvest, VITRIOL, November 2011)

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"Je plaat als motto een citaat van Dürrenmatt meegeven: "A story is not finished, until it has taken the worst turn", ga er maar aan staan. Wie vrolijk rondhupst op zachtmoedige deunen zou per nu de back-knop gebruiken. Alhoewel: was je hier dan überhaupt geweest, gezien de titel alleen al?
Na Dream Landscape van vorig jaar is dit het tweede deel uit Anemone Tube's reeks die The Suicide Series heet. Verder is hij vast een heel aardig jongen hoor, vast. In zijn field recordings zoekt Anemone Tube echter de zieke kanten, dood en verderf op in de vorm van noisy cityscapes. Dat piept en knarst en toont een wereld van voorwaarts ploegende machinerie, ten koste van alles; waarin de mens als bijproduct van een zogenaamd welvarende samenleving in krottenwijken en andere deplorabele toestanden niets anders rest dan suïcide.
Let wel: dit is de context die Anemone Tube zélf biedt en, overigens, ook overweldigend indringend laat horen. Hij exploreert de dood en de doodwens inherent aan menselijke ontwikkeling, volgens hem. Hij slaat terug met bijna onmenselijk geluid, dat de nieuwe mensen natuur is, per se; versterkt en vervormd. Deze muziek koppelt tegelijk nihilisme aan boeddhisme aan analytische research en overpeinzing. Het resultaat is loodzwaar, piepend en krakend in zijn voegen; zwart, naar en naargeestig. Mishima en Haneke hebben hun sonische gelijke gevonden.
Dit is geen muziek voor een kaarslichtdiner of een voospartij op de bank. Dit is geen muziek voor feesten en partijen en het is maar helemaal de vraag of Anemone Tube met deze immense hoeveelheid 'noise' zijn doel weet te bereiken: op zijn minst een eye-opener te zijn ten overstaan van het verderf en daarmee ook een agent in een call for action. Wie wel houdt van een fikse mep diepgelaagde power-dark ambient is hier aan het goede adres en beleeft minimaal een ear-opener van jewelste."

(Kindamuzik, Sven Schlijper, June 2011)

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Een stijivolle goudenopdrukop en witte achtergrond van een buitenmaatse CD-verpakking contrasteert sterk met de bekiemmende dampen van de inhoud die je hier te consumeren krijgt: diesel (luchtvervuiling), wierook (boeddhisme) en bloed (openbare executies): Anemone Tube heeft deze reeks van releases met uitsluitend gemanipuleerde veldopnames "The Suicide Series" gedoopt: de mens wil materieel hogerop en is bereid zijn natuurlijke omgeving [en dus op termijn ook zichzelf) daartoe te vernietigen. China waar alle klankopnames gemaakt werden, fungeert als symbolisch voorbeeld. In elke seconde van deze gelimiteerde CD is de stress en de vuiligheid tastbaar en proefbaar. De drones lijken op trillende uitlaten tussen de andere vervormde straatgeluiden, de drukke stemmen verwarren ons en alles Iijkt kapot: metaal piept en schraapt alvorens het finaal wordt samengeperst. Dit is industriële muziek in de meest letterlijke zin van het woord. En de dwingende manier waarop zowel de vocalen ('l am the floating wreck that drifts towards your end') als de loops van stemsamples (een kruising tussen een stationsomroeper, reclame in een supermarkt en een politieke toespraak) worden afgeleverd, zal zeker worden gesmaakt door Iiefhebbers van power electronics genre Anenzephalia. 'Death Over China' drukt ons pijnlijk met do neus op de feiten maar blijft nihilistisch slim uit de buurt van het hypocriete opgestoken ecologische vingertje. We zijn allemaal schuldig, en de doodstraf die ons wacht hebben we dubbel en dik verdiend. (www.anemonetube.de)
( Gonzo Circus Magazine, PV, September 2011)

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Review in Russian: red here
(Maeror3, Sergey Oreskin, July 2011)