Nekrophile Rekords was an Austrian record label, founded by Zoe Dewitt, then known as Michael Dewitt, that was active during the 1980s. [1]
Nekrophile released eight audiocassettes from 1983 through 1986, collections of industrial and ambient music. Most of this material was subsequently re-released on CD and vinyl through assorted third parties. [2] The label was notable for releasing solo material from Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-orridge (with Stan Bingo), and also for early material by the noted industrial band Coil (with Zos Kia), with the participation of Peter Christopherson, another member of Throbbing Gristle. Dewitt released solo material on the label under two names: Korpses Katatonik, and Zero Kama. The Zero Kama album The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H. is notorious in that, per Dewitt, it is purported to have been recorded in its entirety using human bones and skulls as musical instruments. [3] [4]
The content and design of Nekrophile's releases indicated that its contributors were interested in the occult, particularly with Aleister Crowley and Thelema. Examples of this include the following:
Nekrophile Rekords released the following eight cassettes.
Catalog No. | Artist | Title | Year |
---|---|---|---|
NRC01 | Korpses Katatonik | Subklinikal Leukotomy Aphrenia Spasmophilik Lyssophobo Asphyxia Sinister Lethal Anorex | 1983 |
NRC02 | Genesis P-orridge/Stan Bingo | What's History | 1983 |
NRC03 | Various Artists | The Beast 666 | 1983 |
NRC04 | LAShTAL | Thoum Aesh Neith | 1986 |
NRC05 | Zos Kia/Coil | Transparent | 1984 |
NRC06 | Various Artists | The Archangels Of Sex Rule The Destruction Of The Regime | 1985 |
NRC07 | Zero Kama | The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H. | 1984 |
NRC08 | Ain Soph | Ars Regia | 1986 |
Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.
Thelema is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word thelema is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun θέλημα, "will", from the verb θέλω : "to will, wish, want or purpose."
Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments and punk provocation". The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by members of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza. While the genre name originated with Throbbing Gristle's emergence in the United Kingdom, artists and labels vital to the genre also emerged in the United States and other countries.
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolving from the experimental performance art group COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle made their public debut in October 1976 on COUM exhibition Prostitution, and released their debut single "United/Zyklon B Zombie" and debut album The Second Annual Report the following year. Lyrical themes mainly revolved around mysticism, extremist political ideologies, sexuality, dark or underground aspects of society, and idiosyncratic manipulation of language.
Austin Osman Spare was an English artist and occultist who worked as both a draughtsman and a painter. Influenced by symbolism and art nouveau his art was known for its clear use of line, and its depiction of monstrous and sexual imagery. In an occult capacity, he developed magical techniques including automatic writing, automatic drawing and sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self.
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions artistic collective and lead vocalist of seminal industrial band Throbbing Gristle. P-Orridge was also a founding member of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth occult group, and fronted the experimental pop rock band Psychic TV.
Coil were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance, Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner and Psychic TV bandmate Peter Christopherson, formerly of pioneering industrial music group Throbbing Gristle. Coil's work explored themes related to the occult, sexuality, alchemy, and drugs while influencing genres such as gothic rock, neofolk and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."
Peter Martin Christopherson was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis.
Psychic TV were an English experimental video art and music group, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson in 1981 after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle.
Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton, better known under the pseudonyms John Balance or the later variation Jhonn Balance, was an English musician, occultist, artist and poet.
William Breeze, also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus is an American author and publisher on magick and philosophy. He is the Sovereign Patriarch, or supreme governing cleric, of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), the liturgical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), of which he is the current Outer Head of the Order (OHO), also known as Frater Superior, as well as caliph, the order's international leader. In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.
Chris & Cosey, sometimes known as Carter Tutti, are a musical duo formed in 1981, consisting of couple Chris Carter (electronics) and Cosey Fanni Tutti, both previously members of industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle. Since the release of their 1981 debut album Heartbeat, the group have expanded on the rhythmic ideas of Throbbing Gristle while adding synthesized pop elements to their sound.
"Windowpane" is a song by British experimental band Coil, from their third studio album, Love's Secret Domain.
Marcin "Novy" Nowak - Polish musician, composer, the author of texts, vocalist and instrumentalist. Marcin Nowak is known primarily as a bass guitarist, popularity brought him performances in Behemoth and Vader, as well as Devilyn and Dies Irae, in which he also served as a vocalist and the author of the texts. Nowak also cooperated with such music groups as: Nader Sadek, Spinal Cord, Against the Plagues, Condemnation, Thy Disease, Crucified Mortals; and musicians of the metal scene including Derek Roddy, Steve Tucker, Run (Mayhem), Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), Glen Benton (Deicide), Jack Owen, Richie Brown. Since 2010, he creates own project under the name Road's End.
Transparent is a collaborative release by the bands Zos Kia and Coil.
TG Now is an album by English industrial band Throbbing Gristle. It was released in 2004 through the band's own record label Industrial Records and was their first album of original material since 1982's Journey Through a Body.
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report is the second studio album by industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, released in December 1978 by record label Industrial.
English Qaballa (EQ) is an English Qabalah, supported by a system of arithmancy that interprets the letters of the English alphabet via an assigned set of values, discovered by James Lees in 1976. It is the result of an intent to understand, interpret, and elaborate on the mysteries of Aleister Crowley's received text, Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law. According to Jake Stratton-Kent, "the English Qaballa is a qabalah and not a system of numerology. A qabalah is specifically related to three factors: one, a language; two, a 'holy' text or texts; three, mathematical laws at work in these two."
Astral Disaster is a studio album by Coil, originally released in January 1999 on Acme/Prescription, reissued in 2000 on Threshold House, and then reissued in 2017 through Acme/Prescription.