| Slow Death | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | November 1979 | |||
| Recorded | Dec 1978, May 1979 | |||
| Genre | Punk rock, post-punk, industrial | |||
| Length | 12:14 | |||
| Label | Industrial Records | |||
| The Leather Nun chronology | ||||
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| LP cover | ||||
 cover of re-release as LP | ||||
Slow Death, an EP, is the debut release by Swedish rockers The Leather Nun.
Singer Jonas Almquist landed a recording contract for a single with Industrial Records. He recorded "Death Threats" at Bagger Studio engineered by Magnus Bagger on December 14, 1978. In order to record a b-side he formed The Leather Nun in Gothenburgh, Sweden, in February 1979.
The band was road-tested during a festival in March 1979 and then recorded "No Rule", "Ensam I Natt" and "Slow Death" at Chall Sound Studio on May 25, 1979, engineered by Challe Åström to choose from for the b-side.
Industrial Records could not decide and the single ended up a 7-inch EP and was released in November 1979. In the same year "Slow Death" hit No. 1 in Germany's Musik Express Alternative Charts.
The cover art by Peter Christopherson shows the corpse of Roberto Crescenzio, who was killed in a 1977 firebombing. [1]
Compared to the group's later recordings the songs are heavily industrial and abrasive.
When re-released as LP in August 1986 a long live version of "Slow Death", recorded live at the Scala Cinema in London on February 29, 1980, was added as new b-side. The live version featured Genesis P-Orridge on violin and Monte Cazazza on synthesizer, and had been previously released on the Live at Scala cassette by Industrial Records. The songs from the original EP filled now the a-side, but "Ensam I Natt" was exchanged with a different version, previously released in July 1984 on Criminal Damage Records.
The cover art was changed to show a pattern of skulls resembling the shape of the African continent.
The record has not been re-released as CD.
All compositions and arrangements by The Leather Nun.
All compositions and arrangements by The Leather Nun.
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.
Industrial Records is a record label established in 1976 by industrial music and visual arts group Throbbing Gristle. The group created the label primarily for self-releases but also signed several other groups and artists. The label gave a name to the industrial music genre.
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.
Download is a Canadian electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and Kevin Crompton of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members following Goettel's death. Download's music has been described as post-industrial, drawing from the band's genesis as part of Skinny Puppy but also sharing common stylistic ground with such artists as Aphex Twin and Autechre. The primary instrumentation common throughout their albums is a blend of synthesizers and sampled instruments; the music is particularly centered on elements of percussion and rhythm.
Alternative TV are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules".
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.
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.
Unleashed in the East is the first live album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1979 on Columbia Records. It was recorded live over two nights in Tokyo during their Hell Bent for Leather Tour in February 1979. Upon release Unleashed became the band's best-selling album up to that point, reaching the US Top 100 and the UK Top Ten, eventually the album became one of the five Judas Priest albums to gain a RIAA platinum certification. It is the first Priest album to be produced by Tom Allom who would remain at the helm for the next decade for the band, and the last release to feature drummer Les Binks.
Monte Cazazza is an American artist and composer best known for his seminal role in helping shape industrial music through recordings with the London-based Industrial Records in the mid-1970s.
Allegory and Self: Illustrations in Sound is an LP released by Psychic TV in 1988 that comprises a varied selection of their work.
The Leather Nun are a Swedish rock group. Careening from garage rock to goth and pop-rock, Leather Nun became cult heroes in their native land and wide abroad.
20 Jazz Funk Greats is the third studio album by British industrial music group Throbbing Gristle, released in December 1979 by the band's label Industrial Records. It is known for its tongue-in-cheek title and artwork, and has been hailed as the band's best work, with UK magazine Fact naming it the best album of the 1970s, and Pitchfork naming it the best industrial album of all time.
Heathen Earth is a live album by the English industrial band Throbbing Gristle, released in 1980 through Industrial Records.
"United/Zyklon B Zombie" is the debut single by industrial band Throbbing Gristle. It was released in 7" vinyl format in May 1978, through the band's own Industrial Records.
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.
Force the Hand of Chance is the debut studio album by English experimental group Psychic TV, released in 1982 by record label Some Bizzare. The first 5,000 pressings came with a bonus album, Themes.
Dreams Less Sweet is the second studio album by English experimental band Psychic TV, released in 1983. It was the last Psychic TV album to feature co-founder Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson.
Wesley Eisold is an American musician, poet and author. He records music under the name Cold Cave, and runs the publishing house Heartworm Press.
Live 2013 EP is the third extended play (EP) by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released on September 10, 2013, exclusively on Spotify.
