Bong-Ra - Black Noise (2025)

With some Godflesh/Ministry industrial vibes, today we have Bong-Ra and their latest exercise in dissonance “Black Noise”. Featuring nine tracks of aural abuse, this release takes the band to its roots while still unleashing Doomy and Industrial craftiness. Masterminded by Jason Köhnen, this outfit always pushed the boundaries of music, and the listener’s comfort levels, so make sure to strap in for this one.

Starting with the crushing “Dystopic”, we are transported back to the early days of Ministry and Godflesh as the craziness of this release starts to unravel. Packed with crafty riffs, funky electronics and raspy growls, the music has a way to create a very bleak and dystopian atmosphere as “Death#2”, “Nothing Virus”, and the rambling samples of “Useless Eaters” come front and center. Certainly not the cup of tea of everybody, this release and tracks like “Black Rainbow” creates a very alienating vibe and we totally dig it.

With all songs being less than five minutes, Bong-Ra manages to develop each track with its own unique pace and level of suspense like the unnerving “Bloodclot”, the crushing “Ruins” and its funky vocals, and the sinister melodies of “Parasites”. Every track has its own weirdness, but others like “Blissful Ignorance”, also give out vibes of Köhnen’s other bands like Celestial Season. The amalgamation of all these seemingly disparate ideas and influences is what makes “Black Noise” a very unique and engaging release.

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Release: February 21st, 2025

Genre: Breakcore/Industrial/Experimental

Country: Netherlands