This titillating live spectacle of Circle was multitracked at the reputed rock venue The Croft, Bristol, during their United Kingdom tour in fall 2011. Here Circle gives us a one hour rumble of old and new songs, a brisk illustration of the adult-oriented avantgarde music that they have lately been involved in. Also this is a tasty introduction for their next studio album Manner which will be released by the American label Hydra Head Records on the 21st of April, Record Store Day.

Circle - New Fantasy (live) by Ektro Records

Circle - Saturnus Reality (live) by Ektro Records

Out soon on CD! Preorder now!

Lunar Jetman excavates Pharaoh Overlord's monolithic lineup of the previous decade’s live recordings. With the avant-wizard Hans Joachim Irmler (Faust) onboard, the crossfire of turbulent frequencies jolts the Lord's vacuum-sealed riffcraft on an incalculable orbit, where the restraint and bleakness vaguely resemblant of blues evolves into cathartic bursts of thrashing improvisations and moments of serenity. There is nothing ornamental in the menacing austerity of this album.

Pharaoh Overlord - Rodent by Ektro Records

Pharaoh Overlord - Cardinal by Ektro Records

1. Rodent (10:43)
2. Palmyra Cali (13:29)
3. Cardinal (4:09)
4. Black Horse (16:37)
5. Cave of Hair (29:25)

Out soon on CD! Preorder now!
2LP version out soon on Sige Records

Music video for Himlen mot helvete. The track appears on Slussenanalys' debut LP Aquila Helvetos Asfaltos.

Slussenanalys concerts
5.1. Monttu, Pori, Finland (w/ Seksihullut)
7.1. Lepakkomies, Helsinki, Finland (w/ Plain Ride, Octopus Syng)
28.1. Fluxee-klubi, TEHDAS Teatteri, Turku, Finland

Death Trip is as uncompromising as it is hypnotic - an intense concentration of distorted guitars in the spirit of The Stooges, The Birthday Party and Spacemen 3. Branded one of the most frightening bands in Finland through the infernal screaming of Läjä Äijälä (Terveet Kädet, Billy Boys, The Sultans...), Death Trip is known to have been an influence on the Finnish underground, being one of the factors that contributed to the formation Circle, for example.

Pain is Pain - The Complete Death Trip 1988-1994 collects the band's three 7" singles (originally released on the legendary Finnish indie label Bad Vugum), previously unreleased live material and rare demos on one CD.

OUT NOW! Released in cooperation with Karkia Mistika records.

Death Trip - Chainsaw Goddess by Ektro Records

Death Trip - Death Trip by Ektro Records

Steel Mammoth: Nightmare Ad Nauseam from Sami Sänpäkkilä on Vimeo.

Two Circle albums, Taantumus (2001) and Tower (2007) will soon see the light of day as vinyl re-releases.

Taantumus double LP out soon on Full Contact / Svart Records. Limited to 500 black vinyls and 200 transparent brown vinyls which can only be obtained from Ektro or Svart directly.

Tower out soon on Full Contact. Black vinyl, limited to 500 copies.

Pre-order now!

Prospekt and Soundcheck, two previously out of print Circle albums, have been re-released on CD by Brazilian independent record label Essence Music. The albums come in gatefold mini-LP sleeves.

Both CDs can now be pre-ordered from Ektro's webstore.

The sixth struggle album of Kake Puhuu. The combat noise and insect world music downpreaching book. Rawer than its precursors, this album strips it down to marrow and squeezes juice out of it.

Keuhkot batters mindless attributes of humanity from insects' point of view by means of reverse pop music. The aim is towards backwoods motorism, meritocamping, real men, moose hunt madness and established global upstarts. The most bearded feminist of Finland, Keuhkot, kicks the real man's groin.

Keuhkot makes its own ethnic fusion gadding from rhythmic highways to distorted sidepaths in a refreshed guitar oriented soundscape. You may call it freaky but according to Kake, pop music (including metal, of course) is a freaky industrialized illness that needs a vaccination – which is Keuhkot.

CD OUT SOON

Kake Puhuun 6. taistelualbumi. Hyönteisetnon ja combat-noisen popin suohonlaulukirja. Aiempaa raaempi ja pelkistetympi kokonaisuus riisuu luuytimeen asti - ja tekee siitä täysmehua.

Keuhkot - Pinkki & ruskee / More Keuhkot songs on Ektro's Soundcloud

:: Circle: Tulikoira (edition 2009) CD EUR 7.90
:: Pharaoh Overlord: #4 CD EUR 7.90
:: Pharaoh Overlord: Siluurikaudella CD EUR 7.90
:: Plain Ride: Oh the flow CD EUR 7.90
:: Plain Ride: Strange Trial CD EUR 7.90
:: Rättö ja Lehtisalo: UU mama CD EUR 7.90
:: Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo: Hiekkarantaa CD EUR 7.90
:: Steel Mammoth: Atomic Mountain CD EUR 7.90
:: Faust: Kleine Welt (live) CD EUR 7.90
:: Janne Tuomi: Approaching CD EUR 7.90
:: Kuusumun Profeetta: Jatkuvasti maailmaa pelastamaan... CD EUR 7.90
:: Kuusumun Profeetta: Lyhtykuja CD EUR 7.90
:: Mika Rättö: Polkupyörällä vuokkopenkereelle CD EUR 6.90
:: Lusiferiinin Armosta: Nuolee CD EUR 6.90
:: Musiikkivyöry: Tulemme sokeiksi CD EUR 6.90
:: Laivue: s/t CD EUR 6.90
:: Quest for Blood with Yukihiro Isso: Quest for Blood CD EUR 6.90
:: Andromelos: S/T CD EUR 6.90
:: Jorma Tapio & Terje Isungset: Aihki CD EUR 6.90
:: Doktor Kettu: Soft Delirium CD EUR 6.90
:: Steel Mammoth: The Kingdom Of The Golden Hammer CD EUR 6.90
:: Krypt Axeripper: Mechanical Witch CDEP EUR 3.90
:: Steel Mammoth: Nuclear Barbarians CDEP EUR 3.90

The new LPs by Slussenanalys and Steel Mammoth are now available!

The unstoppable NWOFHM-strikeforce Steel Mammoth rode their loud war machine down a surprisingly dark punkmetal path with their latest album, Radiation Funeral. Their new masterpiece, Nuclear Rebirth, continues this dark journey into the punkmetal nightmare. Insanely cranky vocals, machine gun drums, berserk bass violence and bloodthirsty guitars screaming bloody murder. The possessed barbarian warriors are reborn for war, speeding into the void faster than ever. Twelve songs of classic high octane NWOFHM!

Steel Mammoth
Juicyifer - guitar
Garfield Steel - vocals, guitar
Warbus - bass, backing vocals
Masterator - drums, backing vocals

A1. Nightmare Ad Nauseam
A2. Sleep Possession
A3. Hate Medicine Lucifer
A4. Torture Labyrinth
A5. Warrior Of Nothing
A6. Spirit Armageddon

B1. Looking At The Winner
B2. The Dark Behind The Dark
B3. Ghost Blood Dominion
B4. Nuclear Rebirth
B5. Beast Demon Serpent Animal
B6. Undead Facts, Now

Steel Mammoth - Looking At The Winner by Ektro Records

Steel Mammoth - Nightmare Ad Nauseam by Ektro Records

"THE NIGHTMARE IS FOREVER"
-Garfield Steel

OUT NOW

"DET BÄR MOT KUMLA NU!"

The most Swedish noise rock of today comes, surprisingly, from Finland.

Ektro Records (known in Sweden as the home of the best rock band in the world) and Svart records aim to penetrate the markets of Finland’s neighboring country in an aggressive manner with a product that is too surprising to submit to the tools of commercial analysis.

The vivid images of decadence portrayed in Slussenanalys’ lyrics are rich in biblical symbolism and existential pondering, set to a musical score that equals the uneven hobbling of a hobo with a police bullet lodged in his leg. Vocalist-lyricist Esko Lönnberg paints a bleak, yet poetic picture of a Stockholm with no light and no future, while the band conjures a rocking wall of noise that leans towards the Chicago of the 80’s. It is a picture of a city where an immigrant child with a broken home is predestined to spend his days either on the street or behind bars, his nights filled with the sounds of breaking storefronts and the barking of police dogs, closer and closer.

The future seems dark for all involved in the stories of Aquila Helvetos Asfaltos, but despite the low expectations for a better future, the combination of the stories and the music manages to find nobility among human wreckage and hope in the shadows of the gray cubes of an urban maze of alcoholics and addicts. Slussenanalys aims to reverse the seemingly unending downward spiral, to rise above the smog and to let us bask in the light of pure inspiration.

LP OUT SOON ON EKTRO'S FULL CONTACT VINYL IMPRINT



"flyger från Katarina
över Järntorget jag svävar
på vingar fan så starka
svävar genom luften som en örn
[…]
så läckert!!
ni där nere se på mig – hoho
se hur bra jag mår – ha ha"

Esko Lönnberg: vocals, Tuomas Laurila: drums, Mika Raekivi: guitar, Jussi Lehtisalo: guitar, Eetu Henttonen: bass

Originally released in 1985, this Pori-based well kept secret of Finnish heavy metal is now available on Full Contact. Sought by collectors and discovered only by few, Crom delivers a unique piece of heavy metal with high quality tunes and catchy melodies. Ektro Records is proud to give this hidden classic the publicity it would have deserved back in 1985.

Limited to 500 copies. Coming soon on the Full Contact imprint of Ektro Records.

COMING SOON

A vintage 2007 documentation of an afternoon rendez-vous in Tampere between Circle members Lehtisalo & Rättö and electronics wizard Verde. These aural snapshots take us on an eerie botanic trip. Mood music of the future in an imaginary garden. Limited, numbered edition of 200.

PRE-ORDER NOW!!! ONLY ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER! COMING SOON ON RUTON MUSIC!

”In the 1980's the composer is already at least able to discuss with his studio if the instruments are not even able to read his thoughts directly.” – Erkki Kurenniemi (1971)

DRY ’73-9-8 is an unedited reprint of one of Kurenniemi’s 90-odd volumes of private cassette diaries. This specific late-night tape contains nothing but the first ever recorded experiment of Kurenniemi’s futuristic musical instrument Dimi-T (T=thinking, a.k.a. Electroencephalophone a.k.a. α/θ cyborg) at his home. The machine transformed the alpha-waves of a sleeping musicians’ brains into real time sounds. An early phantasmal noise gem, with a limited, numbered edition of 100.

PRE-ORDER NOW!!! ONLY ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER! COMING SOON ON RUTON MUSIC!

Circle's Rakkaus tulessa out now. Pharaoh Overlörd's Out of Darkness now available on vinyl also.

Ektro Records celebrates the 70th birthday of electronic arts pioneer Erkki Kurenniemi (b. July 10, 1941) by releasing the LP Erkki Kurenniemi & Circle - Rakkaus tulessa (”Love On Fire”).

The album is an odd ”blind-date” concept, where two home cassette recordings from different eras are married together on editing table, creating a random sonic double-exposure. The backing tracks of this time tunnel are by Circle, taped in May 1999, and the romantic lead-vocals crooned by Kurenniemi himself, dating back to his cassette diary in January 11, 1972. Mash-up by Jussi Lehtisalo and Tuomas Laurila, produced by Lehtisalo and film-maker Mika Taanila. Available on vinyl only on Ektro's Full Contact imprint.

Rakkaus tulessa now available for pre-order! Out soon.
All LP orders placed through the Ektro Records store will get a special Erkki Kurenniemi & Circle poster!

Ruton Music, Ektro’s cassette-only sub-label, puts out another homage to Kurenniemi. DRY ’73-9-8 is an unedited C32-reprint of one of his 90-odd volumes of private home recordings. This specific late-night tape contains nothing but the first ever recorded experiment of Kurenniemi’s futuristic musical instrument Dimi-T (T=thinking, a.k.a. Electroencephalophone a.k.a. α/θ cyborg) at his home. The machine transformed the alpha-waves of a sleeping musicians’ brains into real time sounds. An early phantasmal noise gem, with a limited edition of 100. Out soon.

From the ashes of movie theater Maxim (Antinkatu 19, Pori) rose Club 19, which offered a special night for only a handful of people on 20th of April 2005. The godfathers of psychedelia, Träd, Gräs och Stenar, played over two hours and Circle warmed up the megashow with a concert that was recorded multitrack.

The cover photo of this album proves the epic psychedelia that carried the historical culture venue to its dystopian end. Maxim reminds us of three different eras in the culture life of Pori.

Circle - Tuhatsata (clip) by Ektro Records

Out soon on Ektro's Full Contact imprint. Pre-order now!

Horn is a departure from the Lord's trademark motorik doom-kraut style. This is nasty, noisy full-on art rock from the outer reaches of space, like early Sonic Youth tearing it up with Crazy Cavan & the Rhythm Rockers. The album includes three previously unheard Pharaoh Overlord compositions and a Spacemen 3 cover. Recorded live in Lahti, Finland 2011.

A1: Revolution
A2: Lalibela
B1: Solar Stomp
B2: Sky

Thick gatefold sleeve with golden foil stamping, printed inner bag, black vinyl. Strictly limited to 500 copies only. Released on Ektro's vinyl imprint Full Contact in cooperation with Svart.

OUT NOW

Pharaoh Overlord - Solar Stomp by Ektro Records

Staunchly resistant to stylistic nitpickery and genre-spotting as ever, the Finnish five-piece Plain Ride make a point of straddling all ends of the spectrum of Rock, from catchily grooving boogie to arresting melancholy at its barest. The 12 songs on Stonebridge lay a caleidoscopic gaze on the world, where flamboyant panoramas of apocalypse collide with carefully captured stillshots of hope and friendship.

OUT NOW!

Sauerland Drive by Plain Ride

Piss-Eyed Dog by Plain Ride

New Pharaoh Overlörd album out soon!

Finnish independent recording artists Pharaoh Overlord, who have been working on the dark side of post rock for a decade, have taken a sharp, unexpected turn into the heart of true heavy metal, making the Ektro slogan New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal come to life in a way that no other Ektro artist has ever pulled off. A blazing journey through guitar shredding face ripping true blue heavy metal as shards of steel blast from your speakers. Features guest vocals from US hard rock outfits Night Horse and Angus Khan.

Due to unforeseen manufacturing problems we only received a handful of copies of Circle's Rautatie LP in time for Circle's tour. Because of this delay, Ektro can't ship the pre-ordered LPs until the rest of them finally arrive in about a week. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Circle's Rautatie will be released on vinyl as a joint effort between Ektro's Full Contact imprint and Svart on February 23. Available for pre-order now!

Steel Mammoth's new LP Radiation Funeral out now!