Sans Soleil - 'A Holy Land Beneath A Godless Sky' LP

The recently completed packaging, design and sigil for Austin, TX based doom band Sans Soleil's debut 'A Holy Land Beneath a Godless Sky'. 

Everything turned out incredible as pictured above.

Distinctively American sounding doom with heavy atmosphere that (in my opinion) successfully channels our country's dark past as well as Earth did with their 'Hex...' return. What makes this band unique are their presence of viola which integrates extremely well with the expansive guitars and rhythm section without sacrificing the momentum and laid back vibes. It is consistent throughout and a damn fine 34+ minute release. Perfect for drives.

Eva and Sean reached out to me initially to re-design their sigil and handle the album cover. After some time, our fruitful conversations lead to them asking me to handle the entire presentation. 

This is probably the most elaborate album-cover project that I have been involved with in terms of parts/assembly. The outer sleeve is a die-cut outer slip + spot UV printing on craft stock, the inner 3mm jacket features 4-color printing + spot UV. The center labels are standard CMYK. Photography courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Arizona. Layers upon layers of reality.

PURCHASE INFO HERE: 
http://tofucarnage.com/

From the label: 

"DESCRIPTION

Austin-based Sans Soleil will unleash their debut LP "A Holy Land Beneath a Godless Sky" through Tofu Carnage Records by year's end. The instrumental, viola-led troupe features members of Dead To A Dying World and Communion and brings an organic originality to heavy, atmospheric music through their songs of triumph and despair.

This debut LP from Sans Soleil is for those who truly appreciate the aesthetic value of deluxe packaging and heavyweight color vinyl. The album is pressed on 200-gram, translucent blood red & deep purple wax with baby blue splatter and features heavyweight spot-varnish printed jackets with die-cut graphics and spot-varnish innersleeves! This is an album that was truly meant for vinyl.

Preview some new tracks from the band's upcoming release as performed for Violitionist Sessions athttp://violitionist.com/2014/04/sans-soleil-2/"

Beyond synesthesia?

"Ephemera presents olfactory compositions based on musical resonances and reverberations. The nose behind the project is Berlin-based Geza Schoen, known for the groundbreaking Escentric Molecules series as well as various avant-garde/conceptual scents. 
In the first phase of the project, three musicians - Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, and Steve Goodman (aka Kode9) - created raw sonic material which Schoen then reinterpreted to create three different scents: Noise, Drone and Bass. 
These scents and sounds are now used in an installation environment, and also encapsulated as unique perfumes. 

The project is curated and produced by Malgorzata Plysa and Mat Schulz of Unsound."

Kevin Gan Yuen // 2014 Mix for Workin' Nights:

Compiling a list some of my favorite deviants and visionaries of our time from albums that I have been enjoying throughout this year. 

The super menacing image used is from an actual woodcut that I purchased from a vendor hanging around outside of MacArthur BART in Oakland earlier in the year. 

People, it goes without saying, if you love the material, make an attempt to support the artists/labels and purchase on CD/LP/CS or even digitally...

Love and respect to the following individuals for their inspiration and support: AC Way, Robert Fitzgerald, Patricia Cram and Jason/WN

Mix 149 In Misery Comes Wisdom

01 Diamanda Galás - V. How Shall Our Judgement Be Carried Out Upon the Wicked

02 Popol Vuh - Matra 1 

03 Abigor - I Face The Eternal Winter

04 Amon Düül II - Kanaan

05 Ain Soph - Gradalis

06 The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud - Untitled 

07 The Angelic Process - Million Year Summer

08 Can - Thief

09 Pink Floyd - The Narrow Way - Part 2

10 Asmus Tietchens - Studie Für Glasspiel

11 Archgoat - The Light - Devouring Darkness

12 Ennio Morricone - Il deserto

13 blsphm - Black Road

14 Gila - Around Midnight

15 Gas - Untitled

16 Arvo Pärt - Szeroka Woda 2

17 Bruce Springsteen - My Father's House

18 Deutsch Nepal - Nonexistence 

19 Death in June - The Honour of Silence

20 Igor Wakhévitch - Amenthi (Attente De La Seconde Mort)

21 Craft - Destroy the Signs

22 L'Acephale - The Book of Lies

23 Current 93 - Soft Black Stars

24 Jack Rose - Crossing the Great Waters

25 Coil presents Black Light District - Blue Rats

26 Middle Eastern Classical Oud - Track One

27 Paysage D'Hiver - Der Baummann

28 Pentagram - The Ghoul

29 Poison Ring - Miserere

30 Ziz - Fimm

by Kevin Gan Yuen
www.viraloptic.com
www.sutekhhexen.org

get it HERE

http://workinnights.com/mix-149

ῥόδον δένδρον

'A Dying Fool' (Wander into the Winter remix)

My remix comprised of stems provided by Clay, from tracks: 'Never Dying' and 'The Most Foolish Son Is Always The Oldest One', off the new album 'The Hierophant', the final stand alone LP from the incomparable Burial Hex. Available in LP/CD formats from Handmade Birds.

Click here to listen: https://soundcloud.com/kevinganyuen/burial-hex-a-dying-fool-wander-into-the-winter-remix-by-kevin-gan-yuen

Hello Albion, Good bye World.

via Cold Spring Records: 

"In stock & shipping!

Buy CD: http://store.coldspring.co.uk/index.php…

Listen: https://soundcloud.com/sutekhhexen/the-voic..."

Autumnal wrap-up

Our next and final appearance for the remainder of the year... come out for a drink!

ANJI CHEUNG - ANGELIC BLACK

Recently completed packaging and layout for the new release from excellent British experimental guitarist, Anji Cheung.

"Only 93 copies...hand numbered in silver ink. 

Includes digital pre-order of Angelic Black. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it's released."

Purchase and preview 'Angelic Black': HERE
Other works here: http://anjicheung.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for checking in!

SUTEKH HEXEN // Earhammer Sessions: Day 1-2

Many thanks to Greg Wilkinson @Earhammer Studios, Jim Kaiser, and Jim Haynes for the amazing and enlightening experiences thus far... More soon.

What do HAARP + SPIDER MONKEY + ZEUS have in common?

Nothing. But maybe this.

A new illustration + shirt design for friends at Ape Do Good Custom Printingin San Francisco (our local source who handle the merch printing for SUTEKH HEXEN) –these will be available through them directly soon.

SUTEKH HEXEN - Azure Graal

The Emerald

I am very pleased to announce 'The Emerald', my first proper-solo debut on Utech Records, 8" lathe. Thank you Keith and Rashad Becker. Definitely in good company. 

via Utech: "To celebrate Utech Records' ten-year anniversary, the label proudly presents The Emerald – the proper solo debut from Bay Area-based experimental artist Kevin Gan Yuen. The piece examines and documents Yuen’s foray into the potent amalgamation of analog and granular synthesis, using field recordings and electric guitar as source. The resulting influence, traverses primal territories within the artists mind, accomplishing a stunning aural embodiment of illuminating the darkened path. Mastered by Rashad Becker at D&M. Issued as an 8” lathe cut record. Promo item in an edition of 31 copies available exclusively via Utech Records. WHILE THE PHYSICAL RECORD EXISTS COPIES WILL BE GIVEN AWAY WITH RANDOM ORDERS BEGINNING MAY 9, 2014. Photo by Joshua Churchill. Promotional 8" clear lathe cut record limited to 31 copies.URLX088" 

You can check it out here: http://www.utechrecords.com/Kevin-Gan-Yuen-The-Emerald and stream it here: http://utechrecords.bandcamp.com/track/the-emerald 

BURIAL HEX - THE HIEROPHANT LP/CD

LP gatefold and 4-panel digipak packaging and design // jacket + insert + center labels (CMYK + Pantone 877C) // Cover photograph: Bernat Armangue // Packaging: Kevin Gan Yuen. Regarding Mithriac mysteries (ταυροκτόνος), monuments in new medium.

via Handmade Birds:

"BURIAL HEX

“THE HIEROPHANT”
EDITION: 1000 CD, 500 LP
CATALOG NUMBER: HB-068
RELEASE DATE: SUMMER 2013
AVAILABILITY: COMING SOON

"To listen to any of Burial Hex’s many releases, which have manifested across almost all known formats over the past nine years, is to commune with dark, deathly atmospheres that contrast elegant instrumentation and rhythms with entropic noise. Drawing on a wealth of influences, from 19th Century European chamber music to industrial, from the stories of HP Lovecraft to the Italian horror movies of the 70s, its sound provokes questing minds to ponder on the supernatural, the liminal space between life and death, or the many and varied traditions and rituals that preserve occult philosophies down the ages.

But all this is about to end as Clay Ruby, the multi-instrumentalist behind these chthonic and ethereal sounds, has stated that Burial Hex is to be laid to rest, permanently and imminently, as part of a preordained strategy that has informed all of its output from the very beginning. " –The Quietus"

This is album is amazing, I have heard it in various states, and this will truly be one for all time. Believe this.

Thank you for your continued interest and support.

- Kevin

FVRHXTHWST.01

Many thanks to the folks who made it out for our NW dates with the mighty Common Eider, King Eider. Eternal gratitude to Adam (momentum and holding it down), Asia and Kyle // Wisphouse (cont. hospitality and spirits), Mateo (cont. presence and documentation), all the killer bands we played with and our dearest friends/family/organizers who made this all possible. We hope to see you again soon.

Darkness approaches the Southwest...

30052014 // Wisphouse // Salem, OR // captures via Mateo Garcia

SUTEKH HEXEN with COMMON EIDER, KING EIDER 2014 West Coast tour pt.2

Trepaneringsritualen & Sutekh Hexen - 'One Hundred Year Storm' C60

Packaging design art direction + layout with Thomas Martin Ekelund // Source photography: Joshua Churchill, Text: Patricia Cram, Woodcut 'Struck' by Maria Arango // Pantone 877 on black chip // Pesanta Urfolk & Cloister Recordings.

Ash Borer // Hell 610MD poster design:

Measures 12x18" and will be screen printed on French's slate stock // colors: black, metallic silver and metallic gold. These will be available at their Baltimore gig. Sadly never printed due to whatever reasons... oh well.

SUTEKH HEXEN // BLPSHM c10

Returning to the format with a new track 'Azure Graal'. Coming soon via Dead Accents

SUTEKH HEXEN with COMMON EIDER, KING EIDER 2014 West Coast tour pt.1

SUTEKH HEXEN 'Monument of Decay' CD + Box set edition // O.H.Y.S. shirt.

Both the regular CD Edition and Box Set Edition go on sale tomorrow: 13 May 2014.

via Small Doses: 

"Preview video for the limited box set edition of Sutekh Hexen's Monument of Decay. The CD contains a new, exclusive bonus track. The box set contains the CD, a 16 page zine, a silk screened patch, a numbered edition certificate, a vinyl sticker, and three one inch buttons - all housed in a silk screened box."

FYI: Wednesday 14 May, 2014 will be the last day to order the limited edition ONE HUNDRED YEAR STORM t-shirt designed in conjunction with the DoLP and Cassette releases. As stated on the Pesant Urfolk webstore "We will only print as many shirts as we sell by 5/14". this will likely be the only shirt emblazoned with the combined TREPANERINGSRITUALEN + SUTEKH HEXEN sigil. 

Available in mens and women's sizes and in three colors options: black pearl ink on black, dark grey on black and metallic-copper on black.

Order/info here: 
http://pesanta.bigcartel.com/product/one-hundred-year-storm-limited-edition-shirt