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

SUTEKH HEXEN 'Become' c30

via. Sentient Ruin Laboratories:

"We are extremely proud and humbled to work with Bay Area blackened noise cult, Sutekh Hexen to release one of their finest and most devastating works: 

Become EP, consisting of two towering tracks, a half hour of relentless, vile, and smoldering blackened bath of frequency worship. Become showcases Sutekh Hexen doing what they do best: practicing their blackened craft of weaving rich sonic tapestries with electric guitar, field-recordings, vintage analog synthesis, unorthodox percussion and disembodied incantations. 

Already available on vinyl LP via KOTM and the expanded CD edition will be coming out soon on Cold Spring, and now we present the final installment as a limited c30 via Sentient Ruin on May 20th 2014."

Order/info here: http://sentientruin.blogspot.com/

Thanks for supporting!

'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

Photography by Joshua Churchill at Stella Natura 2013

Thanks, folks.

Trepaneringsritualen / Sutekh Hexen - 'One Hundred Year Storm' pre-order

PRE-ORDERS have launched for 'One Hundred Year Storm' LP/CS and exclusive t shirt design.

Order here: Pesanta Urfolk

via Pesanta Urfolk:

"Pesanta Urfolk and Cloister Recordings proudly present the archival quality audio-documentation of the otherworldly performance that notoriously unleashed the elements upon Stella Natura, 2013. Recorded live by M. Garcia (GreySun Records). This blistering collaboration showcases easily the darkest performance to take place under the Sierra Nevada skies over the course of the festival's history.

Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin, photography by Joshua Churchill, text: Patricia Cram and Art/Design: Kevin Gan Yuen and Thomas Martin Ekelund

Limited edition of 98 includes backpatch and experimental/untried color combination of a mix of white and clear blue with silver hazing.

Standard black edition limited to 350.

Gatefold jacket, metallic printing, spot gloss and screen printed obi strip.

Please limit ONE special edition per person.

PESANTA URFOLK 043

SHIPS IN EARLY JUNE"

TREPANERINGSRITUALEN & SUTEKH HEXEN

from sutekhhexen.org: 

"via Pesanta Urfolk: "Another live LP/CS that Pesanta Urfolk will be co-releasing with Cloister Recordings is the collaborative set between Trepaneringsritualen and Sutekh Hexen from Stella Natura, 2013."

More updates on this exciting release soon.
Photo by Joshua Churchill

We are currently down to the last few shirts in the shop. Current designs will not be reprinted. Please visit our friends at Shirts & Destroy for the very last sizes of these remaining designs.

Till then..."

WOLD - Postsocial

From Wold-Klan: 
"Wold - Postsocial Communiqué 

Grand Lodge of Internal Masonry has released the one and only statement from Fortress Crookedjaw, regarding the upcoming new Wold CD, Postsocial. We were given access to display the information for a limited time.


Grand Lodge of Internal Masonry, U. and A.

February 19, 2014

Wold – Postsocial

Postsocial consists of five works, each denoting a point of the inverted star. The opening pieces, “Throwing Star” and “Inner Space Infirmary”, respectively deal with exterior and interior violence. “Five Points” and “Spiral Star Inversion” are themed around an exploration of the five-pointed star metaphor, culminating in ritualistic conjuration and copulation of the hag. “Sapphire Sect of Tubal Cain” provides further reflection. There are many other aspects to Postsocial, from within, which, Wold does not wish to disclose.

Fortress Crookedjaw,
Worshipful Master Eternal,
Grand Lodge of Internal Masonry


Postsocial is due out May Day, 2014, on Profound Lore Records."

More info HERE and at Profound Lore. 

Black Monolith - The Passenger LP

from ALL BLACK RECORDING COMPANY: "the debut LP of Oakland, California’s Black Monolith entitled ‘Passenger’. Black Monolith is the one man project of Gary Bettencourt that first entered the music sphere with its 2011 Demo, receiving admiration from various blogs and publications including Decibel Magazine, Invisible Oranges, and Cvlt Nation. Recorded by himself and only mastered by Jack Shirley (Wreck and Reference, Botanist), Passenger shows Black Monolith at the height of its unrelenting aggression, fury, and expansion." 

More info at ALL BLACK RECORDING COMPANY.

Haunting 924...

Sutekh Hexen : "...Of Emanation"

Recent visual accompaniment for track '...Of Emanation' (featuring Th. Tot from Trepaneringsritualen) directed by Dante August Scarlatti. 




Please view at full-screen HD in a dark room and at sufficient volume for best experience.

A few copies of 'Monument of Decay' LP/2c10 editions are still available for purchase directly from Black Horizons (US) HERE and Belaten (Sweden) HERE. We will have copies of both formats at upcoming shows. A special CD edition of this release will be released this Spring.

Thank you for supporting.

ABSTRACTER - Tomb of Feathers LP layout/design

From Abstracter: "Below you can admire the full artwork of the 12" vinyl LP coming in March 2014 through Trendkill Recordings (France), 7Degrees Records (Germany) and Shove Records (Italy) - Click to enlarge. Our friend Kevin Gan Yuen of Viraloptic and of Sutekh Hexen fame has crafted this for us. It is based on the original cassette and CD artwork done by Mattia, but is greatly evolved and expands way deeper into the albums subject matter. Definitive release date and pre-order links coming soon..."

"... It is based on the original cassette and CD artwork done by Mattia, but is greatly evolved and expands way deeper into the albums subject matter. What you see here is absolutely nothing in comparison to what the entire work as a whole will look like. The next info coming soon will be the full layout, definitive release date and pre-order links. Get ready for greatness, we could not be happier."

Barren Harvest - Subtle Cruelties LP/CD

The recently completed design/layout for one of the most anticipated independent releases for 2014: Barren Harvest's debut titled: Subtle Cruelties. Barren Harvest features members and dearest friends: Jessica Way of Worm Ouroboros and Lenny Smith of Atriarch. This will see the light in Spring '14. 

Going into this project while having the opportunity of listening to their songs at various stages had me.  Jessica and I had first discussed this project back in the Summer of '12, and there were a lot of visual commonalities, which further validated that we were on the same page. Influences included: 4AD aesthetics (classic), eternal storms, academic typographical application, surrealistic landscapes and death.

I should probably mention that this was a total visual commission for the band: identity, packaging, etc. The logo itself (see a previous blog post below) was commissioned to me first. I had to create an icon that would be applicable anywhere and at any scale. It turned out amazing.

Back to the packaging: combining the existing photographic assets (via Jessica and Veleda) and elements from my vision, the packaging came together quite naturally. The Pantone 871C (metallic gold) should look amazing on the black and dark blue hues. Having limiting myself to a limited and cold color-palette, I knew this was going to work very well. Personally, this has been one of the most elegant and sophisticated projects that I have completed in my few years of professional graphic design, and I could not be happier with how this turned out.

Additionally, I would like to thank to Veleda Thorsson, Rich Loren Balling and James Plotkin for their endless efforts, influence and skill. 

You can preview some of the tracks HERE.
Thanks for reading.

LP and CD layouts below:

Add caption

A Secret Rose

I had the privilege of playing with Rhys Chatham and many others a few weekends ago in November in his A Secret Rose piece for 100 guitarists. It was an invaluable experience for any musician. And as niche as Rhys work is for experimental composition, it maintained a high level of organization and production value. One of the books, for sure. It was fucking amazing.

The concert itself took place @the Craneway Pavilion in Point Richmond, which was massive and I really wish they utilized the space more for concerts, but it is what it is...

Here is a movement from his beautiful A Crimson Grail piece:

₮RΛCKI₦G

UX

UX: The Awakening/Rebirth : A Reminder/ A Portent:

As a long-time supporter of Keith Utechs record imprint: Utech Records, Milwaukee, WI, receiving his email requesting a commission for the rebranding of his imprint was simply an offer that I could not refuse. We corresponded on and off throughout the Summer. You can read a run-down of the process below all the images:

Obviously, greater details would not translate in every application.. for example, the scalability would be fucked on a CD packaging or business card, but would be satisfactory on a t-shirt. Something a lot of people neglect in identity design.
 
The first and second rounds came and went. The first thing I did was minimize feathers at the ravens cheek. They looked terrible, so I decided to emphasize the form with thin strokes, which was highly effective. The second thing I decided to alter was the eye, it was too "alive" and I wanted a dead-stare (who doesn't?), so I replaced it with a simple circle. 
 
One of the key aspects of this new identity that was established early was, but never came up was the third-eye element. Which I was still figuring out how to inlay. Initially, I wanted a tuft of feathers to part.. exposing the third-eye, but that did not work out. Getting to the point, it ultimately rests atop, less within, maintaining a subtle presence, looking up, and ready to roll back into ecstasy.

Fast-forwarding: At this point, I was sitting at my desk in our home in Oakland with some serious drawing pens to ink the sketches in my Strathmore pad; the icon had been in development for some time to be honest. I had begun initial studies in Carmel Valley, CA back in May. Revisited it in June after spending some time studying the intelligent and malicious behavior of ravens in various habitats, the wild and in their dwellings of the city. The apex of this project was while refining digitally, a raven flew onto the telecom line outside of my window: bone in mouth, we made eye-contact, and it departed. Needless to say: I felt like it was time to march toward finality..

I sketched a couple of drafts of the type, but we ultimately settled on the second version (both versions are displayed above). Added the X numeral to represent the 10th anniversary and done.

T-shirts and other items brandishing this design will be first available at the Utech Fest in December.
You may check out the label and purchase items here: http://www.utechrecords.com/

Thanks for reading,
K.

This guy..

Coverage..

SUTEKH HEXEN back patches + standard sized patches have been updated to the shop. These were professionally printed in metallic silver and gloss-black ink on military grade black Duck Cloth by Rob Fisk at Ape Do Good Custom Printing in San Francisco, CA. They turned out GREAT.

Thanks for supporting,

http://sutekhhexen.storenvy.com/

/ˈsīklik,ˈsik-/

Thematically representing: life, death and rebirth; three realizations of cyclic nature. 

Available now: SUTEKH HEXEN 12"EP Trilogy... which has FINALLY been completed and each album released: 'Breed in Me the Darkness: The Second Coming mixes by Andrew Liles' 2xLP/CD (Pesanta Urfolk and Aurora Borealis), 'Become' 12"EP (King of the Monsters), and 'Monument of Decay' 12"EP/2xC10 (Black Horizons and Beläten).

All three limited edition releases are available now through our respective labels online shops, your local record store (or ask) or our online shop linked from www.sutekhhexen.org.

ALSO: The fine folks @Thrill Jockey have also made these available from a single source, so please visit them if you will. Otherwise, please check out our labels and pick-up something else great from them while you're at it!

Thanks for supporting folks,

BARREN HARVEST

I recently completed a logo study for dear friends in BARREN HARVEST.

Above: is the finalized icon and type-treatment that we were all happy with. Without being terribly literal with the logo itself, the key words in discussions were solitude and strife. Emphasized by a solitary grain pointing downward and the weathered rings encircling the lone element, we have a unified concept, designed to be iconic.. simple and bold.

The details were kept at the minimal for various applications, but looks great at all scales.

The type-treatment is simple, a quasi-hand rendered typeface with a thin stroke, seating the name from above and below. Both the icon and the type-treatment are designed to be used together or separately.

Above: are the various drafts rendered using various means, but ultimately, the majority felt too.. distant from what we were trying to achieve. My personal second choice would have been the first version (far left), which symbolizes the cyclic nature of the seasons. The other representations are a little too "metal" and are actually way out of context..

Barren Harvests debut is forthcoming from good friends @HANDMADE BIRDS, and I can honestly say that this project is one of the best that I have ever been involved with, brining much satisfaction between working with good friends, strong music and having great support in full-realization of the beautiful packaging/design that I will share previews of a little bit later..

From Handmade Birds: 
"The juxtaposition of dark and light. The echoes of lost love, decayed flesh, and Nature cutting through to warm one last remembrance. The gentle swell of synth, haunting voices, accent of autoharp, and a calculated use of silence. The world is cold, the reaction masterful. Barren Harvest is Lenny Smith (Atriarch/Trees), Jessica Way (Worm Ouroboros)."

SUTEKH HEXEN 'Monument of Decay' 2xC10 Available now

from Belaten:

"This is a pre-order. The official release date is September 20th, at the Stella Natura festival. A very limited number of copies will be available for sale there. Mailorder copies will ship on the 28th of September, when Beläten returns to Sweden.

Listen to the full release via Tiny Mix Tapes.

Regular edition of 177 copies comes in a double cassette jewel case, with black and white artwork.

Special edition of 23 copies available here.

All 200 copies come with a complimentary download version, but the release will not be sold digitally."

Purchase here:
http://belaten.bigcartel.com/artist/sutekh-hexen

NOTE: apparently the limited editions have already sold out: many thanks to those night owls for keeping watch! Your watch will be worth the wait.

SUTEKH HEXEN 'Monument of Decay' 12"EP

Available for order now and shipping this week from Black Horizons. PURCHASE HERE: http://www.black-horizons.com/order.html

 2xC10 from Beläten following shortly.

from Black Horizons: 

"BH-55 - Sutekh Hexen - Monument of Decay 12"

"War to the death against depravity - depravity is Christianity."
- Friedrich Nietzsche.

More fitting words could perhaps not be uttered to better describe the spirit(s) in which Sutekh Hexen operates. The sound formed is one of a layered, unrelenting and hellish black mælstrom, fitting to the rubric implied in the aforementioned quote and a quality that also manifests itself in the band's interfacing with the public at large as well as it's very own structure; outwardly projected hatred, and a membership that is churned through like a cult. The result is a furious stream of unique releases, with each one the darkness radiating outward. This moment proper sees a more fully formed line-up, and, for this project, more orthodox instrumentation; vocals/effects, dual guitars, and live percussion. Four tracks come together for a 12" EP release. Jackets are pro-printed full color with spot copper printing and an internal copper flood. Red and black center labels in an edition of 500 copies, with 400 on black and 100 on red vinyl."