72 / 100 A solid return to 6:04’s noisier roots, blending minimal ambient textures with subtle, grainy darkness. Almost exactly a year later, on January 31, 2024 , 6:04 released their fourth EP titled Cadence, Harmony and Serenity . Like Made Collector , it contains seven tracks, though the total duration is shorter. Cadence, Harmony and Serenity by 6:04 After crafting enjoyable ambient atmospheres, J.J.J. returns to the noise waves that had been nearly absent from the previous EP. The noise characteristics here lean toward a dark ambient feel, with the recording method remaining unchanged by using cassette . This dark impression is found in the slightly grainy opening track “ Scantron Angel ,” followed by a stormy piece dominated by the sound of wind in “ Hexagon ,” and the closing track “In Different Hands,” which features whispering human voices aligned with the overall darkness. Meanwhile, “On the Morning,” “If I Gave You Everything You N...

83 / 100 A concise but remarkably focused ambient/dark ambient release with stronger atmosphere and more immersive than previous efforts. We continue our exploration of 6:04 ’s world and arrive at their third release, Made Collector . This shorter EP was released just a month after Are You Aware? in the same year, and it can be said to present a similar style perhaps even more steeped in ambient. Made Collector by 6:04 “ Amelia Reds ” opens the gates with minimal dark ambient, then shifts toward deeper, clearer low notes with faint echoing audio samples, creating a fairly strong dark impression. “ Maybe, We Could Leave ” and “ Obstructed Plains ” raise the notes, resulting in a brighter, more atmospheric sound without removing the audio sample elements. The fifth and sixth tracks follow the same approach, but without any added samples, and “ Made Up Answers ” sounds the loudest before returning to the earlier formula through the short closing tra...

75 / 100 A more polished and atmospheric effort that moves away from raw noise toward dark ambient and soundtrack influences . Okay, before jumping into Made Collector , let’s first look at 6:04 ’s second release, which came out on January 31, 2023. The format is still the same: an EP containing seven tracks with a total duration of fifteen minutes. The title is Are You Aware? . Are you aware? by 6:04 Unlike the debut EP, which had a rather harsh character, this second effort sounds smoother and is influenced by typical soundtrack and dark ambient styles. The first track already shows this character with a slow, pulsating pattern, though it still features reverb/clipping effects from added field recordings , giving it a slightly raw feel. The next track uses echo effects and is more dominated by field recordings, while the third track applies a kind of fast effect or reversed audio and is the only one of its kind on the EP. The music returns t...

55 / 100 A raw and experimental noise release that leans toward classic Japanoise aesthetics. We’re back again and still within the noise sphere. This time, there’s a project by someone with the initials J.J.J. from Texas called 6:04 . They started their career in 2015 but only released a compilation EP in 2019 through Blade Records . The EP is titled Lunule and consists of two sides on a cassette tape with a total running time of just fifteen minutes. However, there are 22 short original tracks in total which is basically grindcore -like durations, lol. Lunule by 6:04 Here’s the detailed tracklist: Side A 1. You Traitor 1:29 2. Ariel 1:11 3. Grunt 0:59 4. Grab It Frank 2:34 5. Cylo 1:17 Side B 6. Pate Forte 1:37 7. Asset 0:06 8. HallaH 0:15 9. Western 0:09 10. Westurn 0:09 11. Hetro 0:05 12. Helcheck 1:08 13. Wenton 0:47 14. Walford 0:55 15. Type 39 1:14 16. O9 0:15 17. Up Scale 0:37 Although the duration for each song is listed, I think the...

60 / 100 Abstract, sandstorm-like noise with a few eerie touches. Interesting as an underground curiosity, but not especially memorable. Let’s move into the quieter side of noise with the project 1-800-Babylon . 1-800-Babylon chooses to hide their identity and has privated their two releases on Bandcamp . ... And Hatred Took Ahold of Me is their first EP/demo, released on June 21, 2023, featuring five tracks with a total runtime of 18 minutes. The EP cover shows a blurry/grainy image, but it’s still somewhat decipherable. To me, it looks like a photo of two people having sex, with a black figure resembling a ghost standing beside them. I’m not entirely sure what message they intended to convey through this cover, though so it’s still unclear to me. The musical characteristics are rather abstract, and honestly, it’s hard to describe them precisely. It’s noisy, yes but not to the ear-shattering level. If I had to compare, the sound resembles a sands...

75 / 100 A more atmospheric and structured noise release that flirts with dark ambient horror, a clear step up from the debut. We’re back with the private noise project, 1-800-Babylon , this time with the album Lily. , released just two days after their debut EP. The album cover shows a shovel and what looks like a mound of earth, which I assume references the theme of death. The word “lily” itself reminds me of the lily of the valley flower , notably featured in Akiyoshi Rikako ’s mystery novel Girls in the Dark . The eleven-track structure also gives off a conceptual impression, with three tracks titled “Memory #1” through “Memory #3”, and the noticeable dark ambient influences. Of course, this is just my own assumption because there’s no official statement about it. The echoing and grainy noise textures create a kind of field recording storm effect across most of the tracks. The clearest example of this is in the shortest track, an interlude call...

66 / 100 A short, raw burst of breakcore energy with typical noise aesthetics . Not essential, but a nostalgic relic worth preserving for underground digital history. The digital era brings conveniences that physical releases don’t have like saving space and being portable, but that doesn’t mean it’s absolutely superior. Both are equally perishable: they can be damaged, lost, or deleted. In fact, digital files are even easier to erase, and that’s exactly what happens to countless digital releases, especially from underground and independent artists . Their existence and disappearance are often known only to a handful of people. One such case is a noise/breakcore project called Omoide*Jewelry or known as  0M0ID3*J3W37RYYY . The main Bandcamp page has completely vanished—including the single Burn the Witch —leaving only fragments in a few compilations and split albums, such as 0m0id3/dgty . Even though they won’t be remembered by many, proof of th...