Lustmord

Lustmord functions as the lone endeavor of Brian Williams, the Welsh artist frequently acknowledged for originating dark ambient out of the post-industrial sphere. Bleak and unsettling soundscapes define his approach, which draws on field recordings, profound low-end tones, and ceremonial tools like Tibetan horns. During the initial years of the 1980s he participated in the industrial milieu as an SPK member before solidifying his distinctive aesthetic through 1986’s Paradise Disowned and the especially influential 1990 release Heresy. Subsequent partnerships have encompassed Robert Rich on the 1995 landmark Stalker, alternative metal outfits such as the Melvins on 2004’s Pigs of the Roman Empire, and Tool on 2006’s 10,000 Days. Williams has additionally supplied extensive sound design for Hollywood productions and interactive games, regularly alongside Graeme Revell and Paul Haslinger, while scoring projects including the 2017 feature First Reformed. A further joint effort with pianist Nicolas Horvath yielded 2020’s The Fall (Dennis Johnson’s November Deconstructed).

Raised in North Wales, Williams inaugurated Lustmord performances in 1980 through impromptu “support slots” at major events, simply mounting the stage and continuing until security intervened. Although fleeting, these acts of rock disruption connected him with kindred figures in the emerging industrial community, notably SPK and Throbbing Gristle. He soon joined SPK both live and in the studio, issuing the self-titled Lustmord LP in 1981 that incorporated contributions from Coil’s John Balance and Nocturnal Emissions’ Nigel Ayers, who put the record out via Sterile Records. His follow-up, Paradise Disowned, arrived on SPK’s Side Effects imprint in 1986 and incorporated captures from underground sites such as the Chartres Cathedral crypt, Dunster Abattoir in Bangor, Wales, and the ocean floor; by then Williams had assumed management of Side Effects.

Although no further Lustmord material appeared for the remainder of the decade, Williams supplied recordings and conducted sonic research for works by Current 93, Nurse with Wound, SPK, Chris & Cosey (under the TGT alias), and Graeme Revell’s solo effort The Insect Musicians. Lustmord resurfaced in 1990 with Heresy on Soleilmoon, followed by two Side Effects albums: The Monstrous Soul in 1992 and Place Where the Black Stars Hang in 1994. In the first half of the 1990s he also worked with Andrew Lagowski as Terror Against Terror while releasing solo material under the Arecibo and Isolrubin BK names. During that decade Williams relocated to California after Graeme Revell enlisted him for sound-library duties on feature scores including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Street Fighter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow, and Spawn.

A 1995 collaboration with space-music pioneer Robert Rich produced Stalker, inspired by the Andrei Tarkovsky film and issued on Hearts of Space. Responding the next year to ambient-techno DJ requests for Lustmord vinyl, Williams released a Plug Research single that prompted the live project Lustmord vs. Metal Beast, which edged toward dark ambient-techno territory. Although the compilation Purifying Fire surfaced in summer 2000, it was the widely praised Metavoid in 2001 that drew particular attention. The Zoetrope psychological-horror soundtrack followed in 2002, as did the Law of the Battle of Conquest EP with breakcore artist Hecate (Rachael Kozak) on Hymen Records.

Carbon/Core and the Melvins collaboration Pigs of the Roman Empire, released via Mike Patton’s Ipecac Records, both appeared in 2004. Williams strengthened ties to alternative metal by contributing to Tool’s 10,000 Days and the debut Puscifer album led by Maynard James Keenan. On June 6, 2006, Lustmord gave his first live performance in twenty-five years at a Church of Satan high-mass observance; the concert emerged on the Vaultworks label as Rising. Juggernaut arrived in 2007 on Isis leader Aaron Turner’s Hydra Head Records and included guitar and vocals from the Melvins’ King Buzzo. The subsequent Hydra Head release, 2008’s [Other], featured appearances by both Turner and Buzzo. Vaultworks issued two discs of extended ambient reworkings, [The Dark Places of the Earth] and [Beyond], in 2009, alongside the dub-oriented EPs [Other Dub] and [Transmuted], the latter mixed by Justin K. Broadrick.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of Heresy, Williams issued Heretic in 2010, containing alternate mixes and early versions. Songs of Gods and Demons, a collection of film, game, and television recordings, followed in 2011. The German label Vinyl-On-Demand released the three-LP box set Things That Were in 2013, encompassing a remastered edition of the debut album plus rarities and unreleased tracks. That same year Blackest Ever Black put out the studio album The Word as Power, which incorporated guest vocals from Keenan, Jarboe, and additional performers. Live sets Kraków and Stockholm appeared on Vaultworks; in 2015 Lustmord remixed the Japanese band Vampillia’s track “Sea” for a limited-edition CD EP. Touch released the solo dark-ambient album Dark Matter in 2016. Two 2011 performance documents, Hobart and Maschinenfest, surfaced in 2017. The First Reformed soundtrack emerged on Vaultworks in 2019. Additional live albums Berlin and Lublin arrived in 2020, together with Trinity, a 2018 recording of a work commissioned by Unsound Festival in 2012. Also issued that year were the Lustmord and Christopher Young score for The Empty Man and The Fall (Dennis Johnson’s November Deconstructed) with Nicolas Horvath.