From the group’s inception in the mid-’70s onward, New York-based Controlled Bleeding have remained one of the most prolific and unpredictable American industrial bands, exploring the extremes of both unchecked sonic fury and free-floating ambient dub. Led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Lemos, a high-school English teacher by day, Controlled Bleeding released their debut EP, Wall of China Love Letter, in 1979; a series of abrasive cassettes followed before the group issued its first full-length effort, Knees and Bones, in 1983.
Death in the Cameroon was recorded live to cassette in 1984 and 1985 by Paul Lemos, Joe Papa, and Chris Moriarty (with assistance by Russ Hart, Tom B., and Chris Berry).
Being one of the first Controlled Bleeding compositions, and to date one of the only ones that has never been released in any format other than the original cassette, Cameroon is a collectors’ dream. It clocks in at over an hour and comprises three magnificent pieces that are lucid, difficult, and beautiful.
Between Tides was released on Multimood Productions (Sweden) in 1986 and was subsequently reissued on CD in 1988, which makes it the band’s first CD release. Both versions are hopelessly out of print. The album includes After the Rain (a homage to Terje Rypdal) as well as horn contributions from industrial legends Vox Populi. Founder Paul Lemos calls Chris Moriarty’s solo keyboard at the end of the record an “austere, simple beauty.”
Curd signalled Controlled Bleeding’s first explorations into many genres that they would later pursue: pure noise, industrial, ambient. The recording captures the band during a time when they were recording literally day and night, seemingly endlessly, in what would be their most productive years. Initially released through Dossier in Germany in 1986 on vinyl, and then as a remixed and re-edited CD in 1991, Curd finally gets the CD and digital release in a definitive edition on Toronto-based Artoffact Records.
Released in 1986, Core is one of the crown jewels in the Controlled Bleeding catalogue. Paul Lemos describes it best in his own words: “Core was the real highlight of this early period and includes our first 8-track recordings. Joe and I had great fun recording this music. Gone was the angst that had spawned Knees and Bones and Body Samples. Finally, we were able to better imitate the bands we loved. The influence of Mahavishnu, King Crimson, and Swans comes through loud and clear. Core was the climax of this period and the realization of my ambition to work with Subterranean Records, the label that had issued records by Flipper and Dead Kennedys.”
Paul Lemos describes Music From the Scourging Ground as “sadness and confusion.” The ambient meets noise meets industrial experiments on this record are indeed morose, arguably the high-light of Controlled Bleeding’s 1987 output. Originally released on vinyl on Sub Rosa, a CD edition came out later on Belgian label KK with an alternate track listing. Here for the first time ever is the original Sub Rosa recording, with In Dark Waters added as a bonus track.
Originally released in 1987, Songs From the Drain marked a turning point in the relentless output and recording sessions that marked Controlled Bleeding’s late-80s era. The recording contains what Paul Lemos refers to as “odds and sods,” and the album looks back to the noisy beginnings of the project, as well as forward to even more experimental terrain. You get a mixture here of dark ambient, of heavenly voices, and even synthesizer sounds, not exactly common in the band’s oeuvre. All of this wrapped up with gloomy industrial that holds the album together.