Ah Cama-Sotz

 

05/05/2023

PHAGES’ “We Are” Album Compounds All Facets of Dark Electronic Music

02/10/2020

This is the right time for a new AH CAMA-SOTZ release called “ NEW SKIN FOR OLD TRIBALS “. The typical Ah Cama-Sotz tribal-ritual, ethnic and dark techno-industrial distorted elements are never far away. These rhythmical tracks are without any doubt ready for the dark dance underground club culture. Four-to-the-floor complex bat beats as we know from Ah Cama-Sotz, mixed with lots of heavy technoid-industrial moods and sounds. The following keywords apply: Vibrant. Energetic. Bouncy. Intense. Brutal. Passionate.

https://ahcama-sotz.bandcamp.com/album/new-skin-for-old-tribals

 

12.10.2018

The new Ah Cama-Sotz cd “I Believe” and the limited 2cd edition “I Believe” + “Allerheiligenvloed – Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe” will be released on HANDS on 19th October 2018!
Ah Cama-Sotz . I Believe & Allerheiligenvloed – Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe
2cd in oversized Hands Paper Pack . HANDS B046
limited numbered 500 copies

Ah Cama-Sotz . I Believe
cd in Hands Paper Pack . HANDS D263

I Believe:
After kickstarting his Gatto Nero techno unit, Herman returns to his main occupation – the legend that is Ah Cama-Sotz. Just a little short of his 20th album, “I Believe” is arguably the most upfront, dance floor friendly among the lot. While not (by any means) neglecting the tribal, ethnic and dark elements of the ACS sound, this album also caters a variety of incendiary straight rhythmic tracks. And it’s that mélange – and the mastery of production that (again) convinces in full swing!

Proclaiming the creed, the simple statement of faith – of course ACS does it in the most morbid and perverted way. “Somebody give the lord a handclap” and shake it to the tribal drum beats, heretic samples and monastic choirs of the album opener “Lords of Evil”. And the majority of tracks to follow shall pin you to the dance floor: “I:Travel”, “Collision Wall”, “The Beast Within” and “LiftOff” all provide a four-to-the-floor backbone that relates to the technophile sound of Gatto Nero – and “The underground” even has some fierce washes of acid lines.

But it wouldn’t be ACS if he didn’t provide some diversion: Deep drones (“Signal/Noise/Resistance”), a voluptuous ethnic fantasy (“El Cuerpo, Mild as a Teardrop on a Grave”), sacred dark ambience (“Semper Immota” + “Moriendi Desolatum”), and the industrial benchmark, a flamboyant cover version of “Warm Leatherette”.
Belief is at the core of determination, and this is a statement – Ah Cama-Sotz is going places, going strong, still innovative and hungry, and always idiosyncratic!

Tracklist:
01 Lords of Evil
02 I:Travel
03 Signal/Noise/Resistance
04 El Cuerpo, Mild as a Teardrop on a Grave
05 Collision Wall
06 Semper Immota
07 The Underground
08 Warm Leatherette
09 The Beast Within
10 LiftOff
11 Moriendo Desolatum
.

Allerheiligenvloed – Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe:
Ah Cama-Sotz’ 2018 opus “I Believe” will also be released in a limited edition HANDS double pack with a limited bonus CD – thus following the 1999 classic “Terra Infernalis” 19 years down the road! The companion for this intensely rhythmic album is the lavishly sinister “Allerheiligenvloed – Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe”, 60 minutes in the best, most unique ACS tradition of dark ambient electronica.

The All Saints’ Flood of 1570 was one oft he most fatal incidents in Dutch history, with an estimated body count of over 20.000 people and unaccountable misery as a consequence due tot he loss of livestock and winter provisions. It also created the drowned country, „Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe”. Legend has it that the fatal flood was caused by the capture of a mermaid. Saeftinghe stands as a monument of nature’s destructive power to the day.

Ah Cama-Sotz provides a bleak soundtrack to the subject matter, following in the vein of his much-remarked 2016 album “Exorcise”, transcending the notions of dark ambient industrial with a strong reference to earlier music traditions of avant-garde. The results are eight long and highly immersive tracks for the dark-minded connoisseur!

cd 2 Allerheiligenvloed – Het Verdronken Land Van Saeftinghe
01 Chapter I
02 Chapter II
03 Chapter III
04 Chapter IV
05 Chapter V
06 Chapter VI
07 Chapter VII
08 Chapter VIII

 

13.10.2017

 

Gatto Nero is the the new techno project by Ah Cama-Sotz! The debut album “A_Drum“ will be out on 27th October ’17 on HANDS!
Pre-sale: www.handsproductions.com/mailorder.asp
Teaser: www.soundcloud.com/hands-lab…/gatto-nero-a_drum-album-teaser

GATTO NERO . A_DRUM . cd/digital
Hands Paper Pack . HANDS D251

Gatto Nero, the black cat, promises no bad luck, but rather crowded dance floors: The man who is otherwise known as Ah Cama-Sotz „debuts“ with ten tracks of fierce, in-your-face techno. Indeed A_Drum is so essentially and unpretentiously four-to-the-floor that it will bring out the youthful spirit in anyone who has ever been able to relate to the genre. Charming and clever, produced with all the expertise you might expect from a veteran of electronic music who is well known for his mastery of analogue synths, this album is thoroughly rhythmic and while it stays well clear of industrial sounds it isn’t friendly either, for sure. Addictive ear candy for compulsive dancers!

Those who have followed Herman Klapholz’ work since the 1990s know of course that he has had his forays into the techno genre before, with his main outlet Ah Cama-Sotz as well as with side-projects such as ¥π¥ and Pow[d]er Pussy, and just as well we know of his infatuation with cats (and bats), so know these passions come together with this project which is bound to grab your attention from the start: Manoeuvring through a number of formative elements, this will never fail its physical impact. Sturdy minimalism („Away“), maddening drops („A_Drum“), tribal beats („Dead End Core“), fierce bass lines („Woofer“), earworm electro riffs („24 Hours“) and a general sense of euphoria drive the album home well before you thought. All that carries a comfortable warmth reminiscent of early techno productions, the analogue trademark sound that will have subwoofers work out seriously.
While the concert stage and the club seem the natural habitats of this album, it will also thrive on home listening. A_Drum is a sure shot for technophiles, as well as a must-explore facet of Ah Cama-Sotz for the devotees.

Tracklist:
01 Away
02 A_Drum
03 Flood
04 Dead End Core
05 Woofer
06 Concrete Jungle
07 Dirt
08 24 Hours
09 Kool Kat
10 Xone

cd: www.handsproductions.com/mailorder.asp
digital: www.handsofficial.bandcamp.com

 

01.07/2017

http://www.maschinenfest.de

more bands to come ……

24.06.2017

I posted the cd Murder Themes II (released on Hands in 2013) on bandcamp! check it out!

https://ahcama-sotz.bandcamp.com/album/murder-themes-ii

15.05.2017

Listen/buy Dark Souls and Evil Shadows on more than 250 digital shops:

https://itunes.apple.com/be/album/dark-souls-and-evil-shadows/id1234568503

https://ahcama-sotz.bandcamp.com/album/dark-souls-and-evil-shadows

 

04.02.2017

Follow me on Bandcamp 🙂

https://ahcama-sotz.bandcamp.com

04.12.2016

You can buy my last cd EXORCISE – MURDER THEMES III @ handsproductions.com and online music stores worldwide
(around 250!). Check it out 🙂

https://itunes.apple.com/…/exorcise-murder-the…/id1176611816

Check out my new musical project Rob Van Aelen on FB: https://www.facebook.com/RobVanAelen/

You can find music on my new soundcloud account : https://soundcloud.com/robvanaelen

Thanks for listening!

07.10.2016

The new Ah Cama-Sotz album “Exorcise – Murder Themes III” is a masterpiece of dark electronic music and will be release on 14th October 2016 on HANDS!

AH CAMA-SOTZ . Exorcise – Murder Themes III . cd . HANDS D241

After the sensual downbeat fantasy “State of Mind”, Ah Cama-Sotz releases a full dark ambient album that’s widely devoid of rhythm: A meticulously crafted hour of music that may well serve as an exorcism. Electronic sounds and synthetic strings paint a sonorous background, cryptic samples and angelic choirs conjure up the enigmatic. For the dark-minded, this promises highly cinematic entertainment, purification in eleven movements.

The eviction of a demon, the resurrection of the possessed is a mythical subject of almost all cultures. References to religious fanaticism have been the source of inspiration for many of Ah Cama-Sotz’s dark ambient works, of which the Murder Themes series is an ongoing example. Nevertheless this is quite different from the 2013-released 2nd part, as “Exorcise” only makes rather subtle use of industrial sounds, and the topics dealt with are very ambiguous; this style of dark ambient is composed in the classical sense, and as such relates to a tradition of electronic avant-garde music that predates the industrial genre.

Soundtrack-like in the best sense, “Exorcise” leads the listener from the unsettling bleakness of the opener “Absterge” through the lighter tones of “Burnside” and understated rhythmic structures of “Diaspore” or “Cicatrix” to the discordant organ sounds of “Epsomite”; en route we are exposed to a continuous contrast of the intangible and the mundane.
Whatever you make of it, you can’t deny the overwhelming effect of “Exorcise”, a masterful depiction of a dim place where Ah Cama-Sotz obviously operates in a class of his own.

Tracklist:
Absterge
Eukaryon
Resistor
Burnside
Diaspore
Blessing
Cicatrix
Isogonal
Deceiver
Demonize
Epsomite

Available soon at:
www.handsproductions.com/mailorder.asp

22.04.2015

Two years after the extensive anniversary release „Obsession Diabolique“, Ah Cama-Sotz returns with a more concise, almost intimate album: While still considering the rhythmic aspects of the ACS sound, the 60 minutes of „State Of Mind“ are on a distinctly downbeat note, leaving room for the inimitable atmospheric pieces and a fair share of sensual fantasies, on some tracks accompanied by familiar female vocals. The ACS mélange of ethnic sounds and beats with dark electronica and morbid obsessions appears more refined than ever!
State Of Mind
The city . The city that never sleeps. millions of souls crawling daily through the streets, their thoughts and minds are infinite. They won’t surrender to their state of mind. These living creatures exist through  the pace of modern society. Let us  not forget the belly, the underground of the city. The story i’m about to tell you is one of a dark era (yet to come). A lonely voice about solitude, despair and darkness. People will have to gaze into the underground, the endless tunnel and staircase relating to the infinite way of traveling towards one’s state of mind.

“State Of Mind” harks back to older ACS albums, as well as picking up where “Obsession Diabolique” ended. The two opening tracks “And it Makes me Susceptible to Pain …” and a strong 2015 Version of “Isfahan” are dark sensual fantasies, carried by female vocals and downbeat rhythms; “Solitaire” combines retro synth patterns with a repetitive electro/techno vibe; “Surrender to Infinity” and the title track “State of Mind” are storytelling dark ambient pieces with a dynamic structure; the ethnic beat section of the album consists of the triplet “Desert Heat”, “Hotel Odessa” (complete with proto techno sounds) and “Transcendental Meditation” before “Room with a View” closes the album in that downbeat, almost trip-hop-style sound.
With “State of Mind” veteran producer Herman Klapholz proves again he has no equal when it comes to providing authentically introspective and dark mood music!

http://www.handsproductions.com

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