Utech Records & Stephen Kasner - URSK 10-CD box set

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It’s interesting that as people get poorer – many of us, anyway – and the record industry spirals downwards, that the products it sells have become increasingly lavish. See, for example, the most ridiculous box sets from last year, including Floor’s $250 one (10 colored LP’s, 8 CD’s, 1 7″) and Lamb of God’s recent $1000 one (electric guitar, 6 LP’s, 6 USB drives, 3 CD’s, flag, among other things). In baseball terms, it’s as if home runs are the only goal. The base hit (i.e., the album) is becoming an endangered species.

Oversized musical artifacts may have non-monetary value. Perhaps they are declarations of war against the increasing impermanence of art – the download-and-delete mentality in music, or the degraded, you-get-the-idea visuals of YouTube. A CD’s main physical presence is as an annoyance that needs storage; an LP has a more satisfying one akin to holding a book; a big box set is an elephant in a room. Either that, or it gathers lots of dust.

But what if a box set were “fine art”, whatever that means? What if it were paintings – or at least reproductions of them – that beg to be seen, not stored? What if music accompanied the paintings? Or would the paintings accompany the music?

URSK, a box set from Utech Records, asks – and perhaps answers – some of these questions.

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Its premise is “the belief that a visual device can bind a disparate body of music in a meaningful way”. To an extent, URSK’s nine albums, which came out over a two-year period, are disparate. They include drones both gentle and violent, electric guitars and the absence thereof, and varying amounts of vocals and percussion. Artists include Runhild Gammelsæter (Thorr’s Hammer, Khlyst), Final (aka Justin Broadrick), Skullflower, Aluk Todolo, and The Stargazer’s Assistant, whose David J. Smith did a wonderful record as Guapo on Neurot several years ago.

But they also hang together under the rubric of “non-metal music for metalheads”. Even the most ambient material is not relaxing. It requires work to digest, and a willingness to dive into deep, dark realms. In many ways, it is more “extreme” than metal could ever hope to be. Genre is irrelevant, and the only bounds are that of creativity.

The visual device that binds this music together is Stephen Kasner‘s painting. (I interviewed him here.) His style is instantly recognizable, having graced albums by Khlyst, Integrity, Martin Grech, and many others. He’s a perfect choice to visually anchor this box set. The music is slow, and painting is a slow process. Sounds avoid Pro Tools, and images avoid Photoshop. The vibe is, in a word, handmade.

Here are the specs of the box set, according to Utech.

The box will only be for sale through Utech Records. Each set contains all nine releases in a custom engraved archival box with logo by Stephen Kasner. Also included is a remix cd with one track from each artist based on their original material. A booklet highlights new, exclusive art and text by Kasner and Jenks Miller (ed. note: of Horseback fame). The crown jewel of the set is a folder with nine art cards. Each folder was hand-adorned by Kasner in silver ink and houses cards detailing the booklet art. Each set is numbered out of 90. No two are the same.

Further details, images, and ordering information are here. $199 gets the complete box set. $129 gets the box set and the remix disc minus the nine original CD’s. Below are a list of them and audio clips from each. They are also available individually from Utech.

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URSK 1: Skullflower – Desire for a Holy War

URSK 2: Heavensore – Asmodai

URSK 3: Runhild Gammelsæter – Amplicon

URSK 4: The Stargazer’s Assistant – Shivers and Voids

URSK 5: Klangmutationen – Schwarzhagel

URSK 6: RST – Tomorrow’s Void

URSK 7: Final – Dead Air

URSK 8: Aluk Todolo – Finsternis

URSK 9: Blood Fountains – Floods

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