Photography: Adam Reid

ANDREW NOLAN

For over three decades, Toronto-based Andrew Nolan has been operating in the shadowy corners of underground music. Nolan's first forays into DIY and underground culture were as a pirate DJ in the north of England. Since then, Nolan has produced notable work in dark ambient, grindcore, industrial noise, hip-hop, and death metal, including collaborations with artists such as Refused, Full of Hell, The Body, Homemade Weapons, Harms Way, and Fatboi Sharif.

In 2019, Nolan began merging his tape loop, found sound, and synth-collage work with the hip-hop production he was currently involved with. Black Dogs is the latest album in this lineage, containing ten songs of industrialized dub influenced by Coil, Nurse With Wound, Meat Beat Manifesto, Radiophonic Workshop, Scientist, Depth Charge, and the production approach of golden-era British hip-hop defined by Hijack, Gunshot, and Hardnoise. Mastered by Justin K Broadrick, the album features collaborations with JK FLESH, Metalheadz artist Gremlinz, and Sectra.

Black Dogs draws inspiration from Nolan's obsession with north English folklore, and is named for the vicious spectral hounds that are believed to be the spirits of unbaptized babies. The album uses animal sounds, junk metal, and feedback as its sonic building blocks to create grim, striking soundscapes.

Releasing in collaboration with Broadrick's Avalanche Recordings, Black Dogs arrives on limited CD, cassette, and digital Friday, October 9th.