Andrew Nolan releases industrial dub album ‘Black Dogs’
Andrew Nolan released his industrial dub album “Black Dogs” on October 9 via GIVE/TAKE and Avalanche Recordings, featuring JK FLESH and Gremlinz.
Toronto-based producer Andrew Nolan released his new album “Black Dogs” on October 9 through GIVE/TAKE, in collaboration with Justin K Broadrick’s Avalanche Recordings. The ten-track record incorporates industrial dub, hip-hop, drum & bass and downtempo electronic, with contributions from JK FLESH, Metalheadz artist Gremlinz, and Sectra.
“Black Dogs” was mastered by Broadrick, who records as JK FLESH and also leads Godflesh and Jesu. Pre-orders opened on October 2 alongside the lead single “The Skriker of Yorkshire,” a collaboration between Nolan and JK FLESH. “Black Dogs” is available now on CD, cassette and digital through GIVE/TAKE and Avalanche Recordings.
‘Black Dogs’ draws on north English folklore
The album takes its name from the black dogs of English folklore, spectral hounds said to be the spirits of unbaptized babies. Nolan built its soundscapes from animal sounds, junk metal and feedback, citing Coil, Nurse With Wound, Meat Beat Manifesto, Radiophonic Workshop, Scientist and Depth Charge among his reference points, alongside the golden-era British hip-hop of Hijack, Gunshot and Hardnoise.
“The Skriker of Yorkshire” takes its title from a black dog faery hound in English folklore whose shriek announces death. On the collaboration with JK FLESH, Andrew Nolan said: “Despite appearing on multiple records together, Justin and I have only collaborated on one track previously. Much of the direction for ‘Skriker’ came from late night conversations about the UK breakbeat hardcore scene we were both avid followers of in the early 90s. The idea was to use hardware samplers to completely degrade Justin’s material, then rebuild it entirely, keeping the bass intact and chopping overdriven breaks for momentum.”
On the album as a whole, Nolan described it as “a reckless invocation of ill omen. All due respects paid to spectral hounds. Man is still the animal.”
GIVE/TAKE and Avalanche Recordings have been releasing music together as part of an ongoing collaborative series, of which “Black Dogs” is the latest entry. Nolan marked the release with an online Bandcamp listening party and artist chat on October 9.
About Andrew Nolan
Andrew Nolan is a Toronto-based producer who has worked in dark ambient, grindcore, industrial noise, hip-hop and death metal for more than three decades. He began in DIY and underground music as a pirate radio DJ in the north of England before relocating to Canada. Nolan has collaborated with Refused, Full of Hell, The Body, Homemade Weapons, Harms Way and Fatboi Sharif, and recently scored the feature film “Hangashore,” starring James Frecheville and Hera Hilmar.
In 2019, Nolan began merging tape loop, found sound and synth-collage techniques with the hip-hop production work he was also pursuing. “Black Dogs” pairs industrialized dub with the production approach of golden-era British hip-hop. The album is released on GIVE/TAKE in collaboration with Justin K Broadrick’s Avalanche Recordings and follows a run of recent solo work and collaborative releases that have kept Nolan active across multiple corners of underground electronic and metal music.
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