Lustmord

While his days are spent working on sound design for Hollywood scores by Graeme Revell, sound designer Brian Williams records experimental ambience and dark space music as Lustmord. His recordings have been embraced by a variety of ambient fans, ranging from the '70s traditionalists at the Hearts of Space label to the ambient-techno experimentalists at Plug Research. Born and raised in Wales, Williams first performed as Lustmord in 1980 as a series of unannounced "support slots" at larger gigs, with Williams simply leaping on-stage and performing until security became aware of the situation. Though understandably brief, the rock terrorism gained Williams contact with like minds in the proto-industrial scene including SPK and Throbbing Gristle. He soon began appearing with SPK on tour and in the studio, and in 1982 released a self-titled Lustmord LP, including work by Coil's John Balance and Nocturnal Emissions' Nigel Ayers. His second album, Paradise Disowned (released by SPK's Side Effects label in 1984), featured recordings made in a variety of subterranean locales including the crypt at Chartres Cathedral, Dunster Abattoir in Bangor, Wales and on the ocean floor. By that time, Williams had also taken over running Side Effects.

Though he released no additional Lustmord material during the rest of the '80s, Williams did record (and do sound research) for albums by Current 93, Nurse with Wound, SPK, Chris & Cosey, and SPK member Graeme Revell's solo project The Insect Musicians. Lustmord returned in 1990 and released a pair of albums for Side Effects, The Monstrous Soul in 1992 and Place Where the Black Stars Hang in 1994. Williams moved to California in the mid-'90s after being recruited by Graeme Revell to work on his sound library for the scores of feature films including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Street Fighter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow, and Spawn, among others.

Another Williams collaboration, this one with space music pioneer Robert Rich, debuted with the 1995 release of Rich's Stalker album, recorded for Hearts of Space. One year later, Williams responded to requests from the ambient-techno DJ community for Lustmord material on vinyl by releasing a single for Plug Research. The recording inspired his next project, a collaborative live album named Lustmord vs. Metal Beast that skirted the edges of dark-ambient-techno. Purifying Fire appeared in summer 2000, but it was his critically acclaimed Metavoid that raise eyebrows. He also has several ongoing projects including Arecibo, Isolrubin BK, and Terror Against Terror.