Margaret Char diet was born and raised in New York City. She has been making power electronics/Death-Industrial music under the name Pharmakon for five years. As a founding member of the Red Light District collective in Far Rockaway, NY she has been a figurehead in the underground experimental scene since the age of 17. She describes her drive to make noise music as something akin to exorcism where she is able to express, her "deep-seated need/drive/urge/possession to reach other people and make them FEEL something [specifically] in uncomfortable/ confrontational ways."
M**M
An album I won't soon... ABANDON
Abandon is one of the most uncomfortable records I've ever listened to. I first played it at work with my headphones on and found myself severely distracted and maybe a little frightened. But I was absolutely mesmerized by it. It's a dark, scary, personal album, and I don't think I've heard anything quite like it. For originality and inventiveness alone, I think it's one of the best albums of the year. If the thought of a death/drone album piques your interest, give this one a listen.
R**.
Boring, cliched, and not worth your money.
Another present bought for a friend. It bored me to death. There's lot of good industrial/noise outfits out there....Pharmakon is not one of them. Imagine Jarboe at her angriest crossed with Whitehouse outtakes. I'm all for strong women in the world of noise/power electronics, but Margaret Chardiet is boring as hell.
C**D
…Crawling...
Power Electronic/Noise project of Margaret Chardiet. The opening banshee wail on ‘Milkweed/It Hangs Heavy’ sends chills up my spine. I continue to listen as a salvo of noise develops into a terrified animal heartbeat rhythm. I am that terrified animal and it only gets worse from there. Ms. Chardiet’s screams are unleashed and the panic really sets in when a lone death knell synth note begins to toll beneath all the noise and screaming. I now know that I am truly done for, and this is only the first song.‘Abandon’ is a superb Power Electronics album that eschews the typical imagery and lyrical fodder of misogyny and other depravities in favor of something much more effective: The personal touch of an unapologetically fierce and injured human being (a human being that also happens to be covered in maggots on the front cover.)
J**S
right out of hell
My daughter gave me this CD as a gift and one look at the cover and I'm like, what the hell!? I tried it and immediately thought, "now that's something different." No real lyrics, in fact some of the music seems to be embellished screams. Other selections have a distinctive "Steam Punk" flavor. Listening to this CD makes other music seem light weight in comparison. I'm a digital artist that loves playing mood music to enhance creativity and the hell like sounds coming form this CD really fires me up when composing malevolent masterpieces. I can't wait for the next CD to come out.Joe
C**R
The maggots on the cover are a hint
Debut release from New York City artist Margaret Chardiet--sounds of industrial torture. The maggots on the cover are a hint. It's like an auditory interpretation of the movie "Saw". Intense, linear, anti-melody attack sounds from Hell. Eternal, masterful pain beyond the concept. Recalls the radical sounds of bands like Whitehouse, Hafler Trio, P16.D4, Nurse With Wound, Non/Boyd Rice, Throbbing Gristle, Masonna.
J**L
it's as dark ambient as it gets lately VERY GOOD
beautifully executed. flatter and less extemporaneous than nurse with wound which is not at all a bad thing, strikes deliciously in the middle between noise and dark ambient. sometimes reminding me of throbbing gristle and sometimes reminding me of Lustmord BUT NEVER EVER derivative, feels very new. I hope it continues, I'm sick of the music scene today.
Trustpilot
2 days ago
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