Label Description: Bay Area based experimental metal entities Sutekh Hexen and Seattle’s Hissing unveil SH:HS, a long-awaited collaborative release capturing the raw intensity of their joint improvisational project, SH:HS (Sutekh Hissing Arkestra).

Originally conceived as a live convergence of both bands’ full lineups, SH:HS documents two volatile and distinct performances recorded in 2017 and 2019. These recordings, born from spontaneous interaction and unrestrained sonic exploration, have since undergone an extensive transformation. Across 2024–2025, both groups meticulously revisited the material, cleaning, mixing, and reshaping the source recordings with a careful balance of restraint and intervention, preserving the immediacy of the performances while expanding their depth and dimensionality.

The result is a work that embodies abstract metal improvisation at its most feral and unfiltered. SH:HS channels dissonant textures, unstable rhythmic forms, and raw sonic collisions unfolding in real time. What emerges is a dense and unpredictable soundscape, oscillating between chaos and intention, where structure feels simultaneously eroded and reconstituted in the moment.

This release stands as both a document and a reconstruction, capturing not only the ephemeral nature of live improvisation, but also the evolving dialogue between two of of the west coast’s most uncompromising experimental acts.

CD co-released with Phage Tapes.

Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 29:45

Live recordings by James Livingston and Joy Von Spain
Mastered by James Plotkin
Illustrations by Eric Radey
Layout and design by Kevin Gan Yuen and Zach Wise