Pharmakon

A grimy excursion into the worlds of noise/power electronics/death industrial, Pharmakon is the project of New York-based performer Margaret Chardiet. Mixing slow, churning beats with abrasive blasts of synthesizers and her own anguished screams, the project blends noise's confrontational qualities without completely abandoning musicality. This gives Pharmakon a sound that, while harsh and unsettling, beckons the listener in with its hypnotic rhythms. Though Chardiet had previously released a number of CD-R and cassette recordings, the first proper Pharmakon release, Abandon, arrived in 2013 through Sacred Bones. However, before Chardiet could embark on her first European tour, she was hospitalized, requiring emergency surgery. During that time, the noise architect turned her attention inward, writing about the betrayal she felt with her own body to create what would become her second album for Sacred Bones, Bestial Burden, which arrived in 2014.