Screaming Bones is the solo experimental psychedelic act of Mike Ludwig, who comes to us from Darmstadt, Germany, and has recently re-issued the album, And It’ll All Be Good, via Womholedeath Records. The experimental sounds on this record are pretty killer, and they take listeners on a journey through a surreal soundscape of hypnotic tones and heavy guitar riffs.
Ludwig’s musical background ranges from classic rock to the psychedelic rock of the Sixties and Seventies and takes a couple of good shots of punk and new wave. For a few years, he’s been riding the psychedelic wave and started making music at the end of 2019. The Screaming Bones solo project comprises Mike working with a headrush Looperboard and records in his bedroom studio.
“Making music is like painting,” Ludwig says. “You generate a musical canvas on which you paint your emotions, one after another. Finding your sound is a journey that never ends. Try to explore, experiment, do your own thing, and love what you are doing.”
It doesn’t seem like Screaming Bones has that large of a following, so the newly re-issued record is a bit of a hidden gem. Each listen reveals new layers of beauty within the sonic chaos. The re-issue of the album by Wormholedeath intends to bring the music to a broader audience, and Ludwig has also released a visualizer video for “Leave Me Alone,” which you can view below.
Screaming Bones has released quite a bit of music since 2021’s debut LP, With Yourself, including two other full-length albums and an EP in 2022 entitled Not Welcome / In This World. This new record (re-released in November 2022) is an instrumental effort with many long, experimental jams you can trip out to.
“A Psychedelic Tune for Your Afternoon Tea” clocks in at nearly nine minutes and, like the rest of the album, reminds me of the experimentation of Pink Floyd. “A Space Opera, Pt. 1” is the record’s longest song, lasting more than 14 minutes and playing up to the epic track title.
“Leave Me Alone” is one of the shortest tracks, featuring a grinding electronic beat reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails. Many of the tracks have an ambient quality, too, such as “Hive Song,” which quietly slumbers on for nine-plus minutes of gentle guitar playing and atmospherics. “Early Morning Brain Chaos” has an ominous title, which makes sense given the song’s creepy synthesizer sounds. “Dragonfly” has the most Spotify plays of all the songs; it’s a nearly 10-minute ambient guitar slow-burner with a cosmic horror twist.
And It’ll All Be Good is a great record of trippy and haunting guitar-driven electronic music that should be good for krautrock fans and others who enjoy experimental music. Dig back into Screaming Bones’ catalog of older albums, too, and discover the sounds of this unique German psych artist.
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