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 with its hypnotic rhythms. She has received much greater attention than usual for a noise/power electronics artist due to her innovative performances, during which she often forcefully interacts with her audience, as well as accomplished studio albums such as 2014's Bestial Burden. 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. After a dedicated look into the limits of physicality, Chardiet turned her attention toward the mind on her 2017 album, Contact. The record was designed to induce the listener into a trance-like state akin to Chardiet's live performances. Her fourth album, 2019's Devour, was recorded live in the studio, with each side captured as a continuous take. ~ Gregory Heaney