A Tier II

Lee Adams · Choronzon.

British multi-media artist, photographer, DJ, soundtrack composer and label-and-event director, working between Athens and London. The Choronzon DJ alias takes its name from Aleister Crowley's demon of dispersion (the Thelemic name for the abyss between the human and the divine); his work runs across several decades, the main strands being Khemia Records (founded 2016 with Pier di Sortie of Blackwater Records; the catalogue later acquired by the British Library), the twenty-year KAOS London event series and resident programme (the leading British post-industrial / techno / noise event series), the Rotten Sun touring project with Austrian noise violinist Mia Zabelka, the John Latham / David Toop soundscape re-scoring project, and the recent SUTURE production work with LAW334. The Bureau files Adams as the most sustained example in contemporary post-industrial of a single artist directing work across sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, photography, DJing, programming and production at once.

filed under

Identity

Lee Adams · British · working between Athens and London · Choronzon as the main DJ alias from c. 2003 onward · work sustained across sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, photography, DJing, programming, producing and label-running · Alias provenance

§ 01

Editorial.

Lee Adams is filed as the most sustained example in contemporary post-industrial of an artist working across many media at once. The filing rests on a single observation: Adams came up in visual art (sculptor, printmaker, installation artist, performer), and the turn to DJing and to running labels and events did not replace that work but extended it. What the Bureau files is therefore neither a DJ catalogue with visual work attached, nor a visual catalogue with music attached, but a single body of work that treats sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, photography, DJing, programming and production as continuous parts of the same practice.

The Choronzon DJ alias is filed within the F·06 ritual-industrial tradition. The name takes its provenance from Aleister Crowley's Thelemic working system, where Choronzon is the demon of dispersion at the abyss between the human and the divine. The post-industrial tradition has long worked the same ground (Coil's ritual industrial, Genesis P-Orridge and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, the surrounding F·06 field), and that is the upstream reference here. Adams's use of the Crowley name is the clearest way into how he frames the work: the DJing is explicitly ritual rather than purely musical, and his sustained engagement with the abyss-and-dispersion theme (the "brutal, expansive and cinematic" sets critics consistently describe) belongs to the ritual-industrial tradition rather than to conventional techno DJing.

The KAOS London event series is the leading British post-industrial / techno / noise event series of the past two decades. Adams has been resident DJ for the full twenty years the Bureau documents; the series has hosted Orphx, Rrose, In Aeternam Vale, Oliver Ho, Paula Temple, Samuel Kerridge, and the European industrial-techno and post-industrial structure across multiple London venues. It sits close to, and overlaps with, the Berghain / Ostgut Ton world; the relationship is one of shared reference rather than competition. The Bureau notes that British industrial techno over the past two decades has been carried in large part by KAOS London; later events (Body Motion, Pollen, the 2010s and 2020s London scene) follow from it.

Khemia Records (founded 2016 with Pier di Sortie of Blackwater Records, who had recently relocated from Rome to London) is Adams's main label. Its founding scheme was distinctive: the first release cycle ran on the four-solstice / equinox calendar (Winter and Summer Solstice, Autumn and Spring Equinox); the second release cycle ran on the four alchemical-process stages (Albedo, Citrinitas, Rubedo, Nigredo). The Bureau notes that this is of a piece with the Choronzon / Thelemic framing: the catalogue's organisation makes the ritual-magic scheme visible. The label later diversified into single-artist EPs, V/A compilations and full albums; limited-edition transparent vinyl with cover artwork from Olivier de Sagazan, Rein Vollenga, Mustafa Sabbagh and Evelyn Bencicova; resident photographer Zbigniew Tomasz Kotkiewicz. The entire vinyl catalogue was later acquired by the British Library; a Kotkiewicz photographic archive was acquired by the Bishopsgate Institute. Adams has noted (in the 2021 Unmasked Theoria interview) that being archived feels at odds with what the label set out to do, which is the Bureau's reading too: the British Library acquisition is the work's canonisation rather than the work itself.

The collaborations show the range of the work. The John Latham / David Toop soundscape re-scoring commission (Adams's main soundtrack work) sits within the contemporary conceptual-art and sound-art dialogue. The Rotten Sun touring project with the Austrian noise violinist Mia Zabelka sits within the free-improvisation and noise-violin tradition her catalogue documents. The SUTURE producer collaboration with LAW334 is Adams's most recent and most explicitly music-led work; the duo's "Panspermia" track released on Khemia in 2021, "Vajra" included on the June 2022 Murder Tbilisi vinyl V/A compilation, with a Liber Null (Berlin) release in production at the date of filing. The Bureau notes SUTURE as Adams's turn from directing and DJing into explicit production, and files it as a significant development that later work will follow from.

The programming work extends beyond Khemia and KAOS. Adams has programmed shows at Khidi (Tbilisi), Gegen (Berlin), Temple and Astron (Athens) and Space Ibiza; his programming spans mainly European, North African and Middle Eastern contemporary post-industrial and techno. The Exist festival appearance (the first electronic music festival in Ramallah, Palestine) is one of the most significant strands of the work: Exist (founded 2019 by Odai Masri, later extending to Amman, Beirut, Athens, Oslo and Berlin) is the leading Palestinian presence in contemporary post-industrial, and Adams's sustained engagement with it (the September 2023 Cafe OTO and The Yard London Exist show with Drew McDowall and Dirar Kalash) is where his work is most explicitly political.

The podcast and radio work documents the same sustained direction. Podcasts created for New Brvtalism, Phormix, Root Radio (Istanbul) and Mindless (Morocco); the KAOS London Podcast series as the continuing strand; the four-year Rinse FM residency as the main pre-podcast radio work. The Bureau notes that this multi-platform reach is unusual in contemporary post-industrial DJing: most figures work within one or two platforms, while Adams works across the lot at once and continuously (events, label, podcast, radio, festival programming, gallery and museum).

The Bureau's reading: Lee Adams is the clearest contemporary example in post-industrial of an artist directing work across many media at once without favouring any one. What he has sustained (Khemia Records, KAOS London, the Ambivalen+ series, the Boiler Room: KAOS London edition, the European and Middle Eastern shows) is among the most productive bodies of work in the contemporary tradition over the past two decades. The Bureau files it as a model: the multi-media spread is a strength rather than a dilution, and later figures follow from it.

§ 02

Strands.

Pre-Choronzon · visual art (c. mid-1990s onward)

Before the music, Adams worked in sculpture, printmaking, installation and performance. Adams has stated explicitly (the 2021 Unmasked Theoria interview) that the sculpture carried over conceptually into the label: the idea of the artist multiple, and printmaking's loosening of the precious unique object, are the starting point for Khemia's limited-edition transparent vinyl. The Bureau files the visual art as the precedent for what follows; no separate record of the early sculpture and printmaking is held in this file.

Choronzon DJ work · c. early 2000s onward

The Choronzon alias takes its provenance from Aleister Crowley's Thelemic working system. Adams's sets as Choronzon are described by critics as "brutal, expansive and cinematic", fusing techno, noise, experimental electronics, synthwave and body music across the post-industrial field. The work runs across the European, North African and Middle Eastern club and festival circuit; the SoundCloud archive (ChoronzonKaos) is the continuing documentary record.

KAOS London · twenty-year resident programme (c. 2004 onward)

The leading British post-industrial / techno / noise event series of the past two decades. Adams resident DJ and director across the full twenty years. Programme has shared bills with Orphx, Rrose, In Aeternam Vale, Oliver Ho, Paula Temple, Samuel Kerridge and the European industrial-techno and post-industrial structure. Across multiple London venues including Corsica Studios (Plex / BleeD, Jaded and Unmasked nights), The Coronet (Body Probe), Electrowerkz (the main venue), Brixton Academy (Antiworld) and the larger London underground. The Boiler Room: KAOS London edition is its main mainstream-platform appearance.

Khemia Records · founded 2016 (continuing)

Founded 2016 with Pier di Sortie (founder of Blackwater Records, who had recently relocated from Rome to London). First release cycle on the four-solstice / equinox calendar (Winter and Summer Solstice, Autumn and Spring Equinox); second release cycle on the four alchemical-process stages (Albedo, Citrinitas, Rubedo, Nigredo). Later diversified into single-artist EPs, V/A compilations and full albums. Limited-edition transparent vinyl with cover artwork from Olivier de Sagazan, Rein Vollenga, Mustafa Sabbagh and Evelyn Bencicova; resident photographer Zbigniew Tomasz Kotkiewicz. The entire vinyl catalogue later acquired by the British Library; a Kotkiewicz photographic archive acquired by the Bishopsgate Institute. The label has its own file at khemia.html, where the full catalogue is listed.

Rotten Sun · touring collaboration with Mia Zabelka (date range to confirm)

Touring project with Austrian noise violinist Mia Zabelka; Adams's main free-improvisation and noise-violin work. Zabelka's catalogue (her long collaboration with Lydia Lunch, the European free-improvisation and noise-violin tradition) is what Rotten Sun sits within. The project's recordings and tours are documented through Adams's and Zabelka's own ongoing work; no separate Rotten Sun file is held here.

SUTURE · production collaboration with LAW334 (2021 onward)

Production work with LAW334; Adams's main explicitly produced music. Track "Panspermia" released on Khemia Records in 2021. Track "Vajra" included on the June 2022 Murder Tbilisi vinyl V/A compilation (the Georgian release). Upcoming Liber Null (Berlin) release in production at the date of filing. The Bureau notes SUTURE as Adams's turn from directing and DJing into explicit production, and files it as the most recent development.

John Latham / David Toop re-scoring commission

Commission to re-score a lost David Toop soundscape for the conceptual artist John Latham. Adams's main soundtrack work. The context (John Latham within the British conceptual-art tradition from the 1960s; David Toop's sound art; the lost-soundscape device as a recurring contemporary sound-art idea) is the project's reference. No separate file is held here.

Ambivalen+ A/V listening event series

The A/V listening event series Adams has programmed at The Ace Hotel, The Institute of Light, The Yard Theatre and contemporary London positions. Cover-art collaborator Oannes Slym and Sofien Mekni positions are documented through later CASKO video collaborations (the Empires of Dirt release the release). The series is the editorial position's gallery and listening-room continuation, distinct from the KAOS London club-and-event position.

Radio and podcast positions

A four-year residency on Rinse FM (the main pre-podcast radio work). Podcasts created for New Brvtalism, Phormix, Root Radio (Istanbul) and Mindless (Morocco). The KAOS London Podcast series continues it. The podcasts sit alongside the KAOS London programme; radio and podcast run together.

Editorial shows and festival programming

Showcases programmed at Khidi (Tbilisi), Gegen (Berlin), Temple and Astron (Athens), Space Ibiza. Boiler Room: KAOS London edition programmed and performed. A sustained engagement with the Exist festival (the first electronic music festival in Ramallah, Palestine; later expanded to Amman, Beirut, Athens, Oslo and Berlin; the September 2023 Cafe OTO and The Yard London Exist show including Drew McDowall and Dirar Kalash). The programming is continuous with the KAOS London residency.

Guest appearances

CTM Festival at Tresor (Berlin), Khidi (Tbilisi), Forte Festival, Champ Libre (Paris), Macadam, Balenciaga at Rex Club (Paris), Astron Bar for Fasma Festival (Athens), Exist (Ramallah, Palestine), Antiworld at Brixton Academy, Plex / BleeD, Jaded and Unmasked at Corsica Studios, Drone at Subland (Berlin), Warehouse 9 (Copenhagen), SPILL International Performance Festival, Black Movie Festival (Geneva), Body Probe at The Coronet, Meta Libre (Marseille), Boiler Athens. The list is documented at multiple later agency biographies (Altar Agency, Cafe OTO, Resident Advisor) and is consistent across the sources.

§ 03

Cross-references.

Main works (filed separately or pending)

Khemia Records · Adams's main label, founded 2016. It has its own file with the full catalogue; this artist file covers Adams's role, the label file the records.

KAOS London · Adams's main event series. A twenty-year residency.

Ambivalen+ · the A/V listening event series.

Forms

F·06 Ritual industrial · the form the Choronzon / Crowley reference sits within. It takes in Coil, Genesis P-Orridge / Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and the post-industrial occult-historical tradition. Adams's use of the name is one of the contemporary F·06 reference points.

F·18 Industrial techno · the main contemporary form the Choronzon DJ work operates within. KAOS London is the leading British F·11 event series of the past two decades.

F·07 Power electronics · the form the Rotten Sun (Mia Zabelka) project touches through noise violin and free improvisation.

F·20 Harsh Noise Wall · a near neighbour through the noise and noise-violin work of Rotten Sun.

Adjacent acts

Orphx · the Canadian rhythmic-noise act · shared KAOS London bills.

Rrose · the contemporary American minimal-techno act · shared KAOS London bills.

In Aeternam Vale · the long-running French cold-wave and industrial-techno act · shared KAOS London bills.

Oliver Ho · the British techno artist with a sustained post-industrial bent · shared KAOS London bills.

Paula Temple · the British / German techno artist with an explicitly political bent · shared KAOS London bills.

Samuel Kerridge · the British post-industrial techno artist the Bureau files within contemporary F·11 · shared KAOS London bills and the Downwards Records connection.

Mia Zabelka · the Austrian noise-violin and free-improvisation artist · Adams's Rotten Sun collaborator. Her catalogue (the long collaboration with Lydia Lunch, the Phantom Limb work, the European free-improvisation and electroacoustic-violin tradition) is a near neighbour through Rotten Sun.

Drew McDowall · formerly of Coil · a direct link through the September 2023 Exist show at Cafe OTO and The Yard.

Dirar Kalash · the Palestinian sound artist · a link through the Exist shows.

LAW334 · Adams's SUTURE production collaborator.

Precedent and influences

Coil · the precedent the Choronzon / Crowley framing follows from. Drew McDowall links directly into Adams's work through the Exist programming.

Genesis P-Orridge · the Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth tradition the Choronzon alias follows from in post-industrial occult history.

David Toop · the leading contemporary British figure in sound art · the John Latham re-scoring commission sits within his tradition. The Bureau notes Toop as one of the central figures in contemporary sound art.

John Latham · the British conceptual artist (1921 to 2006) · Adams's main soundtrack commission sits within his work.

Venues and events

Tresor (Berlin) · CTM Festival appearance · the Tresor / Ostgut world is filed in the Bureau's Berlin scene file (pending).

Khidi (Tbilisi) · the main contemporary Georgian post-industrial venue · Adams plays and programmes there regularly.

Astron Bar / Temple (Athens) · the main contemporary Athens post-industrial venues Adams has programmed and played.

Corsica Studios (London) · the main London venue for KAOS London and the Plex / BleeD / Jaded / Unmasked nights.

Cafe OTO (London) · a leading London experimental-music venue · the September 2023 Exist show.

The Coronet (London) · the Body Probe venue (now closed). A note rather than a full Bureau filing.

Brixton Academy (London) · the Antiworld venue.

Rex Club (Paris) · the Balenciaga show venue.

Festivals

CTM Festival (Berlin) · a leading contemporary European post-industrial and experimental-music festival · Adams appears through the Tresor show.

Exist Festival · the first electronic music festival in Ramallah, Palestine; founded 2019 by Odai Masri; later expanded to Amman, Beirut, Athens, Oslo and Berlin; the leading Palestinian presence in contemporary post-industrial.

Fasma Festival (Athens) · a contemporary Athens electronic-music festival · the Astron Bar show.

Forte Festival · the contemporary post-industrial festival position.

Black Movie Festival (Geneva) · the contemporary Swiss film and sound-art festival position.

SPILL International Performance Festival · the contemporary performance-art festival; Adams's visual-art position sustained through the festival's editorial framework.

Adjacent record labels and editorial programmes

Blackwater Records · Pier di Sortie's label (Rome later London); the precedent for Khemia through the di Sortie / Adams partnership of 2016.

Liber Null (Berlin) · the contemporary Berlin post-industrial label release; the SUTURE release in production.

Murder Tbilisi · the Georgian label release; the SUTURE "Vajra" June 2022 V/A position.

Rinse FM · the British underground-radio mainstay · Adams's four-year residency.

Coda.

Lee Adams is filed at the artist file as the contemporary post-industrial tradition's example of sustained editorial direction operating across multiple media simultaneously without privileging any single vein. The Choronzon DJ alias takes its provenance from Aleister Crowley's Thelemic tradition (the demon of dispersion sitting at the abyss between the human and the divine); what he has sustained ·Khemia Records (founded 2016 with Pier di Sortie; the catalogue later acquired by the British Library), KAOS London (the twenty-year resident programme and British post-industrial / techno / noise event series), the Ambivalen+ A/V listening event series, the four-year Rinse FM residency, the podcast structure, and the shows at Khidi, Gegen, Temple and Astron, Space Ibiza and the Boiler Room: KAOS London edition· constitutes one of the contemporary tradition's most productive bodies of work of the past two decades. The adjacent collaborations (the John Latham / David Toop soundscape re-scoring commission, the Rotten Sun touring project with Mia Zabelka, the recent SUTURE producer position with LAW334) document the method's scope across sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, photography, DJing, programming, producing and label-running simultaneously. The Bureau holds the position as a model for the contemporary editorial-direction tradition: the multi-media spread is not a weakness but a strength that later figures follow fromsequent contemporary positions sit downstream of.

Bureau filing footer

File · Lee Adams (Choronzon)
Filed · via cross-links
Filing · Tier II · British multi-media artist, photographer, DJ, soundtrack composer, label and event director · Khemia Records, KAOS London, Rotten Sun, SUTURE · working between Athens and London
Activity · Active in 2026 · no memorial entries to file
Date catalogued · 17 May 2026
Editor · VAGO, Bureau of Industrial, Noise & Avant-Garde Disturbances
Status · Published; revisable on cross-reference updates

Related · Coil (the Choronzon / Crowley framing follows from it) · Mia Zabelka (Rotten Sun collaborator) · Drew McDowall (Exist link).

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