The
debut full-length from this young Norwegian free-improv
duo morphs volcanically from low tech electronic trickles
of sound to astringent, booming pulses, squalls of guitar
feedback, and meteor storms of synthesized sound. It
having been recorded live with and devoid of overdubs
hints at the underlying character which bleeds through
these ten otherwise disparate and sprawling compositions:
put simply, it’s a character that is carnal, raw,
and primitive. If one, like Schopenhauer, imagines the
will as something akin to a tornado, then rather than
attempt to harness or channel this storm into something
singular and goal-oriented, this duo is content to let
it build, recede, and return when it may. In the end,
the record hasn’t led to anything, but it has
afforded the listener a stirring moment or two.
At first, the duo first builds up jagged, coarse physical
masses that hang in the air, monumental and oppressive,
and then underpin or shift them about through the implementation
of clusters of vibrating strings and ringing metals.
When this latter element remains brewing in the background,
delicious tangles are forged between the nearly churning
whirls of fuzzed out guitar and the off-kilter rhythmic
developments of the damaged electronics. On track five,
for instance, the spiraling rhythmic designs from heavily
reverbed drums provides a tempo and backdrop, which
the guitar of Anders Hana colors in with murky harmonies
and the odd discharge of feedback. When either of these
components are left unaided by the other, though, pieces
tend to fall in on themselves and become a trifle onerous.
For this reason, the pair are prone to falling completely
in line with punk-rock banalities and the shock tactics
harbored by at least some of the acts from the noise
camp. During such moments, this effort, for all its
abrasive washes of sound and hammering percussion, is
decidedly domestic and orderly.
Max Schaefer
3.5/5 |
