ERLAND DAHLEN
Rolling Bomber
HUBROCD2512/HUBROLP3512
Hubro 2012
07 Tracks. 35mins44secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM

Having worked with an impressive list of artists across a wide array of genres (from Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset or Nils Petter Molvær to Hanne Hukkelberg, Mike Patton or as part of rock band Madrugada), Norwegian drummer and percussionist Erland Dahlen steps out in the limelights with his first album as a solo artist. Released on the decidedly inspired Hubro Music, Rolling Bomber was recorded early last year in Oslo during three sessions with long term collaborators Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen, who both regularly officiate as Xploding Plastix, and was mastered by former Deathprod mastermind Helge Sten.

The album takes its name from Dahlen’s main instrument here, a vintage Slingerland Rolling Bomber drum kit dating back from World War II, which had the particularity of having some of its parts made of wood instead of brass, copper, nickel and steel which were all required for the war effort, resulting in its sound being warmer than traditional kits. To complement his sonic palette, Dahlen plays anything from musical saw, bowed cakeform with strings and megaphone to a vast collection of steeldrums, logdrums, tank drums, timpani, bells, kalimba and cuicas, upon which he adds discreet electronic touches.

Rolling Bomber is as varied and open as Dahlen’s career, taking from rock, ambient, drone or avant-jazz and. As he expertly blends them together, he defines areas of various intensity which range from haunting (Funeral, a piece remixed by Hagen), brooding (Dragon) or sombre (Pyramid) to poetic and dreamy (Flower Power), hectic (Monkey) and hypnotic (Piratman, Germany).

The scope of this record is matched by its textural richness. Drums, expectedly occupy an important place throughout, but the assortment of bells and percussions used here renders these pieces in a variety of tones, at times evoking spellbinding gamelan rhythms, at others the motorik drive of Krautrock. Dahlen’s use of the musical saw, an instrument which has been part of his range for years, on Flower Power and Germany, adds an eerie touch to the record, while Funeral, with its deep rumbling or grinding noises and sparse electronic touches, is by far the most atmospheric piece on here.

Rolling Bomber exists in a world of its own, without clear influences or roots, yet Erland Dahlen creates a rather impressive and consistent soundtrack as he finely balances his pieces between sheer energy and more delicate moments.

4.2/5

Hubro Music
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM