Every once in so many times you keep hearing a name and you get intrigued. But time and money fail to hunt things down to see why it intrigues you, and if the hunch you had was true. This is sort of the situation with The Melanchoholics for me.
Category: Reviews
Ctephin – Duad
Noise creation as a family weekend thing. If you are a ‘noisician’ yourself, you probably would think of that as either a) undoable, b) unwanted or c) a match made in heaven, finding the perfect husband/wife and having children that actually approve of mommy and daddy’s activities.
Olhon – Lucifugus
Pressed on the heavy 10″ vinyl we are used from Stefan Knappe’s label activity, I hold a bright orange output from Olhon. Olhon is the collaboration etween Bad Sector and Where: Italian masters of ambience, or – which is perhaps even more appropriate – ‘creepy’ soundscapes.
Fractional – Blood
“Blood”, the latest full-length from Belgian breakcore producer Fractional, follows 2008’s “Come Mierda” with reckless, happy abandon. It is a curious body of work, and admittedly the direction taken with this new material is rather unexpected.
Gydja – Helchemy
“Helchemy” is made up of two tracks, both clocking in at just over 25 minutes. I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of super-long songs, but occasionally a good producer can make it work. The drones aren’t particularly notable themselves, but Gydja does a good job of adding enough supplementary elements to make this an interesting listen.
Worms of the Earth – The Lesser Ophidian Gate
Worms of the Earth’s Dan Barret is back to demonstrate his genius once again with skull-crushing rhythmic precision and engulfing soundscapes that will leave you with mental images of unholy rites lingering into the night. “The Lesser Ophidian Gate” is a four-track EP with two bonus tracks featuring a remix by Vicious Alliance.
Wentworth Kersey – ((O))
The final part in the trilogy from bootgaze’s finest, “((O))” is really quite different to both “O” and “(O)”. It seems a lot more measured and calm, even though the trilogy as a whole hasn’t exactly been frantic by any means.
Totakeke – On The First Of November
I’m an unashamed product of the ’90s industrial scene, so the Totakeke project is full of familiar signifiers for me. Haujobb are an obvious comparison, although occasionally on “On The First Of November” Frank Mokros (a.k.a. Ativ/Synth-Etik) indulges a baroque side reminiscent of an instrumental :Wumpscut:.
I/dex – Layers
“Layers” is a hard release for me to review. I/dex, producer Vitaly Harmash delivers an album of complex ambient that becomes a minimalist soundtrack rather than a release with distinct songs. The whole of the album would be perfect for background listening during daily life but fails to capture and captivate the listener for active listening.
Kilowatts – The Right Words EP
Since my first forays into music reviewing, Kilowatts is an artist whom I’ve grown with. Now I have his most recent release, “The Right Words”. This is a much changed and rounded sounded from a few years back, one that has grown from fairly straight up electronica to a minimal tech/house sound, and whilst I can see how minimal house can be of interest to some, it’s not quite to my taste.