CD, T’an! Kaven!! Ash!!! / The Eastern Front, 2006
www.theeasternfront.org/T’an!_Kaven!!_Ash!!!.htm
Shadow Theater is a collaboration between Flutwacht and Vincenzo Bossi, two projects from Germany and “Siona” is already their eight release. This CD-r was released on the Israelian label T’an!_Kaven!!_Ash!!! which on its turn is the more experimental outlet of the better known label The Eastern Front.
The whole album was ‘performed and recorded live without audience’ which indicates either a lack of audience (when the emphasis is on “performed”) or the way it was recorded. My guess is the second, because there is definitly an audience for this style of European Power Electronics.
The nine tracks in this album can be divided in two styles, the one which are based on ambient-noise sound sculptures and the straight forward Power Electronics. The whole album is a well balanced mixture of both.
The title track of the CD-r is a good noise-track where the live-aspect of the recording is very well audible, though if it would have been a studio-recording the result would have more impact (which is on the one hand the charm and on the other hand the shortcoming of live-recordings). This setting continues on the rest of the album which differences in structure, for example through addition of rhythm (“Dog by dog”) or inaudible screaming (“You are dead”). “Siona” ends with two untitled tracks and these happen to be the best of this release. “Untitled 1” is quite erratic, but it came out really nice and oppressive; and shocking as well, if only because of the absense of words. “Untitled 2” is the final track and has pounding beats with loads of noise filtering and distortion.
All in all I can see why Shadow Theater released eight albums because it’s some good stuff, but to belong to the top of the noise scene it is just not good enough. Power Electronics are based on a musical or verbal shock-effect or a message. And neither of those two could be found on “Siona”…
[7/10]
— Bauke van der Wal