Griskalen - S/T
A new and fresh act from Germany is up and running with its first
self-titled debut release (24th of September 2017). I was even the second Facebook-user who gave this act a like, so it´s quite new and fresh. I also 2day in doubt what kind of stuff I wanted to review... something electronica based with lots of clicks and hissing, and then I found it. Being tagged as electronica, rhythmic noise, ambient and industrial. And (as being Danish) I loved the name Griskalen; gris being a pig in Danish and kalen as calories. And it also sounds great when you say it! Sofar it is also a digital release, that needs a physical release (If you should ask me).
The album kicks off with the track Hunting Lodge; chippering clicks, distorted electronic bass hums, cold waves of icy synths, thumbing machinelike drums and eerie human voices in the background. A pretty awesome start, perfectly balanced between electronica/idm-based techno and industrial-ambient. You don´t have to worry, we are NOT talking about a cyber goth dance-friendly-power-noise treat! Second track called Boxroomgarden sounds like early Delirium (Classic FLA-side-project), just with that extra edge to it. Firmly, tight and calculated doom industrial-electronica. Next track Morning moves into rhythmic tribal industrialism, P.A.L and Ancient Methods fans would drool here. Metal hacking percussive rhythms and post-apocalyptic soundscape elements. Fourth track Harsh Language works in a punishing and corrosive drum-and-bass kind of way, still sounding fresh in my ears. Rematerialisation is probably one of the darkest tracks on the album, soundtrack for a futuristic horror flick for sure. Bomb like bass thumbings, tribal percussion, and corrosive synths again works like a bloody charm. It all ends up with the last and mysterious track What´s Happening To This Place. An eerie and (and again corrosive) otherworldly piece with ends up the album quite nicely.
My conclusion; FUCKING AWESOME! ... A PHYSICAL RELEASE PLEASE!
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