Damien De Coene & Julien Skrobek - Quarantaine

Been some time that I have heard something new from both of these guys, Damien De Coene and Julian Skrobek. If you don´t know them, then I can reveal to you they are one of the most interesting artists within the so-called harsh-noise-wall movement (and ambient noise wall). Instead of working with sheer heavy noise-brutality, they both work with subtle minimalism with a clear focus on sound-aesthetic instead. And this time, they have gotten together to create an album together called... Quarantaine offcourse! Out on pro-cdr in a slim DVD-box via Marbre Negre, with only 1 track almost 60 minutes in length. 

Nope... Not a noise-wall screaming at you when u press the button! Sounds like something recording which... kept on recording without the presence of anyone being around. Subtle radio-clicks, the noise when the needle gently touches the vinyl, a single guitar string, microphone hiss, dusty and used cords giving away unnecessary feedback... It starts really quiet and gets a bit more.. restless and chaotic later on (but still maintaining the minimal aesthetic)

A human-ghost inside the machinery for sure! Or is it a simple and humane way of expressing Quarantine? To be closed inside your home... and getting bored, uninspired, lack of human-contact, etc... and that being your main ingredients the next day... and the next day... and the next day... When time stops, and you start taking notice of the very small things in your own home... which you usually don´t notice when you are busy with your normal human life. This album makes me think of what Mark Hollis from Talk Talk once said, that the greatest kind of music you can hear is actually... silence. Because silence isn´t really truly silent if you stop time and take notice of it. There is sound in the silence around you, and you might be surprised! 

This lovely concept album gives you an idea about... silence and the sound that hides within it. I fxxxxx love it, not an everyday album for sure but it gives you a very unique and personal experience every time you hear it. And the compact disc format works for this album, since having it on vinyl or cassette you would be forced to get out of your state of mind to change to the bloody B-side... A CD... continues to the very end!. It´s a cult thing, and something new. Silent-noise-wall anyone (SNW). Do yourself a favor, are you in quarantine? and feeling bored etc... then you know what to do!.

Bandcamp (label):

https://marbrenegre.bandcamp.com/album/quarantaine

         

 Neon Lies- Loveless Adventures

Latest from our favorite minimal-wave wizard from Zagreb, Croatia! Released in the last summer of 2020, a thing which is out on both vinyl, CD, and cassette! 9 tracks, 28 minutes of sheer naked aggression and angst from some big-city made out of steel and concrete! 

The first track Drugz (notice the Z!) takes you instantly back to early Front 242 and Fad Gadget, a lovely thumping drum-rhythm, cold analog synths, and doom-laden male-vocals with nice echoed effects... a song about losing your lover simply for the drug(z) people!... 

The second track Hideaway continues the cold rhythms with more upbeat synth-melodies, more dancy and infectious! Love the almost cherry melody hidden in there, a VERY good track that ( in my opinion ) should have some radio-play... What we could call an underground dance hit here!

Third track Down... Is a track that gets... further down. Thumping and pulsating electronic-minimalism caught in a loop. And wait there is more, some in there sounds like the stroke of guitar strings?... Might just be a cool sound effect (now that I think of it!). Lovely sounds lurking in the background in this track here. 

The fourth track Learn, has a more atmospheric approach than the other tracks, again with those infectious boot-stomping rhythms. Again, with a lovely moody melody which heightens the listening experience.

The fifth track Insecurity is a hypnotizing piece with constant synth-waves/keys with a lovely synth-bass. It a bit like early Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, just with less focus on the song and more focus on the sound aesthetic. 

The last track I will review is the last track on the album simply called Lights. The slowest and the heaviest track on the album. One of the tracks on the album which (for some reason) I would love to hear how it would sound if this electronic-track was done on real instruments... just curious. A good track without a doubt, any post-punk bands willing to do a cover of this excellent track?!. 

As you can read, I am glad. And I bloody love this album, and so should you. Why?. Because I say so... it offers melodies, blood, sweat, and tears (Not the soul band!). The raw analog synth sound is perfect, and the effect-laden vocals are just cool. Perfect cyberpunk sound for whatever our future might hold for us. 

Bandcamp (band):

https://neonlies.bandcamp.com/album/album-loveless-adventures

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/Neon-Lies-1639630016284491/

 Phragments - Anthems Of Solitude

Nothing more and nothing else, releasing an album called Anthems of Solitude in these times fits perfectly like a glove. Slovakia grim-ambient act Phragments have been around since 2005 and has been releasing material on such cult-labels as Malignant and Eastern Front.  And this one of the act's sixth album, released just in the last Christmas of 2020. Out on vinyl and CD (via Bandcamp).

The first track simply called Hollow is what it is. A hollow and haunting sound from somewhere completely devoid of life, post-nuclear sites maybe? Thriving communities turned into dead and empty spaces, where only the echoes of life itself sadly remain. Spooky windy sounds... the kind of winds which will occur after an explosion of an atomic bomb, heavy drones coming from somewhere underground, metallic and rusty hitches making an eerie sound... and something... the sound of falling trees, or someone messing around with metal scrape?. Human-likes chanting voices like the monks of Tibet being also present here. A beautiful post-apocalyptic ambient track describing... a place which you really don't want to be in.

The second track Consequence drones it further down into the underworld. Sound of a violin-(like)-drones here, automatic ventilation-systems creating a mood there and... deep trumpets?... or just very large horn-like instrument being played in a deep cavern. Very nicely done!

The Third track Frontiers of Hope actually has a melody in it. Not a cherry and happy one, but a melody nonetheless with traces of human-life! There is a kind of martial-wave/industrial gone dark-ambient/drone wipe here, might be that (again) ruined after the war sort of mood. Think A Challenge of Honour meets later Raison D´être, martial drone?

The fourth and last track on this album is called An Ode To Our Times. A ritualistic moment when time stops, and by sorrow-filled elements drones the very last darkness out of the album.

The sounds are superb, elements and beautifully multilayered/mixed, the melancholic and moody expression being convincing... lots of reasons why this album is good. BUT I have a minor thing ... I would like some ... chaos/extra sound-dymamics to it. Not that I want a harsh-noise thing or anything, but... interesting samples here and there, taking from movies or from the news perhaps, dialogues or actual sounds, etc. Maybee having a classic sci-fi horror from the 80s running in the background while listening to it, might do the trick?.. I don't know, give it a listen people!

Bandcamp (band):

https://phragments.bandcamp.com/album/anthems-of-solitude

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/PhragmentsSK/

 Wooded Memory - The Last Stories

A release which I have thought about reviewing for some time, but for various reasons... I forgot!. Coronade-related? The new president of the USA? Corona-mutants?... I don't know, 2020 has been a weird year... and 2021 may might ... just be a little wee weirder. Nonetheless, I have decided to keep the weird stuff down and put the Kalteldur-thing further up on the shelf for everyone to see it. And what better way to start the first review of 2021 with a prober dungeon-synth release from 2020!

Wooded memory is a newish act from Pasadena, Maryland. Which so far has released 2 albums and a digital l mini-EP. This one called Lost Stories is the debut, it was released in 2019 and came out on a very limited cassette via the label Realm and Ritual (sold out) and is digitally available on Wooded Memory´s Bandcamp-site of course. 5 tracks, around 44 minutes in total. 

Before giving the album a listen, I suggest you reading the inner-notes first:

Outside the wind is howling as the sky proclaims its wintry will; a falling blanket of unceasing snow. I watch it from my dwelling, my solitary cell. Today it feels like a refuge, a small fire burning keenly in the corner warms my hands. With quill and ink, I am seeking to chronicle the lost stories, the great deeds, the songs and prayers of a time now long past. I am content. Yet I know tomorrow I will look out on the fresh snow and wish to tread out, to create new stories in my footsteps, to shed this eremitic life like an old cloak and dress myself in confident color. I could revisit those crowded streets full of boisterous speech and joyful reunion. I could find friendship, perhaps even love.

But for now, I will remain, reciting the old tales to myself and hoping to capture their truth on parchment. I will watch the snow, solemn and steady, as it sings its own truth; indomitable yet longing.

Dungeon synth for concentrated isolation? Seems perfect in these pandemic times right?... The first track My Hidden Shelter reveals a snow-covered landscape, the smell of a bonfire is in the cold air. A hint of a dimly light can be seen through the misty and snowy weather... a hut? Not a cherry hut, but a hut that sits on one of the edges of the world. A saddened and melancholic moody piece, with extra retro-nudges towards fantasy-themed movies from the 80s and classic roleplaying games on the Amiga500. Sort of like... Winter-synth with an 80s synth-wave feel. 

Next track The Great Prison... The sound of someone walking on dry icy-snow with beautiful epic retro-orientated synth-strings. Interesting kind of melody and mood... kind of takes me back to that classic CMI act Morthhond. I cannot help but think, that a simple martial beating would do well here (can actually hear it in my head when I am hearing this track). A decent track without-a-doubt. 

The third track called A Hermits Tale pumps up the grandiose and epic feel. A lovely heroic organ synth, the sound of icy-winds, heavy cello-synth, retro keys, and a bad-ass sound of something metallic being hit at the right epic time. Again, I love this balance between the sound of dungeon-synth and the sound of the classic 80s soundtrack wibe. 

The fourth track Thy Humble Knight (being the shortest track) offers a slightly less heroic feel, but a kind of feel one might sense when listening through the soundtrack of Twin Peaks? Romantic and mysterious maybe?. A short track but good. 

The last track Escape to the Trees has lovely and excellent sounding church organs which then later evolves into something dreamy. A typical kind of outro sort of a track, but a decent ending to the album.

And that what I had to say about the tracks on Lost Stories. Not the much dynamic sounding release, but a release which offers more a beautiful soundtrack sound with a nod to the 80s. Could you imagine the soundtrack of Miami Vice being stuck in the middle ages? But again, it is a unique release made by an artist with a great vision for his act. For a collector of Dungeon Synth, I would say that every collector should own this unique release... a re-issue maybe?...

 

Bandcamp (band):

https://woodedmemory.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (band):

https://www.facebook.com/WoodedMemory

Bandcamp (label):

https://realmandritual.bandcamp.com/

Facebook (label):

https://www.facebook.com/realmandritual/