tirsdag den 11. august 2020

Luca Ferro - Elements



A new release from Italien-based label Industrial Ölocaust Records, and a new act/solo-act-debut as well. Elements by Luca Ferro was released on the 23rd of June 2020, being both on CD and on cassette. A few track EP/mini-album being 25 minutes in total.

A quick introduction to this fellow. A member of the psychedelic sludge-doom band Satori Junk, and having (as well) obtained the sound design diploma at Nam in Milan. He himself describes the album as following:

Experimental ambient music, psychoacoustic, into a dense fog of reverb. Get a trip into the deepest part of your mind.

First track Maestoso welcomes the listener into a glittering, dreamy, and futuristic retro-orientated soundscape. Imagine steel-buildings in the early morning, with the sun exposing itself second-by-second and throwing powerful reflecting rays of light and warmth in the cold and early morning air... Imagine the sun in a movie like Blade Runner! Kind of like an ambient synth-wave orientated Boards of Canada. 

Second track Optogenetics moves closer to a more experimental soundtrack-wise sound. Electronic reverbed (and slightly distorted) metallic-sounding rain-drops, psychedelic drones, and heavy retro-synth keys in the background. A mystical and hypnotic moody piece, without the epic elements/moments from the first track.

The third track called Aether (shortest track) offers a cool-sounding bass (Commodore 64?), swirling shortwave-radio sounds, and looped crystalized tones. Lovely reverb effects here! 

Fourth track Lunar Phase being a mesmerizing eerie glitchy ambient-sci-fi piece. A very spacey track being almost weightless in its approach. Also one of the most challenging tracks on the album. 


Fifth (and last) track Final Overture moves back to the synthy-melodies which the first track was on about. This one starts off with a more somber melancholic mood, Blade Runner by nightfall maybe? The somber mood gets replaced later on by a more uplifting tune, a lovely dreamy piece/outro of glittering synth-ambient pop

And that is that. My favorite tracks on the album would be the first and the last. Actually, after I heard the first track I was hopefully dreaming that this synth-wave ambient thing would continue through the album. I was more or less surprised that it turned into a more experimental soundtrack. I do think that the more experimental tracks on the album could need a bit more rawness in the sound itself, some actual recordings or samples would be great. The melodic tracks (first and last) are flawless and beautiful if you ask me. But otherwise, interesting 25 minutes space-trip into the future!. 


Bandcamp (band):

Official website (label):
  
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mandag den 3. august 2020

Lyke Wake & Noise Cluster - 

Let The Universe Fall



There a new tape in town, this time we have another new release which is a collaboration between Lyke Wake and Noise Cluster. Released on Luce Sia, cassette (60 copies), and available by digital means via Luce Sia´s official Bandcamp site. Just a quick introduction, for those who don´t know Lyke Wake I can only say that it is an old Italian industrial-cult act which has existed since 1984. Something worthy to check (Fans of MB, Ain Soph, and Die Sonne Satans). I do not know the other act Noise Cluster, it is a newish project which have been started by members of DBPIT and XxeNA ( which I don't know either). Both projects DBPIT and XxeNA have been highly productive in the field of experimental industrial (check the Discogs links below!). Anyways, this new release has been called Let the Universe Fall, over 53 minutes in total.

 First track Gamma Rays Scenario kick-starts the album with a warped technoid-ambient feel. Alienated electronic drum patterns lift the spaceship further into a great cosmos, evocative and epic Tangerine Dream´ish synth-ambient meets the listener/spaceship here. Mindscanning electronic-noise whirl around the listener as well. Interesting and rather....spaced out intro. 

 Next track A Stream Inside The Dark Of The Universe moves away from the rhythms and adds a more floating psychedelic sensation. Could very well sound like the birth of the universe. Distant and screaming angelic-voices, eerie radio-clatter, icy synth-drones, and whispering voices. Reminds me of a Deutsche Nepal track (in a way). All this weightless eerieness meets up (later) with the spiritual and excellent church-like organ/synth-work by Lyke Wake.

 Third track Deranged Solar Flares starts off with an (I think) being some kind of hornet/trumpet-drone. Interesting and icy rhythms comes second with evocative synth-work in the background. A kind of a low-beat and minimal melancholic piece if you compare it to the two first tracks.

 Fourth track And Then The Dark starts with a classic Lyke Wake melody, which suddenly stops and meets up with metallic dub effects and rhythms which we heard earlier on Deranged Solar Flares. The sounds of repeated violins mark a new beginning for this track, and this gets mixed up with sci-fi sound effects and gentle synth-work.

 Fifth track The Shadowed Universe Of Pain (b-side) gets a bit murkier. A sort of apocalyptic of a nearby galaxy sort of feel, or a sucking black hole maybe?. Or some great cosmic evil waiting to devour other planets for lunch. Sofar the most experimental track on the album, and also the darkest.


Sixth track Younger Dryas gets into new and strange territories. Ethnic female-vocals, eerie looped piano-part, shortwave radio noise... a really acid-drenched piece. The merge between the two acts sounds a bit too mixed up here... slightly confusing piece. 

 Seventh track The Black Light Beyond Lensed Star 1 returns to icy-melancholic dub-effects with weightless evocative synth-work. Do like the clattering icy keys here, lovely outro as well.  

 Eight (and last) track There Goes Our Comet ends it the album with glitch, acid, and rhythmic looped recordings. Strangely cheerful but also strangely menacing at the same time. 

 A strange album with its ups and downs. The album starts really great (a-side) but then it slowly gets less and less imaginative. The freshness of the start with its epic electronic feel, and cosmic strangeness slowly turn down the mood the further we get on. At times we do have episodes when the two projects collide and get too... mixed up in a confusing matter. The album is also (maybe) too long compared to its fusion-style, the excellent a-side is enough in itself. But do give it a spin nonetheless, I do think it is a rather unique piece of mood music that requires curious ears.    


Bandcamp (label):
at