Cordes - Quatre-Vingt-Onze Dojens

Cordes means Strings and the album title is translated to Ninty One Deans. And a dean is someone in authority with a Christian/religious background or just someone with authority in some eduacational establishment. Or are we talking about all-time actor Harry Dean Stanton, he died at the age of 91?! Hard to say really. Maybe we should try to dissect this limited 4-track mini-album/cassette release from Sektion 1, and then try to get to the bottom of this!

The first track called Témoins (Witnesses) starts with an eerie sort of warped radio clatter and the sound of a flatline. Heavy, cold, and distorted bass drones are added while an interesting metallic dripping noise can be heard in the background (When fluid hits a metallic surface like a sink). So far we are dealing with a classic old-school death-industrial sound, in the same vein as Atrax Morgue, Maurizio Bianchi, or even early Cluster!. A very cold and depressive sound indeed. 

The second track Quatre-Vingt-Onze Donjons (Ninty-One Deans) enters into cold ritualistic electronics. Humming sounds from an abandoned mine/cellar factory, completely devoid of any kind of human activity. You can imagine the sort of sounds you get when you record something in total silence in an abandoned and haunted site and then turn up the volume to actually hear how silence really sounds. Someone actually did that in Chernobyl! A beautiful track here!

 

The third track L'æil Dans Le Næud De La Corde (Eye in the knot of the robe) being one of the most harshest and hypnotic tracks on the album. A lowkey and low-tech analog-driven throbbing piece of depressive delight. 

The fourth and last track Manipulé Par La Fosse (Manipulated by the pit) ends the delightful album in a sacrificial ritual of morbid fascination. Lovely sort of after-the-bomb sort of mood going on in here, very post-apocalyptic and very gritty and dark. Fans of Slaughter Productions would dig this, I am 100% sure!     

Is it a tribute to that cool actor (Harry Dean Stanton) or are we dealing with 91 religious-teacher deans caught in some post-apocalyptic nightmare? I don't know. All I know is that if the person behind this act has focussed on creating a very dense and dark low-tech sounding album of ritualistic intent, then he/she has succeeded perfectly! The sound is as dark, mysterious, and obscure as the act itself. If you want to hear more, then you can hear more on Cordes's official Soundcloud site (see link below!).  

Official website (label):

https://sektion1.bigcartel.com/

Soundcloud (band):

https://soundcloud.com/cordes-91