Cadlag - Tensor
A Slovenian collective of noise artists has joined forces as Cadlag. Tendor is their fifth album, and they have been active since 2013. This full-length album has been released on PharmaFabrik, which is an independent Slovenian label. A label specializing in drone, electro-acoustic, and experimental music. The album offers 9 tracks, over 50 minutes in total.
The first track is simply called Tensor. A burst of slithering high-tech noise, some blubbering oily sounds, and distorted guitar work which has a slight kind of black-metal meets drone-metal feel to it. Everything is beautifully layered between layers of digital mesh, bursts of thunderous noise, and epic electronic glitch. Beautiful!
The second track, Matrix. A thick, distorted tone screams for attention from the listener. Slowly evolves into a well-oiled machine doing repetitive noise patterns, with beautiful drone-metal guitar work levitating the listener further up into the great cosmos. Kind of feeling my fear of heights here!
The third track, Legionela, has a more ambient-drone feel to it. Much in the same kind of aesthetic as bands like Maeror Tri or Zoviet France. Hypnotic, mysterious, dream-like, and powerful at the same time. It feels strangely light, but when you look down... you see/feel a cavernous depth! Then it slowly erodes into ritualistic noise and blackened doom. Fans of Sunn (o))) anyone?
The fourth track is called Interval. Closer to ambient, and further away to another dimension. No distortion here, just incredible otherworldly drones of sound. It literally transports the listener into a completely unknown place. Like getting sucked into a wormhole, and imagining how sounds sound inside it. So far, every track feels like a living and breathing thing... Quite sure bout that!
The fifth track, Kompakte. Is so compact that it´s also the shortest track on the album. Quite a few seconds, and then it bursts into a cosmic noise-wall. Like the slow opening of some dread mythos-related book of arcane dread. And then it´s over.
The sixth track: Asbestopluma. Heavy drones, rhythmically vibrating like the insides of an extraterrestrial spaceship. Extra layers of gentle guitar noise shimmer in the background, with orchestral vocal sounds further enhancing the highly ethereal experience. Again, sounds get tuned down and tuned high. And with that cavernous hole in the ground, delivering sounds that no human ear has heard before.
Ampula is the seventh track here, and the longest track on the album. You have finally arrived at your destination. Distant howls from the throats of extraterrestrial beings, or just spacey, evocative guitars! A rhythmic chippering sound is also there to keep you awake, and then u wake up... and you are back in that cavernous noise. Not going to reveal what else is hiding in this 11-minute track.
There are 2 more tracks on the album; it's best for the listener to listen to them. Tensor is a force of nature (or should we say noise). It embraces all the various aesthetics of noise (and drone) and puts it to good use. Both fans of power electronics, harsh noise, and HNW will like it. Kind of album which u can sleep to, and use to stay awake as well... somewhere in between that!
