The french
label Mechanoise Labs, usually known for its violent industrial
assaults, has gathered forces from various French and Belgian
electronic projects, with a surprisingly calm compilation
as the end result. Though harsh, gritty elements and industrial
sounds are certainly present, the overall atmosphere is rather
tranquil. The label uses the description 'electronic atmospheres
and tranquil noise'. Fourteen different acts are present,
most of which I did not know before. The subtitle of the album
is volume I, so I assume there are plans to make a series
of this concept. Which is certainly a good plan, because there
is enough quality on this compilation. But for some reason
there are not much tracks that really stand out or attracted
my attention directly, perhaps because most contributions
are rather similar style-wise.
Rudra
Vena opens the compilation with a tension-building electronic
track, with some drony waves and minimal ritual percussion.
Hirichimiq impresses me with a calm soundtrack with some classical
elements, resembling the ambient cathedrals that Raison d'Etre
usually builds. Dusk of Hope sounds
a little darker and noisier, with a very distant sound, coming
from a deep cellar. One of my favourite contributions
comes from L'Arme à Gauche, with nice machine rhythms, atmospheric
neo-classical layers and guitar sounds and some choirs in
the background. Very good!
Stelladrine
offers a low-key soundscape, with mysterious speech samples.
Rather minimal, but with hypnotic qualities. Sobria Ebrietas
follows this tranquil line, with spacious stretched layers
and strange bubbling sounds. With Mourmansk 150 we arrive
at a noisier track, monotous slow death industrial. Asphalt
Leash is also known for harsh music, the title like 'with
knives at their throats' does not sound very cosy, but fits
the cold factory sounds, metallic noises and low distorted
layers. Ripit sounds very dense, a wall of noise with a few
isolated bleeps and beats.
Chupacabras
is more tranquil again, a mysterious soundscape with French
spoken words. Towards the end the track gets noisier and darker,
quite haunting. 'Warmecha v1.2' by Tin.RP is very rhythmic,
based around some monotonous loops. Giscard le Survivant contributes
a moody soundscape, with estranging organ sounds and a varied
menu of textures, clicks and samples. With Zerogoki we descend
into darker catacombs again, with a mixture of ambient elements
and noisy sounds. Inoculation is the
last act on "Like Music to their ears", with a noisy, deep
wave of sound.
With a
limited edition of 100 copies this cd-r will bring the participants
no world fame, but for the insiders there will perhaps be
a few names to remember.
Reviews