Paul Catten may be better known for making music of hardcore, metal and grind persuasions, with bands such as Medulla Nocte and, Murder One, but recent years have seen him expand his sonic palette to incorporate electronica and piano, a route which sees him arrive in 2011 with the snappily-titled ‘Themes and Variations for Strings and Electronics’. As titles go, it may sound somewhat mundane, but it’s descriptive, and the five experimental pieces contained therein do indeed demonstrate various uses and abuses of strings and electronic instrumentation,along with the judicious incorporation of piano and samples.
It’s an album of ranging textures and moods, making effortless transitions between delicate minimalism, sweeping orchestral majesty and punishing noise.
‘The Shocking Reality of Reaching Midlife’ is a truly harrowing affair, beginning with an anguished sobbing that seems to go on forever against a buzzing, occasionally rent with random, and discordant jabs of piano. The crying does eventually subside, to be replaced by mournful strings and an overwhelmingly gloomy atmosphere.
|
The atmosphere is scourged in the sonic apocalypse that immediately ensues: ‘An Army of Narcoleptics That Swarm Upon Us’ is a blast of the kind of top-end frequency-spectrum squall most commonly associated with the likes of Merzbow and Kenji Siratori. And ‘Sonata for Oscillator and Theremin’ is a dizzying cacophony of squiggles and wibbles that contrasts dramatically with the subtle ‘The Jedi and the Selective Mute’.
The final track - ‘Finale: Serenity in an Ocean of Storms’ is again appropriately titled, its dark ambient soundscapes are harsh, abrasive and richly textured. More stormy than serene, it surges with waves of noise on noise, some organic, some alien, before finally, a peaceful piano leads the listener out of the tempest and into calmer waters to round off an album that makes the reader feel as well as listen.
|
