“Erik Wollo doesn't reinvent the genre here! But his will to create a deep soundscapes from guitar drones brings Infinite Moments where he wants us to be”
1 Part 1 11:12 2 Part 2 11:24 3 Part 3 9:48 4 Part 4 5:50 5 Part 5 10:04 6 Part 6 10:09 PROJEKT| PRO357
(CD/DDL 58:34) (V.F.)
(Ambient, Drones)
Morose and resounding thoughts on a cold Scandinavian night! INFINITE MOMENTS is a very intimate album that Erik Wollo offers to his fans. More ambient and even more intimate than the Silent Currents series, this latest opus of the Norwegian bard offers 6 sonic odes without any sources of rhythms and especially without any sonic delights which come from a synthesizer. Everything turns around drones. Buzzing laying down and sculpted on the horizontal which float like those sound waves usual to the EM of ambiances. Except that here, the source comes from electric guitars which pile up vibrating strata which get intertwine in a sonic sky torn by the variances and the translucent tones of these layers often without harmonies. Like dreams forgotten in the bites of coldness. These oblong electric paths are like sound lovers whose intertwining in the mysterious mists are supervised by an E-Bow which acts as the splitter of a more harmonic vision.
The harmonies! We must listen quite a few times in order to discern them. Those familiar with the Wollo universe recognize these isolated strands which get melted into a more compact sound mass. The drones float like souls wandering aimless. Like in a sibylline dance, they waltz with the oblivion swallowing here and there harmonious little lines that we recognize by this clarity which emerges from this landscape of moods placarded of solitude. Part 1 introduces us into this universe where everything is similar, even those subtleties which stand out to melt again in anonymity. The opaque sound waves are like those whales which undulate in a black ocean spotted by the furrows of jellyfish. The sound mass varies from one title to another with fine subtleties in the landscapes of ambiances found in Part 5 and Part 6. The spectral side finds an interstellar door to flirt with a more seraphic vision in Part 2. The intensity distinguishes the titles! Although less intense at the abyssal level, this Part 2 has a melancholic approach that is more conducive for a night sleep. Same thing for Part 3 and its very melodious blooming which precedes its conquest of drones. The tonal vision here is close to a scarlet passion. Part 4 is the first title where the guitar breathes such as, thus modifying the textural context of INFINITE MOMENTS which offers us its most beautiful moments since the end of Part 1. Moreover, Part 5 follows with a vision just as sharp as in the introductory title. Lyrical and sibylline, the music shines a little less at night, especially when we are two to read the book of Morpheus.
All things considered, I would not recommend INFINITE MOMENTS to someone who wants to discover Berlin School universe of Erik Wollo. This album is a monument of meditative music that can help sink into Morpheus's arms, even if some of the buzzing movements are intense and lugubrious. In this vast universe of ambient music or meditative ambiences, few artists reinvent the genre. But there are always artists who can bring a very personal touch to a genre which has a huge legion of followers. Erik Wollo is one of those artists! Available on manufactory pressed CD from Projekt Records or in a downloadable format on Projekt's Bandcamp
Sylvain Lupari (January 19th, 2019) *****
Available at Projekt Records