“A nice EM with a good musical aestheticism, Bells of the Sun is in this same spirit of the Kontinuum Productions' music releases”
1 Bells of the Sun 12:58 2 Heat 9:36 3 Radiation 11:45 4 Solar Wind 10:43 5 Waves of Soul 10:47 Nord Music
(DDL 55:49) (V.F.) (Minimalist ambient beats)
Nord is part this new emergent wave of EM for Romania. Another talent of the Kontinuum Productions label, Sztakics Istvan Attila is inspired by the colors of the tones that he gets out from his equipments in order to give a direction to his albums. BELLS OF THE SUN is thus imagined in the somber corridors of the shadows of a Rhodes piano created by synthesis on the North Lead 4. The structures are always guided by this minimalist approach which this time abandons the effects of hypnosis for moderate increases of the paces.
And that begins with the title-track and its keyboard chords which bloom and burst into suspension to forge a kind of funeral march. Synth pads, weaved in the sadness, accompany this clandestine procession with airs and tears stolen from the prism. The movement is ambient, almost astral with a kind of fluty tone which escapes from the shadows of certain chords. A pad knotted in tragedy wraps this fascinating symbiosis whereas that quite slowly a veil of emotion seizes the moods and its crescendo. A bass line is crawling in the background. As soon as we feel it, the ambiences of Bells of the Sun evaporate in order to make room for a good steady rhythm where the percussions answer their echoes and where a line of sequences makes its keys sparkle which flash like organic flies. Synth layers coo on what becomes a kind of good electronic rock. They spread a harmonious aura with soft and elastic airs which wave slowly while adopting a structure of rhythm which rises and comes down in a more and more rich sound decoration. Heat takes also this shape of march with a pulsating line which makes a single key pounds in the smoke decorations of a synth and of its wadding mist. The mist is of blue and caresses our ears of a sinuous movement, like those of the old Mellotron, scattering even pads which fly lightly on this rhythm arisen from a simple pulsation. Sleepy, the linear movement of Heat is pulsing laconically in mists which become scarlet. Mists which get soaked of cosmic elements which are swallowed by some interstellar waves. And according to the same rule as in Bells of the Sun, the more Heat withers its seconds and the more it shows its rich tone which is literally submerged in a cosmic envelope. Radiation is a long atone track where the noises, the drones and the tears of synth are of used as sinister atmospheres to a track which crushes itself under the radiations. Nord shows creativity here by giving the true color of sounds to the spirit of its title. Fans of sounds and atmospheres arisen from these sounds, this track is going to please you.
Solar Wind makes ring a regiment of sequences which parades in a narrow and sinuous corridor beneath a sky blocked by clouds which spit radioactive shadows. Other tones ring while the sound clouds expose more of radiances. The oscillations of sequences adopt some upward curves whereas jingles fill the rhythm of a nervous adrenalin. Although the whole thing remains within the limits of an ambient beat, the rhythm evolves like a kind of a roller coaster which rolls in slow motion. It follows cosmic paths before that some balls of steel skip violently, pushing Solar Wind in the same temperate fury of a good structure of EDM whom we had felt with the title-track. The percussions, effects of rattlers and the bass pulsations are structuring and decorate this linear techno while that synth pads wrap it with electronic effects and with cosmic orchestrations. It's the diversity of tones in a rhythm of lead which bursts its abscess with slightly stroboscopic strands. This is a very good track! The upward spiral is livelier, and also more harmonious, in Waves of Soul which unwinds its rosary of sequences in a minimalist approach which is calmed down by layers of voices and by others more sibylline. The movement proposes some nice and slow sinusoidal oscillations a bit dismantled, creating delicately stroboscopic strands. Chords join the beats and their airs of grumbling ducks which cackle add an organic touch to this structure which bronzes itself constantly of cosmic elements, such as celestial waves and delicately discreet angelic harmonies. Waves of Soul remains serial and increases slightly its pace without exploding like in Solar Wind or still the title-track. It's a good ambient rhythm adorned of nice chords and with nice electronic elements. In fact, it's like the whole of BELLS OF THE SUN which is just in the musical lineage of the Rumanian label with an elegant EM which favors rhythms and ambiences with some nice melodious and cosmic approaches. You are into nice EM, you can trust it!
Sylvain Lupari (January 22nd, 2016) ***½**
Available at Nord Bandcamp