“Vintage synth layers, Kraftwerk's sequences, hypnotic guitar loops, psychedelic moods. This with hallucinogenic herbs… and we are in heaven”
1 The Bleep Maskerade 11:47
2 Shift of Perspective 12:29
3 Dark Meadows 17:10
(DDL 41:26) (V.F.)
(Ambient, Berlin School)
When there are only 10 sales on the Bandcamp site of this album, I have serious doubts. Possible that there were some who didn't want the name to appear. But regardless, the sales volume just isn't there for such great quality music. Is it a marketing problem? Or that fans simply get lost in the Krautrock and Electronic Music styles of the vintage years? Ashra Temple's years and the iridescent little loops of Manuel Göttsching's riffs? Because THE END OF TIME is imbued of it, with a Berlin School's floating vision. An artist to discover as much in this style of Son of Ohm as in that of Astral Sun, where indeed he does in the drifting Krautrock, Leonardo (Soundweaver) Wijma, offers a vintage sound that is never short of ideas.
Imagine being comfortably seated, a book in your hands or just alone dreaming. To make projections on your future or quite simply to wander between the strings of time and to hear these soft chirping of electronic birds cooing on an ascending sequence à la Kraftwerk. You've got the gist of The Bleep Maskerade. This minimalist movement likes to introduce a hollow cavity where the rhythm hobbles slightly before becoming like before. It progresses at neutral, letting itself be invaded by long astral beep-beep, idle layers and muffled reverberations whose jerky movement helps the rhythm to add jumping balls in order to increase its velocity. Halfway, the moods of the rhythm become more massive with the addition of synth filaments whose luminous tip sculpts shiny graffiti. And always, the rhythm follows the parade of the ambiences by entering an organic phase a little before the eighth minute. The Bleep Maskerade therefore evolves on a hopping rhythm in gloomy, if not frightful, atmospheres. Cosmic aspects are still present as the quiet hum of machinery is replaced by a biological line that is not afraid to display the color of its organic tones. It is in this context that The Bleep Maskerade to embark on the riffs in loops of Shift of Perspective.
A second line of riffs injects more dynamism into this structure where rhythm and harmony are at the juncture of complicity. At the crossroads of a spasmodic and / or ambient vision, this rhythm follows the design of its linear open-air trench under a sky stained with good cosmic-night elements as well as more disturbing ones. In addition to the various electronic-cosmic adornments, Leonarda forges lines which hum like big bumblebees with holes in their wings or which roar like faulty car horns or yet like vuvuzelas blown by an asthmatic. And some sing like sirens of tsunami warning. It's with the approach of becoming too predictable that the rhythmic mathematics of Shift of Perspective dissolves in order to propose the arrival of Dark Meadows.
This long 17-minute track announces itself with a series of melodious New Age-style chords, giving the vision of a harp played on the edge of a river. The atmospheres are woven in synth layers with a sibylline character, playing with the dark as with the nuances of the luminosity while being tickled by the singing winds. Moreover, these winds are the most dominant elements of this long title sewn in the same way, but with different colors and fabrics, ending up offering a beautiful ode to serenity. Here too, before spotting an archi predictable structure, Son of Ohm injects a slight rustle of rhythm which little by little redirects Dark Meadows towards an atmosphere of machinery with this deaf engine where different industrial elements are attached that will awaken in us all that Pink Floyd could have done with the EMS synthesizer (Synthi AKS). Organic elements, as well as a big tsetse fly, complete this industrial decor. This with hallucinogenic herbs… and we are in heaven.
Finally, the ambiences of this THE END OF TIME suit it perfectly. Just like this music and its decade flowing harmoniously in good headphones. Do yourself a favor and check out the organic EM side of Son of Ohm at https://www.sonofohm.com/
Sylvain Lupari (August 3rd, 2020) ***¾**
SynthSequences.com
Available at Son of Ohm Music Bandcamp
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