When I read a reference to “enfant terrible” Burzum I always start listening with skeptics to music. This main figure form the Norwegian Black Metal scene has been in prison because of murder for quite some years now. Beside this he has some strange ideas about racial issues. If we look at his musical legacy you should think of dark moody metal. Loud distorted guitars with melancholic synthesizer melodies combined with fast drums and dirty screams are the ingredients of his work, sometimes oozing everything into one huge drone/wall of noise, which might have to do with the recording quality. I never really got into his music because of forced drive behind it. The music doesn’t seem to come naturally and is surrounded by an air that breathes simplicity and nihilism; insincerity.
With this in mind we now turn to this new release on Touch by Swedish musician Nana April Jun (aka Christopher Lämgren). The Ontology Of Noise is an album which should research the dark associations of post-black metal is an album focusing on the evolution in noise. Almost no layering and no arrangements were used in the process of creation. Rather, we hear noisy soundscapes finding their own way.
The Ontology Of Noise shows a characteristic development in the sound structures. As if the sounds are living their own life. Progressions follow a natural path without force as if no human action had interfered during the process. For example a piece like Space – Time Continuum is as if you are standing in a severe blizzard.
Nana April Jun managed to make this album really organic, while it being made from only synthetic generated sounds. Because of this the release has a lot to offer.
To me the reference to Burzum is a mystery that I can’t really place. There is nothing forced about this album and I can’t say this is a bad thing to me. Yet another fine addition to the Touch catalogue. |
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