Tuesday 1 March 2011

REVIEW: ∆AIMON - Amen


∆AIMON
Amen
Tundra Dubs

Tundra Dubs is a Californian based label dealing in the underbelly of modern music; the ugly side of witch house, the confrontationally bleak electronica that conjures the more inhospitable soundscapes in its seances.  Immediately stamping its mark as one of their best, almost signature sounding releases, is the debut from the mysterious (been a surprisingly/relatively long time since I've got to say that) ∆AIMON.

Amen
adds some cold-blooded industrial momentum to the labels sound, hip-hop signifiers subducted into convection loops that spits occult themes back out, oily and violated by the darker malevolence that forges these tracks.  The album smashes itself out of the speakers with Pure, eruptions of crumbling distortion, breaking apart under the insistent stamp of hollow-eyed drum-machine, its steady mechanistic plod juxtaposed well with the flighty feminine vocals that flit between the spaces, riding in the wakes of the beats that plough through the waves of fuzzy drone, a fizzing presence that threatens to break over each track and flood them with noise - what holds it back is a tense sense of restraint that keeps this release from overshooting itself, and holding the tracks at a nervy peak throughout their relatively short durations. The title track Amen features an earth shaking bassline that ratchets up the tension further until it all peaks with the following keystone; the cover of Swans' Holy Money. It's a rendition that extends the grim futility of the original, rolling right into ∆AIMON's world and out the other side leaving the following tracks ringing with its vehmence.

This is it, and you should go over to buy it from the labels BANDCAMP for just $3.





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