Only a few weeks ago, I reviewed “The Inability to Be Happy” by Andreas Davids. I wrote, ‘It’s not ambient as we know it, it’s not noise, it’s weird and experimental, and it has a beautiful flow’. It is no different on this release – five tracks of exactly one hour. It’s even more experimental and droney than ‘The Inability’, partially because Andreas took those 5 hours to let emotions and sounds take place in the compositions. So before we continue to review, let me state that this is a great release I like.
“5 Stunden” is triggered by a series of events surrounding the illness and passing of Andreas’ mother in 2017. From that period, the number five stuck in Andreas’ head, and he felt the need to do something with it. Next to be creative also to commemorate his mother and to find closure. So let me state the obvious that a lot of musicians have been triggered and inspired by the loss of a loved one. And yes, me too. So what Andreas does is not new, but it’s so damn personal. I almost feel guilty having to write that I like it or don’t like it. I mean, it’s his feeling, his personal journey towards closure, and he wants to share it with the world. What is there to like or not to like? There is only to be respect.
Five tracks of exactly an hour. Can that be interesting? Does it remain interesting when you play it? Isn’t it a full overkill of confrontational emotions? Yes on all of that. But at the same time, there is more then enough variation also to remain intriguing. Sure, there are fragments or phrases in the drones that may feel like they’re going on a bit too long, but that’s drones. As long as there is movement and the sonic structures are constantly interacting, it’s all good in my ears. I’ve been playing these tracks in a loop for a few days while I was working on things, and each time, I kept hearing new things. The general feeling the tracks generated for me was ‘hypnotic’ and ‘stasis’, and within a trance-like state of mind, I could keep on doing my things with some continuously moving sonic background.
The first hour has quite a robust and noisy layer in there. When the noise gets filtered a repetitive structure enters the composition, but this part is the most intrusive of the lot. The second hour reminded me a bit of zoviet:france. Not the highly experimental works, but the nothingness of some of their work, Like ‘What Is Not True’. The third one continues with that atmosphere, but more harmonics get added in synth sounds. Something that would perfectly fit a label like Cyclic Law or early Cold Meat. The fourth hour is super minimal and actually only has two states of ‘being’: the repetitive structure in the beginning and, after half an hour, the resonance-driven ambient harmonic structure. It’s super minimal but very strong. The fifth and final hour of “5 Stunden” is probably the most formed and crystallized at moments harmonic and even orchestral.
And then suddenly, five hours have passed. And you know you’ve heard something personal and unique. But you can’t remember that first hour, so you press play again. It’s what I did. So there’s no shame in that. It’s a significant release, and even when it’s strange to rate things as stated earlier, that 2nd hour is my favourite.
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