As some of you might know, Inner Demons stopped with their dedicated release of 3″s and 5″ CDRs, which are now also in their catalogue. With the recent batch of some 30+ new titles, there are also a few of them, and Stormhat’s “Everything Will Pass” is the first to be reviewed. And yes, I plan on reviewing all 30+ over the coming weeks.
Behind Stormhat is Peter Bach Nicolaisen, a new name to me, though not to experimental music. He has been releasing music since around Y2K (in 2000, in case you didn’t know). In the promo sheet, it is mentioned that Stormhat makes ‘dark New Age music’; I’m a bit puzzled by that. I always understood the New Age was about striving towards a better future through spiritual growth, the Shedding of the past, and creating a ‘new age’ where we DID learn from our mistakes. So the addition of the ‘dark’ makes me think … Is this a New Age where dystopia is preferred over utopia? On the other hand, in every theory, a dystopia has always been proven to be closer to the truth than a utopia, so why now strive towards what will become reality anyway? But enough of these Sunday afternoon philosophies.
In 10 tracks equalling 47 minutes, Stormhat – named after the Aconitum napellus and not after British band Foghat – delivers many experiments to enjoy. Too intense to meditate imho, but now and then surprising in either minimalism or complexity. Rumbling basses, bursts of sharp frequencies or white noise, fully clean sine oscillators ‘dancing’ with each other through extensive modulation patterns – or chaos. This album has a bit of everything, and because of that, it’s an enjoyable listen. On the other hand, I miss a bit of a story if I look at the whole release. In what way does “Everything Will Pass” relate to “Royal Dust”, “Brother Jones”, or “Far Out Suit”? Or is this my overconceptualization speaking, and should I just shut up and listen again and let everybody’s mind talk for their own?
We’ll let the promo text say the final words: ‘Stormhat’s sound intends to instil in the listener a mixed state of mind that both contain unpleasantness and bits of bliss.’
Comments
Post a Comment