ISSUE #4
NOVO SONIC SYSTEM - Gessafelstein
In an unannounced Friday release, french dark techno producer Mike Lévy - better known by his stage name Gessafelstein - has gifted us with 16 minutes of new music.
This 6-track EP enters on the heels of Hyperion, Lévy’s first release since 2013’s Aleph, and a striking about-face from the sleek, vengeful beats he rose to notoriety for. Hyperion was so different in fact that we had trouble believing this was the same artist responsible for masterpieces such as Pursuit, Hate or Glory and Viol. Collaborations with The Weekend, Haim and Pharrell Williams garnered this record massive publicity, but also signaled a disturbing departure from the signature hard-hitting sounds we came to know and love for the world of Top 40 pop.
This isn’t a review of Hyperion - a record so unlistenable that we won’t speak of it any more than necessary - we’re here to talk about the new EP, a refreshing return to the darkness and depravity that entranced us in the first place. This is by no means a comparable follow-up to Aleph, arguably one of our favorite dark techno records of all time, but NOVO SONIC SYSTEM is infinitely preferable to whatever the fuck Gessafelstein was thinking with his last LP.
NOVO opens with ORCK, a 3 minute breakneck marathon of looped synthesizers backed up by spastic drums and an unrelenting sample of a crowd yelling “HEY HEY”. This track is an ominous opening to the EP, and not in a good way - the repetition is immediately apparent, as if Lévy found a loop he enjoyed, set some drums to it and then lost all inspiration, copy + pasting until he reached a satisfactory 3 minutes. The synths are easily recognizable as Gessafelstein, but the lazy construction of this track reminds us more of an off-brand imitator than the tux-wearing, cigarette-smoking king of dark techno.
Image courtesy of MixMag
DANCE X soothes our worries a bit right off the bat - the beat is slower, a more familiar tempo for the french producer, and the bassline that repeats itself is simpler, catchier, something that we can ride comfortably for a while. There is more room in this track for fluctuations in the atmosphere, subtleties in the hi-hats and vocal samples that hiss “DAAAANCCCCEEEE” in the periphery. The drums mix up and down, fade out and then drop with an altered synth loop with satisfying consistency. This track still feels simple and rather pop-oriented compared to the vampiric EDM of Aleph, but this is a huge improvement on ORCK and Hyperion.
IGNIO runs only 2 minutes, and sadly feels like another track that was exported too early, unfinished and repetitive. The standout element in this song is a layer of distortion screaming in the background, ramping up in pitch and volume as the short track loops and loops and approaches its climax. Ultimately IGNIO was quite forgettable.
DOOM, a diminutive 1 minute and 49 seconds, sounds like the lost ancestor to our favorite Gesaffelstein track, Pursuit. The synth lead is eerily similar, and the ominous, Inception-esque bass flares in the background take us right back to that iconic music video. This track, perhaps because of its similarity to Aleph, is one of our favorites, and we sincerely wish it had gotten fleshed out into a listenable length.
The title track of this short EP opens with a pounding kick drum march and syncopated hi-hats underneath a wildly mutating synth arpeggio that twists and bends in and out of tune. More bass flares land satisfyingly on the 4 beat, lending the track some muscle along its short journey. Before we know it, NOVO SONIC SYSTEM ends suddenly and drops us into the final track of the EP.
METALOTRONICS, true to its name, sounds like something out of a DOOM soundtrack. The most aggressive synth bass of the record tears its way from the carcass of the previous song, a feral cyborg on a path of destruction. At the halfway mark this beast mutates into a blaring single note synth pattern reminiscent of The Bloody Beetroots or Boyz Noize, and symbols crash hopelessly in the background. This track features a wonderfully distorted vocal sample that sounds like a computer struggling to speak through the distortion of interstellar distance.
Before we know it, the EP is spent, 16 minutes of high intensity synth looping and drum programming. We’re left feeling a wash of emotions - confusion at the sudden release and insubstantial length of NOVO; relief that this isn’t more of the hot garbage found on Hyperion; and hope that Gesaffelstein, who actually announced his retirement from DJing and production some years back, will continue on this sonic pilgrimage back to the sounds that made his name.
Image courtesy of MixMag
Check out NOVO SONIC SYSTEM and let us know if you think we’re being too harsh. As always, thanks for reading and happy New Music Friday!
♥ Zach
In Cauda Venenum - Opeth
From Swedish metal leviathans Opeth comes another record of technically impressive and delightfully diverse metal that simultaneously continues the band’s exploration of new sound whilst fitting nicely within their enormous discography.
Formed in 1989 in Stockholm and led by charismatic and enigmatic frontman Michael Åkerfeldt, Opeth has been one of the most influential progressive metal acts of multiple generations, crafting epics that range from the crushing demonic weight of Ghost of Perdition or Heir Apparent to the melancholy beauty and whimsy of Hessian Peel. Their recent works have taken a strange and wonderful journey into an almost jazzy, organ-laced sound that first became prevalent on 2011’s Heritage and continued on into 2014’s Pale Communion and 2016’s Sorceress.
In Cauda Venenum is the band’s 13th release, and feels like more a return to the classic metal of Opeth - with some of the group’s newfound strangeness still blooming eerily from the edges. Tracks like Heart in Hand call back to an earlier era of metal with galloping chugga chugga riffs and oh-so-Swedish guitar solos that sound like a fell wind screaming through lonesome fjords.
Image courtesy of LoudWire
The Garroter on the other hand is a delicious departure from all metal tradition, with a walking piano bassline that sounds more like dark jazz than hard rock. Strings flutter ominously behind Åkerfeldt’s crooning voice (he even does some jazz scat matched by a guitar solo), and the drums are mostly brushed instead of smashed with sticks. This feels like the dark cabaret of some underworld lounge, and we absolutely adore it.
All this and more awaits you on In Cauda Venenum! Let us know your favorite track, and as always, thanks for reading!
♥ Zach
