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Nordvargr, "In Oceans Abandoned By Life I Drown¬ÖTo Live Again As A Servant Of Darkness"
Fresh after a couple of collaborations with noise god Merzbow, this disc shows Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk (no relation) balancing the words of electronic drone and harsh noise across two long tracks.
Bjorkk, also the mastermind of "black industrial" band Mz.412, is no stranger to working in the darker reaches of the electronic realm. In Oceans Abandoned By Life I Drown... To Live Again As A Servant Of Darkness, therefore, doesn't reflect any stylistic shifts or drastic departures in his approach, but it does opt not to use the stereotypical "evil" imagery associated with some of his other projects. Instead, the disc sits in a lovely Stephen O'Malley designed, Seldon Hunt photographed fold out sleeve that compliments the sound very nicely.
"In Oceans Abandoned By Life I Drown…" begins with almost pure silence before horrid, processed screams cut in, with a queasy, bassy gurgle, shrill sine waves, and almost psychedelic, distorted synth lines. This harsh noise backing stays in place for awhile, never relenting, but also never becoming stagnant, before it all drops off for a passage of stark, black ambience. Of course things won't stay peaceful, and the noise pummeling begins anew, this time resembling previous collaborator Masami Akita's personal blend of junk fuzz screech, but even through the cacophony there is a sense of control and direction, as if Bjorkk is conducting a noise orchestra.
Diametrically opposite of the previous track's opening, "…To Live Again As A Servant of Darkness" opens with the sweet sound of processed feedback and a subtle hint of percussion off in the distance, like some distant spacecraft looming ominously. As before, the noise eventually gives way to a bleak, desolate passage of minimal electronics and mood before coming back with scraping metal, crunchy electronic distortion, and a subtle rhythmic pulse, a combination that will sound intimately familiar to fans of the golden age of Japanese noise. However, the track slows down and mixes in a very bizarre bass synth line before ending on some distant rhythm loops.
In Oceans Abandoned… does not do anything innovative or surprising, but its quality and diversity in sound more than make up for it. As a whole the disc has an almost familiar feel, like one of those discs that has been played many, many times before that just never gets old or boring.
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