jazz / experimental
In the past few years, Dutch heavy jazz combo Dead Neanderthals have truly been making a name for themselves. With exploding gigs, an intriguing blend of jazz and grindcore and loads of energy, this duo have shocked and awed audiences far and wide. Including me. I've been a fan since the first time I saw them live. So much that they even ended up in my upcoming book, Cecilia's World. Now that the pre-order for their next album has been kicked off, I think it's finally time to write a few words about this remarkable album. 'The Depths' will be released on August 18 but you can (and should) pre order it right away. The CD version is limited to 500 copies.
What is so special about this album? Well, you can say that Dead Neanderthals recorded it using the biggest reverb/delay effect they could find. Each member of the duo was placed on a different side of a 100 meter long air tunnel. Obviously, such a tunnel creates loads of echoes, delay and reverb on its own and there is no way of manipulating or controlling those sounds. So, to be able to make the recording, Dead Neanderthals had to adapt a completely different way of playing. Below this articles, you can find a documentary about the recording process, filmed by Dick van Aalst and Inge Hondebrink.
The most notable difference between this album and most of their previous work is the tempo. Coming up with hyperspeed drums and even blast beats would make no sense and only result in noise and chaos. So this album is a lot slower than what we're used to from this duo. The four tracks, 'Surface', 'Descent', 'Glimpse' and 'Decompression', are jazz experiments with sax and drums. The whole thing begins with careful exploration of the possibilities, perhaps a bit hesitant at first. Yet, gradually, Dead Neanderthals open up and showcase their full force.
'Glimpse' is my favorite track on this record. It's an impending tune that seems to nudge towards the dark jazz scene and sounds more atmospheric than experimental. Of course, there is still a lot of delay and reverb, creating this eerie and haunting sound, which I like a lot. But in all, this is a successful experiment, one that certainly fits in with all your other Dead Neanderthal or experimental jazz records. So obviously this one comes highly recommended. It's their calmest record to date, and an experiment that can be repeated anytime.
​Serge
What is so special about this album? Well, you can say that Dead Neanderthals recorded it using the biggest reverb/delay effect they could find. Each member of the duo was placed on a different side of a 100 meter long air tunnel. Obviously, such a tunnel creates loads of echoes, delay and reverb on its own and there is no way of manipulating or controlling those sounds. So, to be able to make the recording, Dead Neanderthals had to adapt a completely different way of playing. Below this articles, you can find a documentary about the recording process, filmed by Dick van Aalst and Inge Hondebrink.
The most notable difference between this album and most of their previous work is the tempo. Coming up with hyperspeed drums and even blast beats would make no sense and only result in noise and chaos. So this album is a lot slower than what we're used to from this duo. The four tracks, 'Surface', 'Descent', 'Glimpse' and 'Decompression', are jazz experiments with sax and drums. The whole thing begins with careful exploration of the possibilities, perhaps a bit hesitant at first. Yet, gradually, Dead Neanderthals open up and showcase their full force.
'Glimpse' is my favorite track on this record. It's an impending tune that seems to nudge towards the dark jazz scene and sounds more atmospheric than experimental. Of course, there is still a lot of delay and reverb, creating this eerie and haunting sound, which I like a lot. But in all, this is a successful experiment, one that certainly fits in with all your other Dead Neanderthal or experimental jazz records. So obviously this one comes highly recommended. It's their calmest record to date, and an experiment that can be repeated anytime.
​Serge
AIRHEAD from Dick van Aalst on Vimeo.
