avant-garde / experimental
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For alternative music fans, 2015 has been a year of shocking events. There was the jihadist shooting in the Bataclan in France, which might be one of the most widespread news items this year, but there has also been a drama in Romania, where sixty fans died in a horrible arson in the Colectiv club in Bucharest. This album is for them. In fact, the profits from this album will go directly to the further healthcare of the victims.
I'm usually quite weary of the terms 'avant-garde' and 'experimental'. They are way too vague to attract my interest and, to be quite honest, sometimes those tags will make the album get lost in the huge pile of albums to be reviewed. However, in this case, there was something else that made me curious about this piece of work, namely the presence of people like David Tibet (Current 93), Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen (ex-Mayhem), Attila Csihar (Mayhem) and Mirai Kawashima (from Sigh).
Now, that's an impressive set of artists to work with. Of course, Costin Chioreanu isn't just anybody. He might be one of the most influential musicians/visual artists in Romania and he certainly knows a little something about music, most particular the metal industry. Yet, this album isn't really a metal album. It's a drone/dark ambient/post-rock album, engulfed in darkness but with some bright flashes of hope and comfort.
There are deep drone tracks on this album, but there are some brilliant modern classical passages and the elaborate, epic atmosphere of bands like Mono and Sunn O))). Yet, it isn't merely an overwhelming blast of bombastic drones. There is melody, there are elements of apocalyptic folk music and there are violins and piano. This is simply a brilliant amalgamation of all the previously mentioned elements, resulting in an awe-inspiring album.
So, my advice? Well, obviously you should check this out if you're a fan of any of the people I mentioned in this review. I feel as this really is a successful cooperation between some of the most talented and experienced artists in the dark underground of the music industry. 'The Quest For A Morning Star' contains seven gloomy anthems, each of them well-varied and immersive enough to remain interesting. Highly recommended...
Serge
I'm usually quite weary of the terms 'avant-garde' and 'experimental'. They are way too vague to attract my interest and, to be quite honest, sometimes those tags will make the album get lost in the huge pile of albums to be reviewed. However, in this case, there was something else that made me curious about this piece of work, namely the presence of people like David Tibet (Current 93), Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen (ex-Mayhem), Attila Csihar (Mayhem) and Mirai Kawashima (from Sigh).
Now, that's an impressive set of artists to work with. Of course, Costin Chioreanu isn't just anybody. He might be one of the most influential musicians/visual artists in Romania and he certainly knows a little something about music, most particular the metal industry. Yet, this album isn't really a metal album. It's a drone/dark ambient/post-rock album, engulfed in darkness but with some bright flashes of hope and comfort.
There are deep drone tracks on this album, but there are some brilliant modern classical passages and the elaborate, epic atmosphere of bands like Mono and Sunn O))). Yet, it isn't merely an overwhelming blast of bombastic drones. There is melody, there are elements of apocalyptic folk music and there are violins and piano. This is simply a brilliant amalgamation of all the previously mentioned elements, resulting in an awe-inspiring album.
So, my advice? Well, obviously you should check this out if you're a fan of any of the people I mentioned in this review. I feel as this really is a successful cooperation between some of the most talented and experienced artists in the dark underground of the music industry. 'The Quest For A Morning Star' contains seven gloomy anthems, each of them well-varied and immersive enough to remain interesting. Highly recommended...
Serge