Rapoon – Darker By Light (CD Album – Zoharum)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, rhythmic-ambient, industrial.
Background/Info: Robin Storey (ex Zoviet France) started composing music under the Rapoon moniker since the early 90s. “Darker By Light” was originally released in 1996 on Soleilmoon Recordings. Polish label Zoharum started re-releasing early Rapoon albums. It’s an opportunity to (re)discover this early pearl of the industrial veteran, which has been released in an artistic digipak.
Content: The sound universe of Rapoon has been always something particular. It sounds inspired by genres like industrial-, ambient- and experimental music, but the composition always reveals a particular sound-DNA. This album is characterized by dark, repetitive electronic loops joined by slow rhythms. The repetitive sequences have something trance-like and especially the first half of the album sounds this way. You’ll hear different little noises joining in while some spooky vocal parts can be heard now and then.
+ + + : This album reveals Robin Storey at his best. While the album was originally released in 1996 it still has this initial magic leading the listener into a hypnotic sensation. Storey has been always a master in rhythms and it also remains one of the main strengths from this work. The composition feels a bit like the web of a spider; it has been conceived with patience and knowledge. It moves crescendo towards a total apotheosis. The five first cuts of the album are absolutely impressive and that visionary for the time.
– – – : The second half of the album sounds cool, but there are no similar highlights such as in the beginning.
Conclusion: When you’re listening to this album more than twenty years after its original release you can only, but agree Rapoon always has been a visionary artist. This is a great work in Storey’s discography!
Best songs: “From Sleep Awake”, “Lies And Propaganda”, “Night That thunders”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.facebook.com/rapoon
Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum
About Rapoon
Rapoon is the project of Robin Storey, who previously recorded with Zoviet France before starting Rapoon in the early 1990s. In 2017, UK label Winter-Light marked Rapoon’s 25th anniversary with the first chapter of the “Mercury Rising” trilogy, which Storey completed with a final chapter in 2019; he discussed the trilogy in a 2019 Side-Line interview.
Polish label Zoharum has continued reissuing and releasing Rapoon material since, including “Hotel Bravo” in 2020 and “Seeds In The Tide Volume 06” in 2022, alongside “Darker By Light”, originally released on Soleilmoon Recordings in 1996.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
