B°Tong – Zenihilist (Digital/CD Album – Krater Recordings)
It’s been 20 years since Chris Sigdell released his first album under the B°Tong banner. Since then, he has produced an impressive body of work and returns this year with a new release on Krater Recordings, a subdivision of Audiophob.
The album’s title includes the words ‘zen’ and ‘nihilism’—two concepts the German artist approaches with both irony and sincerity. These ideas are transformed into a distinctive sound that drifts between Dark-Ambient, Cinematic, and Experimental. The structure of the opening tracks is superb, marked by deep sonic textures and an uncanny, immersive atmosphere. Spoken word passages further enrich the soundscape, perfectly complementing the overall tone. As the album progresses, more droning and humming waves of sound emerge, although the final section feels somewhat less compelling.
B°Tong delivers a highly commendable work, with a powerful and engaging beginning that gradually loses some of its momentum toward the end. (Rating:7).
Listen to “Graveyard Prayer”:
About B°Tong
B°Tong is the experimental sound project of Chris Sigdell, described as a Swedish-Swiss act. Sigdell was a member of the German band NID from 1995 to 2005 before focusing on B°Tong, building moody, dark soundscapes from samples, recorded sounds, and, on later releases, live instrumentation. His 2023 album “A Fleeting Moment Of Superabundance” was released on the French labels Force Majeure and Les Nouvelles Propagandes.
“Zenihilist” arrives on Krater Recordings, a subdivision of Audiophob, twenty years after Sigdell’s first release under the B°Tong name.
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