Kryptogen Rundfunk – Tales From The Mirrored Spaces (Album – Zoharum)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, industrial, dark-ambient.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Next to several split/collaborative releases, Kryptogen Rundfunk has now accomplished its third full length album. Operating from St. Petersburg (Russia) Artyom Ostapchuk set up this project in 2002. Next to his numerous activities in several projects he also set up the label Zhelezobeton. Notice by the way this album is also available as DCD featuring an extra live recording.
Content: The sound universe of Kryptogen Rundfunk stands for a truly sonic fusion. You get the impression listening to a sonic puzzle made of industrial noises, field recordings and the manipulation of sounds played by acoustic instruments. You’re walking through icy atmospheres reinforced with deep, vibrating sound resonances. Some passages have something more electronic-driven resulting in a ‘klinik’-al mood. The album finally ends in an ambient- & noise cataclysm.
+ + + : The work is diversified because of the interaction between the different influences. I enjoyed the low-frequency sound waves mixed with industrial sound treatments. “Transverter Waltz” is a somewhat different cut for being a little bit more electronic. It has been built up with cold electronics, creating a disturbing feeling. The last song “Palus Somni” is a heavy piece, which I especially like for its evolution into a noise climax. Production-wise I would say this album has been accomplished with real professionalism.
– – – : “Tales From The Mirrored Spaces” remains a hardly accessible work for a wider audience, but I’ve some doubts it’s the kind of album meant to please a wider audience.
Conclusion: Kryptogen Rundfunk has something fascinating, being a kind of sonic hybrid between different dark-minimal music styles.
Best songs: “Transverter Waltz”, “Attention Selector”, “The Ritual Of Dissolution”,“Palus Somni”
Rate: (7½).
Artist: http://kr.radionoise.ru / www.facebook.com/kryptogenrundfunk
Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum
About Kryptogen Rundfunk
Kryptogen Rundfunk started in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2002 and is now based in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. The project works with analogue electronics, radio waves, electromagnetic interference and found sound, building abstract sonic images at the extremes of the audible spectrum. Its catalog includes releases on Zhelezobeton, KultFront, Still*Sleep and NEN Records, with “Tales From The Mirrored Spaces” arriving on Zoharum.
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