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6.5
- Bands:
FLUISTERAARS - Duration: 01:07:43
- Available from: 04/26/2024
- Label:
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Eisenwald Tonschmiede
Streaming not yet available
The Dutch duo, author of a handful of very interesting works in the last decade – in particular “Bloem” – surprises everyone with an album that does not contain even a drop of black metal, or more generally of metal, even in the broadest sense .
An experimental streak has always been present in the music of the Bennekom boys, attracted by lo-fi sounds, an uncommon taste for melodies and analogue recording; Fluisteraars have always looked to the past (and not necessarily just to metal) to build their sound: as raw as it is refined, atmospheric and enthralling – even catchy – but unequivocally black metal in form.
This new album, as already mentioned, changes the cards on the table and turns its gaze to a universe that has always been very close to metal, that of dark ambient, a fascinating genre although objectively not easy to grasp, if not downright repellent. The idea – simplistic but not so far-fetched – of having an ‘entire record made up of intros’ is in fact what over the years has brought many metalheads closer to a world devoid of riffs, solos, double bass and blast-beats, both as artists and listeners.
This was also the case for Koops and Mollema, who chose – courageously, it must be said – the uphill road of an entirely instrumental work, lasting almost double compared to any previous ‘standard’ release, so much so that it lasted over an hour. whole. For the occasion, the two musicians collaborated with Simon Claessen, programmer and expert in analogue instrumentation, who helped them obtain the sounds they were looking for, captured near Eindhoven airport: it is therefore an absolutely experimental approach, even if certainly not new for those who have a minimum of familiarity with the industrial scene (some reference names: Raison D’Etre, Morthond, TeHÔM, Dagda Mor, In Slaughter Natives).
This “Manifestaties Van De Ontworteling” is a disturbing monolith, which not by chance means something like ‘demonstrations of uprooting’, to be understood as a stylistic break but also as interference of human activity in the natural environment. The almost impressionist cover tells us this, the aerial vision of a fiery, acidic sunset above the clouds, and the sounds tell us this, becoming rarefied, at times acute and penetrating, insistent and threatening.
Although the division into tracks seems to be little more than a recording necessity, we can say that the piece proposed as a preview, the final “Der Kunst”, is not the best possible choice, at least compared to the strength of “De Wieg Van Stormen”, with its bass pushed to the maximum, or “Spirituele Vervreemding”, the song with the most gothic hues.
There is something uncanny in the grooves of this record: it is something familiar – the cheerful chirping of the birds, the placid and constant roar of the descending planes – which slowly seems to take on a discordant, dissonant note, which creates – precisely – a disturbance of the soul. The Fluisteraars manage, in their best episodes, like the ones mentioned, to instill precisely this kind of deep, under-the-skin restlessness in the listener.
Other tracks, however, are not as incisive, which is not surprising if we take into consideration the rather sparse and repetitive nature of the proposal, combined with a decidedly extended duration of the same: an explanation in this sense comes from the group’s participation in the 2024 edition of Roadburn Festival, the venue in which they will play this set in its entirety (which we believe will remain unique in the band’s discography).
Ultimately we are talking about a more than discreet work, not difficult to imagine in the catalog of labels such as Malignant Records and Cold Meat Industry, but which at the same time could be absolutely indigestible for those who are not familiar with the sonic asperities of dark ambient and industrial music.
