Nick Olman – Smear Campaign : Dark Ambient / Industrial Ambient / Drone

Reviewed by Gird_09

I'm starting to run out of ways to describe this kind of music. It starts off with deep drones, a raspy breathlike sound that shifts back and forth between the speakers and strings that fade in slowly – to become a massive presence. It's very atmospheric, if also quite predictable. The production values are high, and there are no flaws in arrangement. This kind of music could easily end up as a blob of low end frequencies, but Nick Olman manages to let each sound come into its own right. In particular I appreciate the way the strings (for lack of a better word, presumably they're actually a choir) remind me of the artfully crafted compositions of Ligeti, with microtonal drifts in and out of harmony. I like that.

Also the album full of subtleties and manages to contain soothing, and yet unsettling melodies and is in general very relaxing. The range of sounds used is greater than what I've come to expect from albums in this genre, and that counts as a big plus in my book. Additionally the various electronic instruments manage to sound vibrant and full of patina. Many people don't pay enough attention to how their instruments sound, and we end up with crappy soft synth strings and plastic sound drums - perhaps the main staple of bedroom studio syndrome. Not so on this album though. Check out the drums on "Primordial (Below Heaven and Earth)". They are about as far from plastic as you can get. With the exception of the strings on "Looks I could kill". If someone comes up to and asks you "Do you want a VSTi?", JUST SAY NO! (Or atleast, put alot of hours into making them sound like you said no...)

Big kudos to Olman for not falling into the trap that so many drone / dark ambient musicians do: the album is not 74 minutes jam packed with drones. It's total running time of a little more than fifty minutes is maybe ten minutes more than I would ideally prefer, but it's not so long you get bored. Take a hint from this people. Give people too much, and they get bored with you. Keep them wanting more. In addition the album may be based in drones, but it's dynamic and keeps changing. The album has a lot of content, quite simply.

In general the album is deftly executed and in fact full of surprises, such as the "rusty"distorted vocals on track two. "Ghost in the machine" is a rarely fitting title, as that is just what it sounds like. While deeply rooted in the traditions of the genre the album comes off as fresh and original. The first track is a bit predictable, but the rest of the album is interesting and exciting in every way. I admit I started off as sceptical (as always) but ended up convinced. In fact this might become one of my favorite albums in the genre...

USA, Self released, CD Album, 2010

1 the Deepest of Black Waters [10:47]
2 Ghost in the machine [7:22]
3 Primordial (Below heaven and Earth) [7:32]
4 Through a Corrupted Mind [5:39]
5 With Tortured Affection [9:07]
6 Looks I Could Kill [4:24]
7 Eternal Servant to the Departed [8:06]

http://soundcloud.com/nickolman/sets/smear-campaign (free listens) (free listens)
http://www.nickolman.com

Verfallssymptom – Written in Blood : Industrial ambient / Power noise / Electronic Black Metal

Reviewed by Gird_09 and Batcheeba

We have no idea what kind of equipment he's used to produce his album, but it really takes us to countless hours spent in various basements with fasttracker II and other primitive equipment. Old school. In addition to the minimal electronic beats and phrases Verfallssymptom utilizes vocals very reminiscent of black metal in portions of the music. (And in fact black metal inspiration can be heard on several tracks.) This combination could easily land you in endzeit hell, but not on this release. The most similar music I have heard would be K.I.F.O.T.H.'s two first album, but certainly much more minimalist, less EBM-like, more scrapy and less disco friendly. But the comparison is certainly good.

The production is notably lo-fi, and one might expect Verfallssymptom to sound muffled and grungy, but he has a talent for finding sounds that fit together without turning into porridge. The drums carry the music steadily and with enough punch that the rest of the music can ride on top. The music is very introvert and doesn't ask for anyone's approval. It's not over produced in any way, and the focus is more on emotion than sound construction. While the two don't need to clash there is no doubt that if we have to chose we'll go for emotion any day. Especially when the content is as interesting as this. There is nothing we hate more than over produced trite.

There are two things we miss on this album though. There could have been more vocals, as Verfallssymptom's vocals really fit the music and adds depth. The instrumental tracks are certainly good on their own, but the vocal tracks were the best of the bunch. The other thing is that there are too many tracks on the album. At certain points we find ourselves losing concentration because some of the tracks are a bit similar to each other. Each single track is a killer track, but as an album it tends towards monotony in some portions. This is mostly a problem with the midsection of the album however, as both the first and last thirds of the album is one interesting track after another.

The coolest tracks on the album are definately on the last third. Abstraction, with its intensely noisy beat and drudging arrangements is a hard hitter and heavier than most anything we've heard. It has layers of distored sounds, noise, beats and all the while retaining Verfallsymptom's melodic sense. Inspiring. This one is certainly going to be played over and over. The track is followed by Stacheldraht and Written in Blood, which are ambient black metal tracks with electronic sounds. The vocals are intense and the melodies subtle, as well as the beats. Still it's consistent with the rest of the album. This is what Aphex Twin would sound like if he was into black metal. More of this! We beg you!

Verfallsymptom is kind enough to release his album free of charge through thee Brad Miller's Kill Your Godz (a blog we will certainly return to from time to time here). If you're sceptical to people who release their music for free, perhaps because you expect it's not good enough to meet the "high standards" of a record company, you should download this release and let it dispel any disbelief you might have.

Tracks:
1 Bigotte Hybris
2 Kollaterale Hysterie
3 Agapes Jahwist
4 DHKDF
5 Homogene Kontradikturie
6 Polyaeon
7 Todeskandidat
8 Abstraction
9 Stacheldraht
10 Written in blood
11 Gefilde der Tristesse
12 Misanalog

Germany, self released (file), 2008

http://www.myspace.com/verfallssymptom
http://theebradmiller.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/verfallssymptom-written-in-blood-2008/