Artist: Autoclav1.1
Title: Portents Call
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Label: Tympanik Audio
Album Review
There's indeed something magical in the way you look at a new album from an artist whose work you've come to have great respects for over the past few years. So it happened that some time ago the new album of AUTOCLAV1.1 landed in my mailbox. Actually the first one dwelling outside the cycle started by 'Love No Longer Lives Here' many years ago. I remember Tony saying about the album once that the piano would be less prominent as it used to be. The first track on the record 'The Pledge' seems to fully substantiate that statement with every note. It brilliantly glimpses into a new morning's first beams of sunlight after a long and cold dark night. A clean beat opens the second movement 'Zoff Elemental' which is sooner than later embraced by atmospheres that evoke the mood of a late sunny afternoon, not unlike the one I'm witnessing right now as I am writing this and listening to the sound of an organic set of drums laced to slices of melody bursting out into the open. All of a sudden something is darkening your sight as 'Black Powder' is approaching to bring with it a thick haze of supressed emotion you suddenly find yourself trapped in with a chance of beautiful string movements to ease the pain for just a little moment as the percussions is drifting towards you. Out good old friend, the piano makes its first appearance on the album on that track. Glad to have you back.
Carried along on humming bass lines a wash of clean air comes along with 'Waver Skin' that brings serenity and a dream-like state to the listener who's open for it. 'Big' Lighter' kind of falls into the line of tracks being called experimental within confided territory. This track’s metric isn't streamlined, it's breaking apart at an unexpected point and just every time it does, the rest is following suit so that in the end everything flows naturally again. Just as natural as 'Interweb Pugilism' does with the way it plays with subtleties. There isn't actually something ground-breaking new to this track, actually it's a step backwards to the sound 'Love No Longer Lives Here' established back in the day. That fact makes it a special track in its own right, how it fuses moods, beats to a cohesive body of work. 'Home Made Stratus' is taking basic elements that are common to progressive music to transfer it into the electronic realm which yields an astonishingly good result and above that is a treat to listen to with a little twist midway through it all after. 'Odersfelt' (or Huddersfield ;)) is exhibiting obvious dark ambient roots, which is news in AUTOCLAV land for the fact that there hasn't been a single track like this if I recall correctly. The following 'Curiosity Missions' shares a bond with it in taking some of its ambient features and mixing it with classic AUTOCLAV colours and a taut beat work
'The Currency Stone', albeit from sending you on quite a cerebral trip into autumnal skies hidden behind a curtain of clouds, reminds me a lot of 'All For You'. It's taking a slightly different route along the way though, just to take you into deeper waters of distant underwater piano play echoing through the dark blue surrounding you now. As we're drawing closer towards the end, we're finding 'Walking Walls' right in front of us, blocking our path and making sure that every new discovered way becomes a dead end. Feels a lot like real life these days. The meticulous approach to the rhythm base , this time more than ever, makes me wonder if it has ever been considered having a live drummer on shows. Seriously, even though it might cost a few bucks more, the show would definitely be taken to another level. 'Descending West' would be a killer if arranged a little bit to the setting. Of course that doesn't mean it's a bad track on record. Quite the contrary, that's the closing title making you beg for more and to hit the “Play” button again. Something many albums lack these days. So, yeah, 'Portents Call' is a step forward. It succeeds in doing the balancing act between refining established trademarks and carefully introduce new elements. Sometimes the radical approach works better of you are the erratic type. Tony has never been that type. He's letting the sound evolve completely naturally.
Tracklist
01. The Pledge
02. Zoff Elemental
03. Black Powder
04. Wafer Skin
05. Big Lighter
06. Interweb Pugilism
07. Home Made Stratus
08. Odersfelt
09. Curiosity Missions
10. The Currency Stone
11. Erbowl
12. Walking Walls
13. Descending West
Line-up
Tony Young
Website
http://autoclavonline.com/ / http://www.facebook.com/pages/Autoclav11/41967751781
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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