seven

torsion is a collaboration between olivier moreau (of imminent starvation, urawa, axiome, ambre, etc fame) and john sellekaers (known for xingu hill and his work on metarc).

this release will surprise all those ambient fans out there. using a variety of minimal percussion the band manages to create structured and intelligent ambient. torsion adds minimal persistent dislocated pulses to usual ambient structures to create a mix that could remind you of minimal passarani or xingu hill, with the beats that sometimes achieve the density and harshness of rhythm'n'noise of imminent starvation, but repetition and ambient background converts those into a background for an atmospheric track.

seems like most of the tracks are based on cool minimal percussion pattern that gets exploited throughout the track overlaid with noises and caustic sounds.

someof the highlights on the disk include "el mariachi mecanico" that somehow manages to create a mysterious and cold feeling that reminds me of black lung experiments; a slightly nightmarish atmosphere, where tension is created by seemingly simple and repetitive beats, while dislocated synth is pushing you deeper and deeper blurring the edges of reality.

"battlefield" is based on controlled and tuned-down feedback bursts filled with subtle noises. it slowly develops just to suddenly break out into heavy noisy percussion that changes and mutates going through several stages being spliced with synths and minimal noises.

first moments of "dr. 4000hz", one of my definite favorites on this disk, will immediately remind you of passarani devoid of synthlines. the track turns out to be a percussion-filled wonder where musicians exercise in creating ambient textures with heavy minimal beats. after a while this track develops a mysterious synthline that softens the edges and adds depth to the track.

build out of extremely minimal blocks, this is an unusual atmospheric release that both relaxes and keeps the listener attentive. the mood created might be not as dense and vivid, but definitely enjoyable.