DEATHPROD レコード& CD

Review: When Rune Grammofon got going as a record label, one of their first projects was reissuing pioneering work by Norwegian artist Arne Nordheim, who dealt in some experimental works in the late 60s before developing a career as a composer. As a response of sorts from the next generation, Biosphere and Deathprod endeavoured to remix some of Nordheim's prescient pieces through their respective modern lenses. Originally released in 1998 and sounding as vital and inventive 25 years later, this is a perfect chance to discover or re-discover a spellbinding experiment in the outer limits of electro-acoustic tinkering.

Review: Deathprod (Helge Sten), hailing from Norway, deconstructs what we mean by the word 'composition' on this latest LP for Smalltown Supersound. Exploring what could be described as his own style of lowercase music, there is a granular quality to this eerie collection of 17 'compositions', which appear in the chronological order of which they were first recorded. Building the music from an array of salvaged, largely obsolete, and sometimes faulty digital synths - this is a looming, towering monolith of a drone LP.

Review: Deathprod is Norwegian experimental electronic musician Helge Sten, and for this project, he was granted use of a wealth of custom-made and specialised instruments that were dreamt up and manifested by seminal avant-garde composer Harry Partch. The instruments work in orchestra and are all tuned to just intonation. Where standard intervals are 12, this collective used up to 43 intervals. So, Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth was written specifically to be used on this unusual setup and it sure gives rise to a magnificently one-off album of ambient.

Review: Smalltown Supersound has described Deathprod's "Occulting Disk", the veteran producer's first solo album since 2004, as an "anti-fascist ritual". It was recorded in Oslo, Reykjavik, Cologne, Berlin and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2019 and offers up a distinctly dystopian suite of interconnected pieces that tend towards the dark, intense and evocative. You'll hear plenty of disconcerting drones, razor-sharp aural textures, slowly shifting electronic motifs and the kind of processed noise that simultaneously seems to buzz, throb and pulse aggressively. It feels like the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic movie scene - legendary 1980s BBC TV movie "Threads", perhaps - with occasionally glimpses of poignant beauty. Not for those seeking fluffy fun, but stunning nevertheless.

Review: Smalltown Supersound has described Deathprod's "Occulting Disk", the veteran producer's first solo album since 2004, as an "anti-fascist ritual". It was recorded in Oslo, Reykjavik, Cologne, Berlin and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2019 and offers up a distinctly dystopian suite of interconnected pieces that tend towards the dark, intense and evocative. You'll hear plenty of disconcerting drones, razor-sharp aural textures, slowly shifting electronic motifs and the kind of processed noise that simultaneously seems to buzz, throb and pulse aggressively. It feels like the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic movie scene - legendary 1980s BBC TV movie "Threads", perhaps - with occasionally glimpses of poignant beauty. Not for those seeking fluffy fun, but stunning nevertheless.