Reviews
Reviews \ Camanecroszcope II
Suite des aventures de l'apocalypse lovecraftienne par un rejeton des Grands Anciens, "Echoes of a beckoning arcanum"
précise la menace et la rapproche un peu plus de notre pauvre et ridicule biosphere. Si le précédent opus était une
lecture des prophéties liées à Yog-Sothoth ("Le-Tout-En-Un", "La Porte et la Clé"), celui-ci s'attache à rendre plus
palpable l'horreur qui n'attend que le juste alignement des étoiles pour se déverser sur nous. Plus tribal ("From the
gulf and into existence") et épique (l'excellent "For all things now dead and gone" qui ouvre l'album) et même
exceptionnellement electro sur "What comes forth from obscurity", seule incartade directe dans l'univers plus rythmé de
Iszoloscope. Plutôt que de se cantonner à répéter la même recette, le duo enfonce le clou avec une dark-ambient cosmique
plus "agressive" et tenace que la menace sourde et tellurique du premier chapitre et livre ici un album où rien n'est
soumis à une attente déçue. Au contraire, l'assemblage des nappes des basses et des percussions occasionnelles
transforment ce qui aurait pu être un énième disque pour la forme en une dynamique captivante et sans baisse d'intérêt.
L'évolution dans la continuité, acquisition conseillée. (mercredi 15 novembre 2006).
Enregistré par Camanecrozscope, Belgique & Canada, 2005-2006.
Herman Klapholz (Ah Cama-Sotz) et Yann Faussurier (Iszoloscope) (tous instruments)
Marco / Guts of Darkness.
Reviews \ The Audient Void
Iszoloscope's Yann Faussurier has always distinguished himself from his contemporaries in the rhythmic noise scene by
focusing on atmospheric tones and sounds over the more purely beat-oriented abstraction favored by many of his fellow
Ant-Zen artists. His dance material is always eminently danceable, of course, but he seems to have released as many
purely ambient albums as club tracks. His latest release certainly seems to start off that way with "The Audient Void,"
an extended arrangement of low, droning moans that eventually builds into a slow march punctuated by occasional bursts
of orchestral noise. "The Sum Of Us All" continues the low-key creepiness with eerie samples and more unsettling drones,
but gradually a rhythm kicks in, eventually building into a straight-up four-on-the-floor beat that, though still
overpowered by the moaning ambience, would probably play well in the power noise clubs. By "Raudivian Device," though,
Faussurier is ready to ditch the spooky soundscapes in favor of all-out dance assault; with its reliance on hard beats
and well-placed samples, this track is reminiscent of nothing so much as a Terrorfakt track with the urban violence
replaced by zombie-film clips. "Insubstantiality," "From Hollow" and "Unto Deeper Calling" are some of the
hardest-hitting tracks Faussurier's ever done, adding frantic drum 'n' bass rolls to evil thrashing power noise,
but it's "The Path Of Totality (Part One)" and "Heard Voices" that really highlight the creativity of the Iszoloscope
experience. They're eerie, evocative, and unpredictable, alternating unexpectedly from soft ambience and warped speech
samples to frenetic up-tempo drum machine patterns and squealing feedback, simultaneously showing off both Faussurier's
morbidly meditative side and his wicked dance music attitude. Check this one out if you're ready for something that's
equally challenging in the club and on your headphones.
Matthew Johnson @ Grave Concerns
Out of respect of my dear quebecois friend, zlop zlop, the main force behind Iszoloscope, I pained myself to write a
review entirely in his native tongue, the french language! Please enjoy: I present it here in the orginal french at
his insistence! I encourage those who are trained in the ancient arts of translation, to return this review to
a language that is readable to all.
Le Tout de la Void de la Audient
Écrimages magnifiques de deliciousness. Pas les miserables du tout, mais plutôt, la crème de la crème. La fille sexy de
la musique industrielle serait en effet une à écouter ceci si son esprit était placé dans la position et pas du tout le
déviant droits aux bruits qui sont produits. il y a tout foncé et qui interdit ici. Vous écoutez juste et tous seront
indiqués à vous des manières qui vous humilieront. Des morceaux ambiants foncés à un nouveau modèle de transe qui
embrasse vraiment les concepts de tordu et à une musique foncée tous est ici et tout qui n'est pas n'est pas en valeur
les longues craintes observées abaissées. Au lieu de cela embrassez ce qui est ici et maintenant et préparez pour vos
oreilles et descendez dans le royaume foncé de votre esprit pour regarder les choses terribles avec les yeux qui sont
plac dans votre esprit. En ce monde horrible de mal et de craintes, nous sommes laissés pour défendre pour nous-mêmes,
mais en cela nous trouvons ces choses qui aident, pour permettre au gaz de passer, employer le terme français tout à
fait splendide et exagéré. magnifique pour les miserables que je suis.
Squid @ March 2006
Yann's works have always been a firm favourite of mine and I approached this disc with as much excitement as all his other releases. Iszoloscope has always had a rich perception of ambient music, multi layered and deeper than a very deep thing. The Audient Void is the start of a new era and rise to power for Iszoloscope. It almost seems this has been completed with renewed vigour, and inspiration.
The title track and opener is a barn stormer if ever there was one... Almost military in its approach and new added menace, this is impressive from the off. 'The Sum of us all' heralds a new era of Iszoloscope at his mightiest. Punishing beats and rhythmics are broken into cut patterns that Yann seems to now claim as his own, and indeed it's this style that is the main focus of 'the Audient Void'. The blend of hypnotic ambient vocals, beats and scraping noise constructed into the main theme tune is a wonder to behold and it's impossible to sit still with that thumping bass line cutting into you.
Fresh avenues are explored from breakcore, right through to more gentle (slightly more gentle that is) electronics on tracks such as "Heard Voices' which just show there really is more to offer from Iszoloscope from what you previously have witnessed. Heavy, intriguing and just as much fun as the man himself, The Audient Void is a must have in your collection, I can't recommend it enough.
9.5/10
Tony @ Black Harvest Zine
Iszoloscope has found the perfect equation with his new album “The Audient Void”. Earlier work could mostly be divided into either noise or drones. Releases such as “Aquifére” and “Les Gorges Des Limbes” are more located in the ambient sector, while albums like “Coagulating Wreckage” and “Au Seuil De Nèant” could be put in a more rhythmic region.
On this latest release we get to enjoy both extremes and in such a perfect combination, that “The Audient Void” has become a beautiful and intense album. Delightfully dark and oppressing, but with at the same time very challenging beats and breaks. It’s also very surprising to hear that often in one and the same track the soundtrack-like moods and the thumping rhythms are both present.
Yann Faussurier’s latest outburst comes with beautiful and very matching artwork. The nine songs are all pretty long and spun out, of which the longest can be found at the beginning of the album. Opening track ‘The Audient Void’ stays entertaining a full ten minutes. Very daring and at the same time well done to begin with such a track. It reminds me of the nice opening track of Spermblasters “Seeking Comfort In Chaos”.
The absolute best and finest song is to my opinion ‘The Sum Of Us All’. A very worked up beginning with after one and a half minute a freaking strange break, after which the wonderfully complicated but still absolutely danceable beats sweep you of your feet. Incredible, how intoxicating these nine minutes are!
We keep the pace high in tracks like ‘Insubstantiality’, ‘From Hollow’, ‘Unto Deeper Calling’ and ‘Heard Voices (album version)’. This last one is the shortest presented song and will do nice in the most noise or industrial DJ-set lists. The sweet and pleasant melodies are accompanied by good and mathematically correct beats. Somewhere it reminds me a bit of acts like Kettel or Aphex Twin.
‘The Path Of Totality’ is brought to us in two parts. The first piece has some pretty break beats, while the second is more drone-like and spooky. Apparently the path becomes less practicable the further we get…
With Iszoloscope’s “The Audient Void” Ant Zen brings us the perfect album for those dark, lonely and cold winter nights to come.
Grade: 9
eRgo @ Gothtronic
Reviews \ Les Gorges Des Limbes
That Iszoloscope can easily switch from a powerful pounding rhythmic noise release like Au Seuil du Néant to this, a dark ambient release and no one thinks "what's with this new direction?" shows Iszoloscope's great depth. Each release has its own uniqueness and we're always so hungry for whatever he gives us that we don't care. Iszoloscope can be all dark ambient and we know that he hasn't lost his hardcore.
I should mention that Iszoloscope (or Zlop Zlop as I like to call him) has, over the 3 years I've personally known him, become a friend. So you may think that this, and other, highly praising reviews are based on that. But what? You think I'm scared of that bitch? As hardcore as he may be, we all know that I'm more so, and he knows it too. I can say whatever I like about him and he'll just take it. In fact, I almost wish he releases something shitty so I can smack it in his face, the way I've smacked other things (disdainful things) in his face (while he slept).
However, well have to wait a little bit, because Les Gorges des limbes is another fucking awesome release. Six long dark and gloomy tracks to sit in your basement listening to, while contemptating the evils of the world, the forboding darkness and the ever present weight of the void.
Les Gorges des limbes is actually an older work of Zlop Zlop's, that was originally written as a side project between 1999 and 2000, but never released until now. So even had we thought that he had lost all the desire for hard ass crushing beats, this fact alone would prove us wrong.
And now let me take the time in this totally unconventional review to put in a plug for Iszoloscope's latest track, which will appear on the soon to be released bugs crawling out of people compilation entitled revelation. Of course, I'm the mad man behind this label and this compilation, but the Iszoloscope track will kick your ass.
Squid @ Sept 2004
Cet album rassemble des pièces inédites qui montre le côté le plus obscur d'Iszoloscope, nom de code sous lequel Yann Faussurier se produit depuis maintenant cinq ans. Connu pour ses réalisations tek-indus / elektro-noise, à l'égal de Vromb, son compatriote, il démontre avec ce type de compositions stratosphériques que son talent ne repose pas uniquement sur une déferlante de breakbeats noisy dont est friand le public d'Ant Zen mais qu'il peut aussi produire une musique méditative, sombre et inquiétante. Des drones insaisissables ("Your dark and ghostly guidance", "Les manuscrits de l'invisible - ch. deux", "Reaching out from his watery grave"). Le genre de disque que l'on écoute de préférence seul, les rideaux tirés ou la nuit devant un écran… D'autres préférons utiliser ces textures mortifères comme trame de fond pour un mix cinématographique, forcément cinématographique… À l'exact opposé des atmosphères relaxantes des chill-out, Iszoloscope explore "les territoires de l'inquiétude", "les ténèbres intérieures" qui sommeillent en chaque auditeur… Une démarche introspective qui se matérialise par des chuintements dont l'étrangeté est renforcée par l'absence totale de tout élément rythmique ou mélodique. Plus qu'un disque, c'est à une véritable expérience sensorielle à laquelle nous convie Iszoloscope.
Laurent Diouf / Wreck This Mess - Paris
Reviews \ Camanecroszcope
"Camanecroszcope : echoes ov who lieth dead but ever dreameth" is the result of a collaboration between Belgian Herman
Klapholz (Ah Cama-Sotz) and Canadian Yann Faussurier (Iszoloscope). Both artists are first of all known for their
explorations into the borderland between rhythmic Industrial and dark ambient. Iszoloscope had its debut release on
Spectre Records back in 2001 with the album "Coagulating Wreckage" meanwhile Ah Cama Sotz has been on the electronic
scene since the early 90's. In this joint venture the two artists have left the rhythmic textures behind to fully
concentrate on the dark forces of ambient sound. On the album the artists deal with the term Necronomicon, originally
used by H.P. Lovecraft in his book "The call of Kthulu". "Necronomicon" refers to the book of the dead, thus giving an
impression of what to expect on this sonic journey into the deep caverns of hellish demons and ghoulish calls. The hour
of dark ambience is built on haunting drones floating in between solemn chants and echoed micro sounds. Occasionally the
sonic darkness are further strengthened by subtle drones of power electronics only to fulfil the sounds of evil. A
remarkable thing about this album is the atmospheres of ancient Eastern culture that lies underneath the musical
expression. Herman Klapholz found his alter ego "Ah Cama-Sotz" from Mexican mythology. His interest in the mythological
world is clearly understated with this interesting collaboration album. Well done! (NMP)
VITAL WEEKLY, number 462, week 7
An extensive masterpiece is the right description for this album. Dark in the best CMI industrial/ soundscape tradition, but then on the Belgian Spectre label. The combined forces of Ah Cama-Sotz and Iszoloscope is however better in writing tension filled songs than most of the CMI acts. Floating, almost choir like, voices are completed with frightening, cold, but well thought of, electro sounds. The result is a barren, demonic landscape with on the other hand a feeling of recognition and safety. Camanecroszcope does it tastefully. Every sound that is added during the song has a meaning and every song, although the atmosphere throughout the album stays the same, is built up nicely. Enjoy for almost one hour these quiet ambient/ soundscape songs. This is one of the best albums to get through the dark days of your life.
Beautevil / Gothtronic
La Belgique est sur tout les fronts ! Après avoir collaboré plusieurs fois avec ses compatriotes (Hybryds, This Morn'Omina, etc), Herman Klapholz d'Ah Cama-Sotz se dégote un binome en la personne du canadien Iszoloscope, officiant également dans un registre ambient electronique bien froide. Le résultat est vous vous en doutez, redoutable, réminiscent des travaux les plus glauques de Lustmord ou encore Lagowski (Legion, S.E.T.I.). Tous les titres ont pour thème commun les Grands Anciens cher à HP Lovecraft, l'un des plus grand écrivains de fantastique du XXème siècle. Si l'on traduit le titre, on entre déjà dans le vif du sujet : 'Echos de celui qui semble mort mais rêve encore'. La référence au grand Chtulhu ne vous ayant pas échappé, vous n'aurez plus qu'à trembler en écoutant ces plages dark, aux nappes froides et terrifiantes, agrémentées de voix désincarnées et de quelques basses officiant tels des tambours battant la conquête prochaine de notre planète par des entités peu recommandables (et parmis celles-là Yog-Sothoth, excusez du peu !). Voilà une musique digne des psaumes infernaux qui accompagnent ceux qui jadis possédèrent la Terre, et ont rendu fous plus d'un personnage lovecraftien...Et si cela continue nous aussi. 'Car Yog-Sothoth est la porte, il sait de quels temps éloignés viennent les Grands Anciens et vers lequels ils reviennent...' November 2003
Marco / Guts of Darkness.
Reviews \ Au Seuil du Néant
Still fairly fresh on the heels of seeing Iszoloscope's phenomenal live performance in Toronto, I am caught up in the Iszoloscope sound. His most recent live set has earned the title of the best live set I have ever seen. I can hardly describe it, and at the time, felt somewhat unprepared even listening to it, it was just that good (and more surprising, my brain was unaddled by drugs or alcohol at the time). This was just too good for my brain to react to, I remember thinking.
With "Au Seuil du Néant" Iszoloscope now takes his place at the top of the rhythmic noise genre, dark soundscapes underlying the unrelenting harsh beats, twisted evil sounds, and the odd sample finish the composition. The sound really finds its form in his ability to build and fall, the waves of noises that steadily intensify, something perfected in his live performance.
Of course, this CD is rhythmic noise through and through, and it comes at a point where there is somewhat a backlash against it, (not from those who like synthpop or EBM (i.e. those who never got into genre to begin with), but from those who consider themselves 'noise' fans). That this CD has evolved the genre to a new level may be lost on them; to those that give it a casual listen, it may sound like just another Rhythmic Noise release, and to the casual listener, maybe it is… but an exceedingly well crafted one.
The second CD, a remix CD suffers from the same two problems that affect most remix discs -- namely that there are too many remixes of the same songs, and that the remixers are all from the same general genre (all coming from the 'rhythmic noise' side of industrial), and so can offer up only 'limited' variations of the original.
The individual mixes are of the quality one would expect from an Ant-Zen release, and from the individual artists, such as Ah Cama-Sotz, Antigen Shift, and Imminent. There is also a very nice showing by the highly talented Ottawa contingent of upcoming noise artists, such as Liar's Rosebush, We v2, Pupil and 45 cep, and one from Toronto-based Mortmain, revealing that Yann, Iszoloscope's one man driving force, shares the feeling of community that has empowered the Ottawa region to create such a growing Industrial base.
Squid / T.I.K.
The first full-length album* from Iszoloscope has been two years in the making, and you can understand why when you listen to it. Ant-Zen remains one of the few labels that re-ignites industrial music and takes it forward into the future. Unlike dull EBM/Industrial acts, like Suicide Commando, who merely hark back to a dead era, Iszoloscope take the roots of industrial music and re-brand them with a blend of crushing distorted beats and futuristic, Bladerunner-style backdrops. However, there is also a message behind the madness, as au seuil du neant bravely takes on a musical portrait of the human mind, with all of its faults and unpredictability's, climaxing into an unleashing of explosive anger and rage. This is manifested through the seething cauldron of hissing synths and whispered vocals, which erupt into hammering beats and rhythms as the proverbial lid is blown from the pressure cooker. Some of the drum loops are literally brain juddering, firing along like unstoppable express trains and make for deafeningly compulsive listening. Dark and depressing though it is - CD2 re-interprets Iszoloscope's vision via remixes from a host of experimental artists, such as Imminent, Asche and Antigen Shift. 14 mixes in all, which perhaps provide a more subtle and varied angle to the blackness of the lengthy opening disc, although no less uncompromising. With the combined discs weighing at over 2½ hours in length, you're certainly not short changed, but this is strictly for hardcore industrial-heads only.
* Note that this information is inacurate, Au Seuil du Néant was actually the first full length album released by Iszoloscope on Ant-Zen Records.
Barcode webZine
Il faut reconnaître que ces derniers temps, la scène noise/indus semblait bien en perte de vitesse et que les récentes productions de labels comme Hands ou Ant-Zen, à force d'utiliser et réutiliser en permanence les même schémas et les même sonorités, commençaient à se ressembler toutes entre elles et annonçaient un avenir plutôt moribond du genre. C'est en quelque sorte en sauveur qu'arrive ce nouvel album du canadien Iszoloscope, qui, notons le tout de suite, en plus d'être une réussite, se paye le luxe d'être accompagné d'un excellent second disque qui rassemble pas moins de quatorze remixes réalisés par divers collègues comme Ah Cama-Sotz, Asche ou Imminent pour les plus connus. Digérant et synthétisant la plupart des tendances de la musique industrielle rythmique, intégrant, selon les morceaux, ambiances oppressantes, rythmiques furieuses drum'n bass ou saturées, le tout parsemé ci et là de quelques sonorités techno, chacun des neuf morceaux de cet album attire l'attention et les deux années de travail qui ont été nécessaires pour le réaliser se ressentent tant l'ensemble est abouti et tant son écoute attentive et à volume élevé met le cerveau de l'auditeur à rude épreuve. Rage, claustrophobie, angoisse, voilà le genre de sentiments que l'on peut éprouver face à ces constructions sinueuses et savantes, et c'est justement le but recherché par Iszoloscope puisque le principe de ce projet est d'étudier les déviances de l'esprit humain face aux effets de l'isolement. Et justement, être les cobayes de ce genre d'expérience, on ne demande que ça !
Renaud Martin / Prémonition
Following his striking debut on Spectre in 2001, there has been a tremendous buzz - some may say hype - following Iszoloscope. His combination of intense, isolated textures and cold, hard rhythms struck a nerve with many fans of rhythmic noise as it presented something more immense than they had ever encountered. The ambience and textures that so evocatively embraced the rhythms were brought to the fore on his next two releases for Spectre: the water based Aquifère and Antigen Shift collaboration, The Blood Dimmed Tide so it seems only logical that his next step should be a more rhythm orientated release. Indeed, that is what we have in the form of “Au Seuil de Néant”, his first release on the homestead of rhythmic noise, Ant-Zen.
Paraphrasing Frank Black from television’s Millennium, the liner notes tell us that “…I become the horror, I become what we know we can become only in our heart of darkness” and from the opening wails of the album’s first untitled track, this is the first thing that strikes us: just how incredibly dark and menacing the sounds are. Heavy, tectonic rumblings underpin swirling rushes of noise and resonant metallic squeals – it is nightmarish in its execution and provides an unsettling introduction to the album before the pulsing bass of No More Sighs introduces us to the main thrust of the album and a storm of distorted drums tears through the mix. The track then twists and turns around several variations on the main rhythm, with the undercurrent of ambience synchronously evolving to a stream of white noise. Like all the main pieces on the album, No More Sighs is a fairly lengthy piece, clocking in at a shade over eight minutes. While this does lend a certain air of grandeur to the tracks, depending on my state of mind, I can also find it very irritating, as there often aren’t enough variations to warrant the excessive length.
After another brief interlude, the album jumps, somewhat abruptly, to Le Dénominateur Commun. This shows just how long this album has been in production, as this track appeared on the “Maschinenfest 2001” compilation, which was released at roughly the same time as “Coagulating Wreckage”. Indeed, one of the weaknesses of this album is the fact that many of the tracks have been leaked elsewhere before: -28°c and Falling appeared on “Saturation Bombing”; Skotophobique on “Subsnow 02” and The Apocryphal Market on “Words, Becoming vol.1”. As such, these tracks, for me, take a back seat to the pieces that are new to me and which, in my opinion, far outweigh the other tracks in terms of quality. Tracks such as 32 Hours of Eternity and Au Seuil de Néant take the established Iszoloscope formulae and add a healthy dose of glitch and IDM structures to the tracks. This gives them an extra dimension of intensity beyond mere pounding beats, a dimension that is able to reach our mind, rather than just our base, animalistic urges.
Iszoloscope has again produced a very exceptional release with “Au Seuil de Néant”. It has established a new standard for rhythmic noise that is moving gradually away from the techno influences of early 00s and into a new realm of oppressive soundscapes and otherworldly noises. The only problem I can forsee for this young act is managing to excel this album with his subsequent releases. Once again to paraphrase Millennium: it’s his gift – it’s his curse.
Gavin Lees / Immanence
Reviews \ Tarmvred & Iszoloscope do America
Apparently you can do great stuff in America. I wasn't too sure about this before, but now I'm convinced. This single was specially released for Tarmvred and Iszoloscope's USA tour which took place in April earlier this year. I think it's great when bands put special releases together for their tours and stuff like that. It's even greater when bands do it together.
The three track single consists of one song each of the bands, and one song wherethey put their brains together. It all kicks off with Tarmvred and their "Fixtur Tre", and I must admit that I took an extra look at the cover when I heard this one, I also had to make sure that I'd put the right CD in the stereo. And why you might wonder, well "Fixtur Tre" sounds almost exactly like something from Somatic Respones, and to be even more precise, from their "Dying Language" album. But when I think about it, that's a very nice compliment for Tarmvred, as you could have much worse influences. Also, keep in mind that this is not a total rip-off, the song just happens to have that exact sound which makes me think of Somatic Respones.
As with Tarmvred, Iszoloscope never lets me down, they haven't done so yet anyway. "Au Seoul Du Néant", which is Iszoloscope's contribution to the single, is a fast, rhythmic energy-driven, almost gabber-like piece, which ironically sounds a lot more like Tarmvred than Tarmvred does on this release. Those of you who are good at math, have already realised that this leaves us with the last track; the collaboration between the two artists, and the result is a track called "A Sovereign Reflexion". It starts out kind of mellow with an ambient feel, but just as I start to wonder if something exiting will happen soon, the track takes off, and it sounds almost like you would expect when two artists like these get together. Its sound is a lot like the Iszoloscope track, but harder and somewhat faster, with nice breaks.
This is definitely a single which leaves me wanting more. It's really a pity that I don't live in the States and could have had the opportunity to see this live. I can only hope that Tarmvred takes Iszoloscope to my neighbourhood the next time around.
Mattias Andersson / Moving Hands Music Magazine
Reviews \ Aquifère & Coagulating Wreckage
I’m pretty sure (or at least that’s my hope) that almost every reader of SDC out there is aware of how poorly rhythm and our ‘zine fit together, so I bet some of you are certainly confused after seeing a new review of the popular Canada-based Yann Faussurier’s project. And I must confess that was my thought prior to have heard what the band really supplies within its CD’s, far more than what my initial prejudices let me think in the past.
So the best way of discovering what’s inside is starting from the beginning, and ‘Coagulating Wreckage’ is certainly the place to be then. The debut than the Belgian Spectre label released two years back, providing almost an hour and a quarter of diversity through noise in several forms, is introduced by an environmental piece with plenty of reverberated metallic sounds, percussive explosions fading in and out, and a ritualistic drumming during the second part. The second track, ‘Prima Momentum’ has some movie samples, a distorted blurred voice and a repetitive Death Industrial feeling thanks to an insistent looped sample and a static synth line. Anyway, as it happens with every Iszoloscope composition, the piece shows a brilliantly planned structure that avoids whatever sensation of immobility. And the same happens to the album as a whole, so passed the introductory phase, it’s time for some action now, and ‘Phobos II’ commences with one of those fat beating basses blended with mysterious scrapping intermissions preventing it from being ‘just another danceable stupidity’. ‘Subterra Humidor’ is, as its title makes you think, a cavernous passage, monstrous filtered voices included, with the usual heavy detail. And titles keep on being extremely eloquent, since what can you expect from ‘Intermitent Cycles’ other than a hard pulsating, vibrating attack?
Going further, ‘Winds Of Minos Linea’ brings the mood back to more sombre stormy fields again, full of industrial screeches and shrieks, increasing intensity towards its development with a remarkable climatic noisy tempest in the end. So after a calmed one… yes, another percussive track: ‘Deimos II’ and its heart-beating horror of screams and tension. This one evolves fantastically tuning into a chaotic display of fuzzy fast outbursts. ‘Crimson Road’ commences with a cliché factory and a sampled voice that will appear periodically along the song, which changes rapidly and becomes one of the catchiest, straight edge ones. Er… I confess I’m almost headbanging now, really. Then ‘Purge’ commences as an environmental piece, but no, not at all… This is again direct and crushing ‘up-speeded’ tempo, even if with an obscure background, but forget the deeper meditative elaboration of the early tracks here, this is a completely different approach, although we can appreciate a wide range of alternation in the beats. And finally, ‘Iszoloscope (tome un)’ brings back all the rest my brain was needing… Gregorian chants, a Dark Ambient repetitive keyboard and some scrapping low wave. But hey, there’s a relatively hidden track here! Relatively because it’s listed in the CD as track #11, however it appears in the 10th one some seconds after it has ended. Well, ‘Contemplating Paranoia & The Morning After’ is its name, and presents a relaxed long Ambient piece, whose cold is diminished by the granular background. Therefore, ‘Coagulating Wreckage’ provides more space for atmosphere than for a disco session, even if eventually both sides seem to be more or less balanced contemplating the full release as a whole.
But this peaceful trend goes even further with its follower, ‘Aquifère’, still on Spectre, hence in its acclaimed Nautilus series, focused into sub-aquatic scenarios and sonorities: a topic that permits a more rigid focal point into a meditative perspective. So Mr Faussurier decides to set the temper with ‘Feeding Earth’s Blood Stream’ and its humid samples: dropping water, stormy clouds, rainy sounds, etc., it all combined with some pounding ritualistic accompaniments low in the mix. ‘Aquifère Karstique’ is subtle, with more pulsating bass and droning crunchy resonances, all of them apparently taken from ‘wet’ sources. ‘Phreatobite’ and its keyboard cold melodies sound in a traditional Ambient vein, highly electronic. An obviously, ‘Subterranea’ is a shady and low bleakness where despite all its changes, including samples et all, we can perceive that the artist has tried a more restrained strategy this time, leaving more space for the pieces to breath, not so dense as in his debut. The fifth cut is ‘Aquifère Stratifié’, which follows the already referred scheme of previous pieces of the disc: windy drones, water samples, deep mantra-like bumps and a good reverb plug-in. And here we find the proof of a new feature of the CD when compared with the previous one, since this is less disperse, more cohesive and homogeneous, making it loose some of its initial charming heterodox character, but producing a more solid work in total.
‘Holokarst’ is the briefest cut, almost an interlude: a nice mix of several droning timbres and rain, opening for ‘Hypogeum’: conversely the longest one with its more than 11 minutes and where we can find once more the most remarkable elements of the recording, although development plays an essential role here due to the significant length. Its advance is fairly fluid, ranging from an initial Isolationism to a tense pulsating background of speedy gloomy beats still immersed in the profundities of the general tone. But this is not enough, and the second instalment of the composition, almost as long as the first one, although illustrating a different plan, is more centred into the crawling deep ambiances with an almost constant ultra-low wave saturating your speakers, and with more participation of the rainy recordings. Surprisingly this is supposed to be composed by a project called Fivewaysfromsunday, and not by Iszoloscope (?), the same that happens to ‘Travertine’, an electronic dreamy melodic flowing short piece; but both may have been signed by Faussurier owing to their sound. Nevertheless the X-files don’t stop here, because after the tracklist has ended, we find a mysterious couple of untitled pieces, being the first one just a water recording with a discrete deep synth line. After 3 minutes of silence, the last cut of the CD is a really interesting blend of metallic echoed percussions and gloomy keyboards with a certain psychedelic electronic touch, lasting for almost 8 minutes.
So comparatively, the progression between both albums is fairly notable, another virtue of the artist, whom not only proves how wrong the attempts of classifying his records within a stagnated category are: the same seems to happen with his entire career even if stiff regarding just a small amount of releases until now.
In the end, and after the huge bunch of tracks and conclusions already brought in the lines above, I would conclude simply recommending the North-American act even for the sceptical ones if you’re into dark electronic music in general; and mainly in its most atmospheric face, be it Dark Ambient, Death Industrial or, of course, Rhythm & Noise, albeit you’re not going to find that much of it here after all. I would compare this part of the Iszoloscope phenomenon with what more or less happens to Ah Cama-Sotz, acclaimed by the more technoid part of the scene, while by its murky branch as well; taking into account that both are quite different proposals though. Anyway, the fans of Noise may be clearly disappointed, be it textural Ambient or Japanoise, and the same goes for the ‘Punkiest’ side of P.E.; so beware, we’re not saying this is for every of our readers. But in any case, if you’re looking for well made and always entertaining Industrial, this is definitively the choice.
Marcos Alcocer / Seküencias De Culto
Reviews \ Aquifère
After creating something of a stir last year with his debut release, “Coagulating Wreckage” on the Belgian Spectre label, Iszoloscope (aka. Yann Faussurier) is back with a new full-length album. This time released on Spectre’s conceptual imprint, Nautilus, “Aquifère” showcases a radically different side to this act. Like all Nautilus releases, it is based around the theme of water or, to be more specific, groundwater as it flows through aquifers. These eroded layers of sedimentary rock are capable of supporting small, unique species called phreatobites who have evolved in the darkness and developed incredibly acute hearing which they rely on to survive. “Aquifère” is a journey inside their world of pure organic sound.
The sounds on the album are all based upon field recordings made by Iszoloscope in his native Canada, some of which are left dry and untreated, while others are wet (no pun intended) with effects, distorting them beyond all recognition into bass heavy, tectonic drones or subdued, elemental beats.
“Aquifère” begins with the hypnotic sounds of dripping underground caverns, which are slowly twisted and contorted to form an atmospheric hum underscored by a dull, throbbing beat. From these opening few minutes, it is evident that Iszoloscope is trying to bring a musical element back into sample-collages, steering away from mere arrangement of found sounds, which can often end up sounding like someone walking around with a tape recorder.
The album progresses in a similar manner to the opening piece, creating tonal soundscapes and rhythms from very basic sounds, yet always retaining that raw element to create a greater sense of depth. This also seems to be due to the album’s implicit theme about the importance and centrality of water. For instance, the first track is named, “Feeding Earth’s Blood Stream”, a title that evokes the primacy of water in our life; water is all around us and even a part of us. So, through its use of water “Aquifère” brings music closer to the natural world and to ourselves through the use of technology: eroding the age-old dichotomy between nature and machine.
Indeed, “harmonious” would be a good way to describe the overall feel and flow of the album. It remains relaxed throughout, and despite its many layers and textures, nothing ever feels out of place or jarring. It is a fantastic listening experience, especially when heard through headphones in the dark, being able to totally immerse oneself in its underground world.
PS: For an uninterrupted listen, it is advisable not to experience “Aquifère” on a full bladder.
Gavin Lees / Immanence
Reviews \ The Blood Dimmed Tide
Iszoloscope and Antigen Shift: the siamese twins of Ottawa's rhythmic noise scene. The first has released his first album on Spectre last year and is coming up with a new one, the second will have a CD on Frozen Empire Media very soon, and both spend their time making Canadians jump like there was no tomorrow. Who will be surprised to see that the two have now given birth to a small child together, in the form of a 3" CD?
Firs track: the couple is at it, but they don't last long, for a track written together that plays for just a little bit than 2 minutes, of ambient soundscapes and samples. More than a real piece, here is an introduction to the dark and stomping things that is this ep. Then comes Antigen Shift solo. His track sounds from far away like a collage of different rhythms and soundscapes, with an emphasis on almost broken, interesting rhythms (think of Tarmvred's beats). The piece builds up quite fast, reaching a point where the rhythmic patterns flow quite easily, but never become extremely heavy. All in all, a nice track, which manage not to fall into being just straight distorted beats.
It is then Iszoloscope's turn to play with himself, with a track that starts quite calm, as usual, but get stomping and heavy quite fast. The sound is ultra distorted and heavy in the bass (making me think that it was recorded so loud that it is cropped and CD, but would be devastating live). The beat is linear and simple, but deadly efficient and shows well what Iszoloscope can sound like in concert. It is a very good thing however that the track is long and changing, giving to the listener more than just a stomping rhythm to enjoy at home.
The Terrance and Phillips of noise come up here with a pretty tasty display of rough love, where the focus is more on the beat than on the foreplay. Heavy and distorted, this CD brings us back to the good old (already) day of classic rhythmic noise, and reminds why one can be so enthusiastic about this sound. Well done, gentlemen. But who is the mother?
Nicholas / Recycle Your Ears
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
- W.B. Yeats - “The Second Coming”
Yeats' poem expressed his sense of the dissolution of the civilisation of his time; a direct response to the Russian revolution of 1917 when the governmental and social systems of the world seemed to be undergoing profound convulsions, challenging the order of things that be. Eighty-five years later, the world again appears to be experiencing similar convulsions, shaking the foundations of conventional order. Indeed, this poem has been appropriated by Israeli Jews as a metaphor for the current conflict in their country with its suicide bombings, whipping up the impressionable population into a homicidal frenzy.
Taking our cultural epoch and this inspirational verse as their cue, Iszoloscope and Antigen Shift have created a nightmarish work of bleak, ambient isolation and powerful, intricate beats. As opposed to the usual split-releases “The Blood Dimmed” tide contains an actual collaboration between the two artists entitled “All Started with the Second Death” which serves as the opener for this 3” CD.
A haunting voice recites an apocalyptic contortion of Yeats’ original lines, erasing their original redemptive overtones: a “Second Death” as opposed to a “Second Coming”, eradicating the former vision of a universal religion overcoming the ancient gods of nations and tribes. No pope, priest, no clergy or Guide of fame or humility can, in this age, pretend to the power to keep the dogs of war at bay. The faithful each invoke their gods as they always have. Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Jews slaughter each other by day and smile into the world's cameras in the evening. The sons and daughters of churchgoers, fresh from child prayers and sweet singing in the choir, are raped or shot in the streets. "I want to see you dance / from the blood-dimmed tide / when the ceremony of innocences is drowned. / This is the second death."
From here we are submerged into a pool of rich, liquid ambient tones with obscure, processed sound flittering from channel to channel while a heavily subdued bassdrum thuds menacingly in the background. It is a truly unnerving start to the EP, presenting a catastrophic vision of the fallen, post-millennial world and sets the tone perfectly for the segue into the second track, Antigen Shift’s “It Drowned the Ceremony of Innocences”.
His composition evolves from the ambience of the previous track into his familiar sound of broken beats and walls of noise. In the past I have found his work to be slightly too harsh for my tastes, but on this release, he appears to be concentrating on atmospherics, building layers of sound in a distorted manner, but never actually bursting into all-out noise which I find to be much more effective than some of his other pieces. After a fashion, the track collapses down to a very thin synthetic layer with a fine synth melody floating over the top, this oasis of calm lasts only a few seconds before the bassdrum motif is brought back into the mix and the piece escalates into a frenzy of dance rhythms and harsh stabs of noise. Never one to remain stagnant, though, we soon find Antigen Shift fracturing the track back down to thick textures and the synthetic refrain while, once more, the same voice chants its distressing mantra. The beats then are brought back into prominence one final time before the track dissipates to a cold air of dead machinery.
Without any time to recover from this first dizzying onslaught, we are plunged into Iszoloscope’s apocalyptic vision, “Then Came the Blood-Dimmed Tide”. Distorted drones and effected cymbals overture the piece before a lingering, minor pad chord drifts into the mix, offset by rough samples of scraping guitar strings which build an almost mechanical rhythm into the track prior to its explosion into Iszoloscope’s trademark industrial strength beats. Maintaining the ambience of the beginning of the piece, he brings an added dimension to his work that elevates it above mere dancefloor music into a more reflective and intelligent realm of composition.
Like Antigen Shift, Iszoloscope never lets his work get stuck in a groove and constantly evolves the soundscapes and polyrhythms to perpetually challenge and excite the listener. Again, the now all-too familiar voice creeps into our ears, repeating, “this is the second death”, a reminder that in our modern world of technology we have killed our gods and recreated ourselves in our own image. And our image has not changed that much since whenever it first occurred to us to have one. We human beings starve each other, oppress each other, and kill each other on the ground of our outworn religions, our peep-hole-narrow vision of how things are.
The two artists have not only produced a masterwork of industrial rhythmic textures on “The Blood-Dimmed Tide”, but have also created a very poignant, political and philosophical statement about our modern world-view; confronting us with our own fragility and the inherent dichotomy of the destructiveness contained within it.
If “the centre cannot hold” by the precepts of faith, will it hold by government? Will the leaders of states and nations call us back to the guiding voice of virtue and the good? It is hard to imagine so when presented with this outlandish vision of the horrors of our world. At the end of its 21 minutes, we are left feeling totally drained of all hope for humanity, praying for our merciful death in the blood-dimmed tide.
A typically brilliant and frightening release on Spectre from these two atypically brilliant and frightening artists.
Gavin Lees / Immanence
Reviews \ Coagulating Wreckage
"Coagulating Wreckage" is the debut release by the Canadian Iszoloscope, marking the first CD to come from Spectre. Over the course of its 11 tracks this album takes in a variety of styles from the darkly atmospheric through crunchy rhythms to harsh sounds bordering on unleashed noise. Opening with the drawn out atmospheres and deep slow rhythm of the title track, followed by the wet repetition of glitch cycles against deep bass and sampled voices chattering in "Prima Momentum". "Phobos II" extends rumbles flashing pulsed beat work, stepping up the feel of the album with noise tinged crunch ridden rhythms - stark and solid. Filled with vibrating bass atmospherics and the swirl of dark ambience "Subterra Humidor" ticks away. "Intermittent Cycles" continues the ambience, picking up with a rattle of beats and bass thumps giving a dance floor potential. The "Winds Of Minas Linea" strain against bass packed drones, grinding and penetrating with a noise edge. Slow pulses and rhythmic noise cut through the grit of crackled beats and cries from "Deimos II". "Purge" continues the noise rhythms, spin a windswept technoid. The track "Iszoloscope (Tomes Un)" returns to atmospheric territory, with low vocal moans and a creaking, slow mood. "Coagulating Wreckage" is very much a contemporary release, fitting well in the current scene.
Remote:Induction
After almost a year without a release, Spectre is back with the debut album from the eastern Canada one man act Iszoloscope. As you get this CD, its deep red and black sleeve evokes something dark, and you expect some kind of dark industrial (all the more on Spectre). Then, the opening title track gets quickly noisy and rhythmic enough to make you think this is rhythmic noise. But as you progress through the 11 tracks of this long album, you understand that Iszoloscope is none and both of these styles. Gloomy and depressed, but often percussive and intense, this is an album that has its roots in death industrial, in rhythmic noise, and even in some power electronics.
The common denominator of Iszoloscope's tracks on this CD is their low, dark tone that projects a dim light over the whole album. May it be the echoed noises, the obscure voices and choirs or the generally sad lines, "Coagulating wreckage" is not a CD that will make you smile. About half the CD is made of arhythmic, ambient passages in which religious atmospheres and an ever present suffocating layer of noise are put together, producing something that might remind of some of the calmest Ah Cama-Sotz works. The mood is sacred, but all the tracks have an industrial, "technological" feeling, expressed by small beats and rumbling distortion.
Then come of course the more rhythmic and heavy tracks. Straight rhythmic noise in their patterns, they contain a high level of noise and are rather intense in their sound. Not always original in their structure, these violent noisy but still danceable tracks will very probably fit extremely well in any DJ set of the genre. Somewhere between the accurate club feeling of Converter,("Intermitent Cycles") the noise level of Imminent ("Crimson Road"), but with somewhat darker sounds, these are good tracks that focus more on the efficiency than on the innovation, but which should appeal to a wide audience of club goers.
With its dark mood and its dense layering of noise, "Coagulating wreckage" is CD whose name fits his music, and which is a well done mix between the more typical sound of Spectre and uppaced, rhythmic material. Still rather accessible, this is a long album that is very enjoyable, and I can imagine it having some success among people into the darkest end of "power noise".
Nicholas / Recycle Your Ears
Nouvellement signé chez Spectre (label belge), le projet de Yann Faussurier a déjà fait des émules en ouverture cette année du Maschinenfest.
Venu du Canada, ce projet se propose d'expérimenter des sonorités proches de certains produits Cold Meat Industry ou certaines dès premières productions Ant-Zen. D'une maturité étonnante, ce jeune projet proposeici une recherche musicale plus que passionnante, 11 morceaux industriels, froids & très "dark", faits entre Octobre 99 & janvier 2001. Plus, pour l'édition limitée, un 45 t. 2 titres plus récent. Le tout dans un packaging a faire pâlir Ant-zen ou hands. Un album qui saura sûrement plaire aux fans de ce type de sons. Après Vromb & Orphx voici Iszoloscope, impossible de ne pas reconnaître les nombreuses qualités qu'ont nos amis canadiens.
Recommandé.
D.Key / Cesium Impact
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