Wednesday, November 9, 2011

ECHANCRURE - Paysage Octobre CD review


ECHANCRURE - Paysage Octobre CD
Self Released
Genre: Avant-Garde/Experimental
Rating: 3/5

This came in for review back in October unfortunately because of circumstances beyond my control I'm finally checking it out now. Ironically the titled translates in English as 'Landscape October' although after listening to it the specific month doesn't really come to mind but a musical landscape of traitorous terrain it certainly is. This is not my first encounter with the mysterious French one man act ECHANCRURE (aka: the multi instrumentalist/vocalist A or Antoine). A few months back I had the pleasure of reviewing a split release featuring one cut each from ECHANCRURE and a Spanish one man act ATRABILIS. I believe the contribution by ECHANCRURE from that split was less then ten minutes in length. It certainly wasn't enough to prepare me for almost forty minutes of this one.

When it comes to avant-garde or experimental sounds I try to look for some type of symbolism within to grasp hold of. On Paysage Octobre that symbolism is a grotesque nightmarish atmosphere which for the most part unfolds like a pop up book of the bizarre. The eight passages (designated as "sans titre" followed by a number which I think means "without status") on here, two of which are instrumentals, consist of for starters a melancholic felt pattern which slowly turns to horrific doom laden misery. The overall concept is quite ambient with snippets of dark industrial stabbings. Even the piano playing and what sounds like a violin has a sense of the macabre which can be disheartening if not down right chilling. The vocals, of what few there are, come by way of spoken word samples to whispers and a few screams. This is quite possible the most unsettling thing I've heard this year.


Official: http://echancrure.franceserv.com/


Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/echancrure


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