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REVIEWS
Buy this album from CD Baby
Ancients
Waiting for Gira
Friends of Father
Bone Music
International Dark Skies
No Exit
Number Nine
Just
Epilogue
Friends of Father (Tonikom Remix)
Bone Music (Antigen Shift Remix)
Number Nine (Synapscape Remix)
Urusai - Learned Helplessness (Destroy and Contaminate Mix by Ad*ver*sary)
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Ad·ver·sary
Bone Music
Tympanik Audio
Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor
Ambient textures perturbed by pounding crackles and drumbeats, Ad·ver·sary's music is an experience of simultaneous ferocity and tranquility.
Canada's Ad·ver·sary may not be too well-known in the States, though from the sound of Bone Music, he is poised to join in the ranks of such experimental industrial artists as Antigen Shift or Iszoloscope. As the brainchild of Jairus Khan, Ad·ver·sary's music combines the distorted beats of power noise with melodic arrangements and experimental sound design, creating a shimmering mix of tranquility and ferocity. Originally conceived under the title of International Dark Skies, Bone Music has been three years in the making, finally finding its home on Tympanik Audio in conjunction with Glitch Mode Recordings, featuring new tracks and remixes to make Ad·ver·sary's debut all the more intriguing.
One need only listen to "Friends of Father" for proof of this artist's skill; with an ambient piano loop reminiscent of Boyd Rice's NON, and leading into a dark cavern of pounding beats and minor-chord drones, this track simultaneously lulls and agitates, preparing the listener for the veritable cacophony of styles and atmospheres present on the rest of the album. "International Dark Skies" is little more than some deep bass pads amidst a subdued flurry of tribal drum patterns, while the title track is an upbeat dance number with trancelike ambient textures in the vein of early Autechre. Other tracks like the foreboding "No Exit," with its screeching percussive attacks and bass loop, and "Number Nine," which sounds like a descent into a subterranean tomb with subtle moans in the background for good measure, both build up gradually to a climactic array of tense industrial noise. The opening track "Ancients" begins with a dim swell of pads that eventually give way to a crescendo of frenetic breakbeats and sonic screeches, like being trapped on a runaway train racing perilously close to a devastating collision that comes in a resurgence of pads, though hardly the explosion one would expect. One of the more noteworthy tracks is "Waiting for Gira," a brief but organic array of tribal drum patterns, thrumming bass, and noise-drenched guitars that build in tension only to end a little too suddenly. Tranquil washes of airy synths start "Just (Spooks)" off calmly enough, but once the pulsating electro beat comes in, we're back on the dance floor with skittering samples and nice layers of glitch-laden electronics. A series of remixes close the album out as Tonikom offers their take on "Friends of Father," while Antigen Shift's remix of "Bone Music" is slightly more electronic in its percussive patterns than the original.
Bone Music is a rather impressive outing for Jairus Khan, proving that he has the chops to become a hero in the industrial music scene. With a hearty helping of melody and thoughtful arrangement coupled with a command of experimental noise and sound manipulation, Ad·ver·sary finds a balance between the brutal and the beautiful, sometimes unsettling and sometimes soothing, while still maintaining its own personality in the wake of a number of similar artists. Mastered by Iszoloscope's Yann Faussurier, it may not be the most perfect release in the field of experimental electronic or industrial music, but Bone Music is certainly one fine collection of innovative music.
One need only listen to "Friends of Father" for proof of this artist's skill; with an ambient piano loop reminiscent of Boyd Rice's NON, and leading into a dark cavern of pounding beats and minor-chord drones, this track simultaneously lulls and agitates, preparing the listener for the veritable cacophony of styles and atmospheres present on the rest of the album. "International Dark Skies" is little more than some deep bass pads amidst a subdued flurry of tribal drum patterns, while the title track is an upbeat dance number with trancelike ambient textures in the vein of early Autechre. Other tracks like the foreboding "No Exit," with its screeching percussive attacks and bass loop, and "Number Nine," which sounds like a descent into a subterranean tomb with subtle moans in the background for good measure, both build up gradually to a climactic array of tense industrial noise. The opening track "Ancients" begins with a dim swell of pads that eventually give way to a crescendo of frenetic breakbeats and sonic screeches, like being trapped on a runaway train racing perilously close to a devastating collision that comes in a resurgence of pads, though hardly the explosion one would expect. One of the more noteworthy tracks is "Waiting for Gira," a brief but organic array of tribal drum patterns, thrumming bass, and noise-drenched guitars that build in tension only to end a little too suddenly. Tranquil washes of airy synths start "Just (Spooks)" off calmly enough, but once the pulsating electro beat comes in, we're back on the dance floor with skittering samples and nice layers of glitch-laden electronics. A series of remixes close the album out as Tonikom offers their take on "Friends of Father," while Antigen Shift's remix of "Bone Music" is slightly more electronic in its percussive patterns than the original.
Bone Music is a rather impressive outing for Jairus Khan, proving that he has the chops to become a hero in the industrial music scene. With a hearty helping of melody and thoughtful arrangement coupled with a command of experimental noise and sound manipulation, Ad·ver·sary finds a balance between the brutal and the beautiful, sometimes unsettling and sometimes soothing, while still maintaining its own personality in the wake of a number of similar artists. Mastered by Iszoloscope's Yann Faussurier, it may not be the most perfect release in the field of experimental electronic or industrial music, but Bone Music is certainly one fine collection of innovative music.
