Jørn Stubberud AKA Necrobutcher & André Bratten, Photo by Joakim Haugland
Silvester by André Bratten
In 1987 Norwegian band Mayhem released their debut EP Deathcrush, a deliberately abrasive low-fi amalgam of lyrical brutality and necromantic Sturm und Drang that is arguably the most influential 18 minutes in the black metal pantheon despite, or perhaps because of, the extramural activities of some of its members. That tale of Satanism, suicide, murder, church arson, totalitarian death cult obsessions and more has been told many times so we won’t dwell on the details here. Deathcrush is also notable for its opening “Silvester Anfang” (“New Years Eve”) a short percussion track that sounds like a marching band fed through a two-bit video game and was written by German electronic composer and Kluster founder Conrad Schnitzler who gave the piece to Mayhem’s guitarist Euronymous after he turned up at Schnitzler’s house asking for an intro for the record. It gives little clue of what is to follow.
Electronic producer André Bratten, born in Oslo in 1987, is known for a slippery, woozy brand of techno pitched between Boards Of Canada and Drexciya. He credits Mayhem co-founder Jørn Stubberud AKA Necrobutcher for introducing him to the story of Euronymous and Schnitzler and encouraging to him to remix the track. The result is Silvester on which Bratten brings together elements of the Norwegian metal underground and Schnitzler’s electronic experiments into a monolith of tectonic ambience. Bratten’s deconstruction stretches “Silvester Anfang” to over 18 minutes, slowing the beat and submerging it in an obsidian shroud of reverb and echo. It is crushingly, relentlessly heavy. Earth pressing on your chest heavy, closer to Deathprod’s audio virus experiments than black metal. The commonality between Norway’s underground ambient artists, the metal scene and even the Supersilent’s improvised jazz drones become clear as Bratten’s project unfolds.
The first of two lengthy untitled tracks lightens the load, glitchy beats like ice splitting in a glacier from beneath which a spectral choir implores deliverance from the clutches of the profane. In the next we hear bells that issue not from a steeple but a tumbrel, a gnawing squeak could be a wheel turning or the wheedling insistence of the corpse collector. Dissonance builds, the damned stake their claim, dominate the aural space, the pitch and volume intensifies to breaking point, the wave crashes against the shore and then the choir, pure, transcendent, cleanses the ghosts of Mayhem’s brutalism.
In Bratten’s reimaging the echoes and shadows of Mayhem’s legacy create something in which the tropes of black metal are completely sublimated within a sound that is as far from the source material as it is close to its nihilist heart. Taking inspiration from Schnitzler’s restlessly experimental mindset Bratten demonstrates how to step back from the abyss and express the terrible beauty and despair of facing the unknowable. Mayhem continue to open their shows with “Silvester Anfang.”
Another year, another big fat list! Hello to all, and welcome to INAUDIBLE’s 11th annual end of year list extravaganza!
Without further ado, in stunning alphabetical order!
INAUDIBLE’S FAVE RECORDS OF 2019
Bibio – Ribbons (Warp Records)
Stephen Wilkinson’s Bibioproject has been shape-shifting for a decade now – from folktronica to glitch hop to yacht rock to ambient drone, with many other…
CLUB NUIT: DJing in Nantes 22. March @ le lieu unique w/ Andre Bratten and Discolowcost.
Djing this Friday 22nd March at CLUB NUIT, le lieu unique w/ Andre Bratten and Discolowcost !
Doors 2200 // Free Entry!
le lieu unique, 2 Quai Ferdinand Favre, 44013 Nantes, France
Info:
Depuis 2012, les soirées « Club Nuit » proposent une programmation d’artistes confirmés ou en devenir qui bouscule le dancefloor : c’est LE rendez-vous club du bar du lieu unique. Cette saison, Discolowcost signera chaque rendez-vous de sa patte de programmateur et Dj éclairé, en collaboration avec le lieu unique.
Label Showcase 22: Correspondant By: Steve Rickinson - Deep House Amsterdam Correspondant is Jennifer Cardini musical enterprise, established in 2011 in conjunction with worldwide distributor, Kompakt Records. Cardini launched Correspondant as an extension of her longtime residency at Paris’ Rex Club. Now, the Cologne-based label has issued 36 EPs and three... http://www.deephouseamsterdam.com/london/label-showcase-22-correspondant-records/ #AndreBratten, #AndrewWeatherall, #Bootleg, #Cologne, #CorrespondantMusic, #Exclusive, #Fabric, #JaviRedondo, #JenniferCardini, #KompaktRecords, #LabelShowcase, #ManPower, #Mixtape, #PanoramaBar, #RexClub, #RomanFlügel
‘Cascade of Events’: Andre Bratten, featuring Susanne Fundfor.
A favourite find for me in April, here (link below) we have talented Norwegian composer Andre Bratten and his looming, brooding soundscape 'Cascade of Events', perfectly offset by the vocals of Susanne Sundfor. This track is from the recent album ‘Gode’. There’s no profound lyrical content, but that’s not really the point. The secret to this song’s appeal is the contrast between Bratten’s swelling, threatening analog synths and Sundfor’s plaintive vocals. The swelling tension of the industrial growls and transformer-type whines constantly threaten the singing, but never quite win out. The result is a tense, edge-of-your seat experience. Recommended.
