Decondition - Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin [Force Majeure - 2014]French imprint, Force Majeure, presents Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin, the latest offering by Finnish industrial noise/power electronics artist Decondition. This full-length CD represents the first release from this project since 2006’s The Universal Nothingness cassette on Freak Animal. What accounts for project runner Arttu Laine’s long slumber is not known to me, but I can say unequivocally that he must have been saving up his artistic ideas, because Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin is quite the beast of a sophmore effort. Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin comes housed in a tri-fold, full-color digipak. Photos of industrial machinery and a seemingly abandoned factory seem fairly par for the course for this genre, though it seems to work pretty well. While I can only hypothesize Laine’s recording methods and sound sources, but judging from the packaging’s aesthetic, I gather a fair amount of industrial field recordings were utilized. Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin offers 13 tracks of punishing industrial noise based on loops and repetitive sounds. Most tracks end similarly to how they begin, often employing see saw patterns of blasting static noise, field recordings, metal abuse, and even synth based sounds. While this fetid stew of harsh elements might sound like the makings of a maelstrom of cacophonous noise, quite a few of the tracks have strangely a rhythmic quality to them. Of course I’d be remiss to not mention the raspy, delayed vocals that populate most of the tracks. Some standout tracks include: “Epätoivon Riivaamat Ajatukset,” which sounds akin to a Trepaneringsritualen piece, “Dark Clouds Over My Innerlandscape,” which features and interplay of looping deathray blasts and junk metal abuse, and “Oudot Tuntemukset Virtaavat Kehollani,” which almost sounds like bending guitar distortion and feedback. Also of interest are the tracks “Aistiharhojen Luoma Todellisuus (Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin)” and “Deep Sleep In My Dreams,” which act as the album’s outliers. The 2 final tracks are dense slabs of dark, atmospheric drone. The former sounding like monastic chanting reverberating through a cave and the latter a continuous drone of ominous ambience. Think less Con-Dom, more Eraserhead soundscapes. Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin is a solid collision of focused sounds and harsh p.e.vocal stylings. I hope Laine doesn’t lapse into another extended slumber because I’d like to hear more from this project in the not so distant future. Hal Harmon
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