ARTIST:
> KRV
ALBUM:
> Void
GENRE:
> Noise / Drone
PUBLISHER:
> Witte Dood
YEAR:
> 2009
FORMAT:
> 3" CDR
TOTAL PLAYTIME:
> 11:05
[01]Void
AUTHOR:
> M
Well this will certainly clean one's ears. The Italian KRV present us with eleven minutes of light, noise-based drone; the word 'light' in this case means that even the lowest sounds are not that low, and that the higher sounds are really dominant. It's surprising that the soundscape isn't thin at all despite of the dominating high-end.
Despite the even earachy sounds used, the record is a surprisingly soothing listening experience - at least after getting used to the soundscape - as there are no sudden twists and most of the sounds are quite soft-edged. The soundscape's backbone is formed by a constant low drone with little variation, and on top of it there's laid a variety of simplistic and droning high sounds (some of which progress so that their volume "waves" between silence and high volumes, with the sounds having very little other changes). Some sound even ethereal, but the end product is still more towards noise than ambient. It could be said that the song is inspired by space ambient due to some used (distorted and flanged) sounds.
It sounds as this song was composed through mindflow and improvisation, but it sounds logical nonetheless; the end result is both noisy and peaceful, and the sounds match together really well, which gives me the image that there's been some good pre-planning and experimenting before the actual recording process. This record is not mindblowing due to the fact that the used sounds are not too special: although they're enjoyable, they're occasionally too one-dimensional, one could say even clinical. I think that the track would've also benefited from a less improvised-sounding structure, as now it feels that some sounds, fades, flangs etc. are just the outcome of some tinkering.The most space ambient-like flangs and sounds in the end of the song could've been executed way better, as now they sound too plastic and lame. For me, they're close of ruining the ending.
Despite the record's flaws, the soundscape is really enjoyable for most of the time, and the cleanness and smoothness of it appeals to me. The eleven minutes hold a good amount of variation and different balances between the spatial, noisy, smooth, and calm sounds, and the soundscape is constantly being kept alive and interesting. These things make the listener want to spin this release again and again to really get an idea of the whole that hit him, while the record itself gets a grip of the listener... The record is somewhat uneven, which caused me trouble with grading, but all sides concidered this release is worth at least an eight.