T/Error – Eka Bismuth

Published by Davide Pappalardo on April 13, 2017

t-error-eka-bismuthT/Error hails from Rome, an Italian electro project, which has already released two concept albums (U-235, about the instability of Uranium, for Body Control Records and D7, about the spectrum of sound, for Bass Agenda Recordings) and an EP called Databending for Borg Recordings. Now, it returns, under the tutelage of the aforementioned British label, with a third album called Eka Bismuth, a new concept about the evolution of mankind. The music is dark and abstract, following a minimal path full of calculated melodious and ethereal strings, a downtempo work, where emotions and eerie evocations are not forsaken.

Slavery starts the work with an electronic groove made of modular sounds and evocative synth-lines, giving us an abstract, “aquatic” atmosphere, upon which minimal rhythms are layered. There is a certain melancholic mood, an encrypted message wanting to be found amidst the pulses and the grooving sounds. Alpha decay is an almost IDM number, but we don’t have to think about a fast piece ala Aphex Twin. A slow, growing crescendo follows once again a minimal structure based on basslines, 4/4 rhythms and intricate sonic structures.

TransUranium plays with minimal synth sounds reminiscent of Kraftwerk and old-school electronic music, full of a spacey, retro-futuristic atmosphere, dominated by keys and processed vocals, while the titletrack starts as an ambient piece with creepy sounds and distant rhythms, and then it develops into a dreamy electro track which follows suit in a slow, minimal pattern.

Isotope 420 shows distorted lines and shrill sounds, and nostalgic, minimal keys are the protagonists of an enthralling motif, which dominates the track, and Stability island is a bass-based episode with distorted voices and crispy effects with an hypnotic quality in their rhythmic mantra.

Textures, electro sounds with deep bass and minimal synths and keys, an almost retro atmosphere and a downtempo techno edge: these are the main ingredients in an album which is more than a mere dancefloor-only experience, requiring, instead, a careful listening session, to be fully appreciated.

Label: Bass Agenda Recordings

Rating: 7, 5