Published by Alessandro Violante on February 16, 2017
What happens when two labels as the French Audiotrauma and the German Raumklang Music meet each other? What it happens is that Armando Alibrandi, already known as Supersimmetria, makes an unexpected album after two dark techno ones published by Hands Productions, a work which radically differs from what has been made before with his main project.
In the last years, Audiotrauma entered the independent industrial music market showing an interest in a sound crossing the boundaries of the so called post-industrial music, creating an hybrid of a great range of approaches, as widely shown with cross-genres albums such as the debut of Meta Meat, the sophomore Hologram_ work or the Verin debut. Meanwhile, Dirk Geiger’s Raumklang Music focuses on a style always centered on the research of an out-of-bounds sound. Aleph, this is the name of the long-awaited new project by the Italian producer, shows in his first album the best result possible from this meeting of labels.
If the trademarks of Supersimmetria are the attention for sound details and the construction of techno songs as the result of a long process of study, those of Aleph are the wide variety of styles and, above all, the relation between electronic and classical-opera music. In the last few years, this meeting has already happened in a similar way and with good results in the Ecstasphere albums. Coiled is pervaded by simple and melodic piano motifs (think about the opener A snow flake into nowhere, Dalet, Yod or Cloud shapes), and they’re definitely the quid of the album.
It’s not by chance that Aphexia (Ecstasphere’s side project), made a remix for the aforementioned Dalet, fourth letter of the semitic alphabet and a sort of divertissement which progressively leaves space to a simple rhythm evolving along the length of the song. Here, a melodic intuition emerges once again at the end of the song, while the rhythm follows a tempo and has “wobbles” vaguely similar to those used in dubstep music. Alibrandi had fun shaping an atypical and varied song.
Glimpse is the perfect bridge between Supersimmetria’s techno sound and Aleph’s one, a kaleidoscopic, freed from the four on the floor limits example. The rhythm is obsessive and syncopated, the sounds evoke an industrial scenario and female vocals give a certain sense of coldness to the song, in contrast with the warmer beats. Nature has a martial tempo, thanks to instrumental stringed instruments, creating a cinematographic atmosphere. Bet has the first featuring of the album, with Annakee, who adds to the slow rhythm an angel-like voice, empowering the spiritual element permeating the album (Aleph is the first letter of semitic alphabets, which means “origin”).
Meiosis uses another syncopated rhythm enriched by opera vocals, and here the melodic element evokes once again stringed instruments, as for example the violin. Also Taw, which features soprano Takushi Minagawa, has the same elements of the previous song. Mem has a more squared and danceable rhythm, closer to Supersimmetria’s techno formula, embellished by inspired synth lines. If Giml has an almost IDM taste without changing its formula, Matrice presents slightly distorted beat and a techno mood. Materia, which has the same title as his last album as Supersimmetria, is the most syncopated and engaging song of the album.
Time to get back to simple piano melodies in Yod, which breaks the rhythmic cages and leaves angel-like vocals ascending to the sky, with another featuring by Minagawa. After Cloud shapes, another episode between electronic and classical music, the album ends with a remix of Dalet made by Aphexia, giving us a slightly distorted version of the original.
With Coiled, Aleph has done an album having its own identity, distant from the sound of Supersimmetria and at the same time sharing some elements with it. After having listened to it, the listeners will feel themselves projected towards the sky.
Label: Audiotrauma / Raumklang Music
Rating: 8