Published by Alessandro Violante on December 16, 2018
Immensity and chaos. False Vacuum, the last chapter in Iszoloscope‘s career was released approximately two years ago, and now it returns with In All Is Immensity And Chaos. the Canadian-born musician Yann Faussurier once again shows a perfect smusical alchemy. Differently from his previous album, this release sounds less cerebral, surrounded by an epic atmosphere emphasized by pauses and the sounds here used, plus it has slower songs which sound less claustrophobic and syncopated than the previous ones.
Iszoloscope here forfeit the use of broken rhythms, in order to focus on more essential and straight to the point 4/4 rhythms. This doesn’t bore the listener, it’s a change he will probably appreciated, as the sounds are still the same, and each song is very well crafted. All Is Immensity And Chaos shows a perfect alternation between more reflexive, almost “dark ambient” sounding songs, and others which sound harder, harsher and distorted.
Although very different kind of songs are here used, even during the most atmospheric and calm episodes, there’s a constant tension given by a distortion more or less “hidden” in the background. It gives to all of them a creepy, anxious, negative mood. The trademarks of the project, which made Iszoloscope famous in its music scene, are here: the use of horrorific samples, harsh distortions, obscure melodic synthlines and sounds, the way in which the music slows down and opens up to new rhythms. These are common elements in any Iszoloscope release.
All Is Immensity And Chaos isn’t an album conceived to be danced to in the alternative dancefloor, although it has some fast and killer episodes such as Stretched into the thereafter, Zero becomes one and Spirit intrusion. It is the result of a reflexive philosophical thought. Izsoloscope here invites the listener to immerse himself into a dark-tinged, unreal, atmosphere, something our (and its) existence can’t offer, making us imagine worlds that are just out of reach, showing us the fear and the need for an empty space. The same space we find when listening to Yann Faussurier’ music, we can find in our subconscious.
The long opening song is one of the best moments of the whole album, having a strongly epic atmosphere. The work starts with dull percussions and distorted sounds, opening up to glorious, epic, orchestral sounds belonging to a distant time we can’t recognize. This stark alternation happens twice, then it leaves the listener with the return of creepy samples and lacerating and stabbing beats.
Another evocative episode is Un jeud de durplace infini qui mène a une mort certaine, characterized by a thick blanket of fog built by synthesizers, upon which stands a deep noise layer. It’s another long, inspired song, having a mortuary atmosphere.
After a long journey into dark landscapes, Stretched into the thereafter sounds like fresh air for the listener who finds here the straighter episode of the album, with its melodic idea and it’s old school distortions. It’s the most immediate song in a rather complex album.
The following The and need for an empty space partly goes old school with a ’90s-sounding beat recalling the big beat experience of those years, while I want something my existence can’t offer has a slower tempo, a song filled with noise injections and a slow rhythmic pattern.
As demonstrated by All Is Immensity And Chaos, Iszoloscope keeps on wisely creating a sound which never repeats itself in the same way, always astonishing the listener without losing its essence.
Label: Ant-Zen
Rating: 8, 5