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GRIMBERGEN: Something is Wrong
Release year: 2003 Format: Demo-EP Tracklist: I: Der Himmel ist Grau Total Length: 46:38 min General facts: Grimbergen is the musical project of Nathan Clemence, an English guy who is also one of the people who run the club Finsternis in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has been composing music since the year 2000 and Something is Wrong is his second official release, following last years Shame and Regret. Nathan loosely refer to his music as Dark Ambient. Contact Grimbergen by using the address at the bottom of this pade in order to find out how to obtain it. Review: What first strikes me when hearing this CD is that it isn't as centred around ambient melodies as on Shame on Regret. Still, this isn't true as their still is a great extent of melodical parts on this CD. Yet already on the first track, it is obvious that the drones have got much more place in the music. As a result, there's much more substance in this music than before, yet without losing what actually makes this sound like Grimbergen. Der Himmel ist Grau perfectly describes a desolate land under a grey heaven. The dense drones paints ample, dark landscapes as the graceful strings suggest solitude (or perhaps melancholy) to the weary listener. The Ominous Crags is perhaps a bit weaker in production and it sounds a bit more old-school computer-made. It is constituted of obviously synthetic melodies playing a mournful tune under a bass-line and metallic percussions. It is a very relaxing track which reminds me of the best parts of Grimbergens last CD. Under the Stones is some kind of obscure space ambient with phaser sounds following the dark drones. At the end, it develops into a sorrowful stringsong that reminds me a lot of how raison d'être and Necrophorus sounded around the time of the release of Prospectus I. The sounds used are rather crude compared to the capacity of today's soundbanks. Yet quality cannot be measured in the quality of the sounds used and musically speaking this is a nice piece of Dark Ambient tinged music. Fallen (Misfortune) is also based on quite crude computer sounds. It gradually evolves from a backdrop of of Dark Drones and a dark bass, becoming drifting as the the discrete percussion enters the music. It is a quite monotonous track and but it becomes more interesting towards the end when more melodies and Industrial percussion are attached to the music. Like most tracks on this release, it is quite soft in an original and pleasant way. The terminus of this Demo-CD is named Objection : Meaning, which begins with a discrete opening drone that leads the way into more melodic soundtextures. Discrete Industrial percussion play under low bell-clangs and a high-frequent sweeping sounds as the songstructure is built up. The track remains quite minimalistic all the way to the end, with all aspects of the music being easy to discover. Sombre strings enter the music towards end, defining the emotional language that this music so clearly speak. It is a nice final act and in a skillful manner, it closes the gate to the musical realm of Grimbergen once more, until the next time. In conclusion, this definitely is a very positive improvement from the last CD, something is definitely wrong if this CD doesn't get more attention than that one did. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Click here to enter Grimbergen's website - Click here to contact Grimbergen |
Released by: Self-financed