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KUROTOKAGE: Call to the Deep Release year: 2002 Format: CD Tracklist: 1: Vargant 04:38 Total playingtime: 40.05 min General Facts: Kurotokage consists of Nicolas d.Faure and Alex Demtez who previously composed music in the project named Asmorod. The name Kurotokage is taken from the novel of the same title by Edogawa Ranpo and the two members are supposedly very inspired by oriental cultures. Review: "Oriental ambient" is the phrase used by Fluttering Dragon to describe this CD by the band the once was Asmorod but I'm not sure that I agree. I'm not really that sure what they mean by oriental but if they mean that it's inspired by native oriental music, I totally disagree. If, on the other hand, they mean that it's an own interpretation of the Oriental culture, I might agree after all. The music of Call to the Deep reminds me a bit of the music of Ulf Söderberg + various CMI bands, Lustmord and Shinjuku Thief among others at times. It has Dark Ambient parts as well as more melodic parts and the CD definitely has a high soundtrack value. The atmospheres that are conjured up on this CD are absolutely great; Call to the Deep is like a mental night sky with its mysterious and haunting approach. Kurotokage has succedded well in presenting their dark and arcane theme in several different ways instead of just one, which saves this CD from becoming boring after just a couple of listens. The first track is a really cold ambient piece which reminds me somewhat of the ambience of Lustmord, especially the. After this track, the oriental aspects of Call to the Deep become more apparent. A relaxed track with crystal clear melodies and rhythms suddenly pours out of my speakers and soon they are joined by beautiful female vocals with an oriental touch, a very nice contrast with the previous track which was more Dark Ambient. On the fifth tune, the music takes a brighter turn and eventually evolves in a direction which makes it sound a bit like Dead can Dance, as nice as it was unexpected. Besides these tracks, I don't think Call to the Deep sounds very Oriental. I think the music sounds more cosmic besides the sampled background sounds, and it often inspires me to visualise inner-images of the nightmare phantasmagorias of Io or the sterile fields of Pluto. Yet it's of course up to the individual listener to decide how to interpret music. Nevertheless, the sound quality is great and along with the quality music of this CD, it becomes a splendid journey through several interesting soundscapes. The only negative thing that I can think on this CD is that the flow between the tracks at the end of the CD is often disrupted but this is just a minor flaw. A nice debut CD by an act I will definitely pay attention to in the future. |
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