BERND KISTENMACHER: Disintegration (2017)
2 Lost in Time 6:23
3 Running Backwards 7:46
4 Sand in the Desert 2:54
5 Reflecting Ice 11:25
6 On the Edge of Existence 7:19
7 Frozen Magic 10:23
8 Disintegration 13:42 MIRecords – MI10082 (CD/DDL 62:46) ****½ (Symphonic and cinematic EM) A droning filled of smoke evaporates its opaque shell in a multitude of foggy lines which disintegrate and re-form in screams, like the furious shouts of angels of the apocalypse came bury the last vestiges of the mankind. It's throughout this nightmarish din which is shining of intensity that "Disintegrated World" introduces us to the last musical fresco of Bernd Kistenmacher and his very worried look on the direction and the future of our planet. First studio album of Bernd Kistenmacher since Paradise in 2014, “Disintegration” follows the paths of this album with a profoundly cinematic approach where the intensity and the orchestral gravity seems less stifling than Paradise. If "Disintegrated World" is heavy of burden, the opening of "Lost in Time" is all opposite with a fabulous dance of sequenced arpeggios which draw a melody, eater of ears, which loses of its glossiness in the veils of orchestrations soaked of mysteries, of a cloudiness which augments its presence with a dismaying heaviness. The synth lines divide a state of despondency with murmurs of absent voices and especially layers of apocalyptic clarions which clear a sinister perfume, otherwise of anxiety. "Running Backwards" rivets us to our chair with a delicate sequenced pace which dances with its more translucent shadow. Very hypnotic, this movement circulates such as in an allegorical carousel which goes up and goes down with a bewitching mockery. The layers are very aerial and release some little prisms which make the circular movement of the sequencer glitters. "Sand in the Desert" is a short title as intriguing as "Disintegrated World" with voices which whinge in a desert dirtied of dark dusts and by iodized particles. So many vibes and sounds in hardly 180 seconds!
This short track leads us to the wonderful "Reflecting Ice". Its first steps are of an overwhelming heaviness. One would say a huge double bass which has difficulty in filtering its notes. But its movement and its nuances are completely delicious. A bass-drum supports with difficulty this pace with the delicate riffs of a synth and its trap of orchestral mists. Trapped in this double bass, the melody evolves with subtle variations in the tone, as in the movement, bringing even more this delicious lento movement towards our cerebral lands. Wonderful, fascinating and insidiously poignant! Afterward we enter into the very floating, ambiospherical domain of “Disintegration”. Orchestral layers, where float absent voices and tears of cellos of which the slow movements tear up the moods of "On the Edge of Existence", flow like a torrent which dives between our ears. This is poetry written on music partitions! "Frozen Magic" is more linear with a more implosive finale which goes out in silence. Now it's time for the title-track! The introduction of "Disintegration" begins with jingles and overstrung organic beatings, like a fauna of hexapods on total delirium. Powerful synth layers, like massive waves of organ, immerse this fauna and takes us by the feelings in order to make us waltz with the unknown. Without rhythm but knotted around violent impulses of layers and this always seductive line of bass, the first minutes of "Disintegration" swallow us in its whirlwind of emotions and in its memories of a session of Paradise. The variations in the multiple arches of the sound waves solidify an interest which increases as soon as our senses seized that the constant crescendo is not only a flash in the pan. One mesmerizing sequence sparkles at the edge of 8 minutes. Its wild blinkings espouse the placidity of a bass pulsations line in order to evaporate as soon as the synth spreads its charms with solos more ethereal than cabalistic. The movement is covered of an attractive hypnotic approach when some chords get stir with the notes of a sitar modelled by the electronic creativity, pushing the finale of “Disintegration” in a phase of domination of the specters which will continue to mop the vestiges of our passage on Earth. Hat to you Bernd for another brilliant opus of creativity, intensity and emotionalism! Sylvain Lupari (May 25th, 2017)
synth&sequences.com
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