Raijin

Album Review

K.K. Null and Daniel Menche have been pursuing — both separately and in collaboration with other sonic sculptors — the various possibilities of organic and inorganic (i.e., power electronic) noise for two decades. Raijin is their collaborative foray into sounds manipulated and otherwise generated by layers and layers of organic and inorganic percussion, heaped upon one another mercilessy, and fed through electronics. Menche plays "real" percussion instruments, and Null uses loops and other manner of pummeling electro percussion to achieve the effect of Kodo to the tenth power. Add manipulated screams, moans, roars, and squalls, but it's not a constant pummel-fest, nor a clash of the titans. Instead, this is a multi-textural approach to the most primal of substances. There are atmospheres for (dis)quiet meditation in the second and fourth sections. There is a subtle, minimal trumpet woven through the stuttered drums and long echoing effects. It's creepy, but also comfortable when juxtaposed against section one or five. Merzbow fans will dig this, as will the usual small cult of Null and Menche collectors, but that shouldn't put off the general curiosity seeker who is interested in modern music, because this is its mirror image: modern noise, painstakingly assembled and mercilessly purveyed.