We are back with our second record: an EP by Québecois artist Vromb, a veteran producer around since the mid-90s, known in particular for his releases on Ant-Zen. Over the course of five tracks on vinyl (six in the digital version), the artist’s sounds seem to take on physical shapes, like living origami: constantly mutating as they open, close and transform into something else. With attention to movement and boundary-challenging textures, this EP is ready to ensnare listeners in a variety of contexts, from club environments to more contemplative environments.
A1 - Rythme Centrique
Opening the EP is this slow-paced tune, nonetheless full of movement, with its melodic and percussive elements in perpetual motion. Dark, brooding, plodding, and constantly evolving, this tune with a robust rhythmic section and a tripped-out atmosphere caters to body and mind alike.
Extraction (digital only)
A digital-only track that is actually the ending of the vinyl version of the previous track, turned into an entire tune. Extraction sees Vromb focus on a slightly detuned lead that seems engaged in a call-and-response dialogue with other elements in this disorienting track, thanks to an array of effects. Driven by a primitive yet efficient groove, there is a subtle tribal vibe in this dystopian tune.
A2 - Manoeuvre Tronique
At a faster tempo and with much less low end, this experimental track is still full of movement and constantly morphing sounds. There is an ominous, even slightly anxious feeling as elements repeat themselves, evolve, appear and disappear in this free-flowing track that does not shy away from dissonance.
B1 - Formation Triangulée
Returning to double-digit tempos, this track combines low-end groove with high-pitched sounds and modulation. In between, synthetic growls and sounds reminiscent of machinery and industry paint a bleak picture. There is something menacing about this track, yet it is attraction towards this sonic vortex rather than revulsion which grips listeners.
B2 - Pliage Spirale
Using similar ideas as above but with different results, Vromb carries on exploring the possibilities offered by sound patterns envisioned as geometric repetitions and plays with the irruption of both expected and unexpected sounds, cosmic, industrial and mechanical. The result is disorienting and mesmerizing and a constant invitation to go deeper and deeper within the artist’s soundscapes.
B3 - Déploiement Panoramique
Closing the EP is its weirdest and most intriguing track, rife with swashes of electronic noise, repeating and evolving rhythmic structures and an array of different textures, abrasive, liquid and electrified. Vromb takes us to uncharted areas as the track evolves, allowing its elements to shape it in myriad ways, flowing much like consciousness.
Words by Ed Isar
credits
released March 27, 2020
All tracks produced by Hugo Girard, Radiodrome 2019
Mastered by Cristobal Urbina
Design by Gabrielle Godbout & Bunzinelli
Selection by Peter Bunzinelli
Distributed by Above Board Distribution, UK
Chambre Noire Records is a label out of Montreal, run by Peter Bunzinelli. It is the continuation of a mix series and a radio show on n10.as, active since 2017.
NYC artist MAYa and Turkish producer Tolga Baklacioglu team up, making experimental atmospheric techno with deeply personal aspects. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 23, 2019
An album-length tribute to the season of Spring, “Absent From the Void” is bursting with multicolor electronic arrangements. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 20, 2023