Monno – Cheval Ouvert

Monno_WEB

CD – Idiosyncratics

The raw, progressive sounds in this album are presented at pace, with very few empty moments. They form a substantial suite of four tracks (three of around 11 minutes, one lasting 15) performed in a harsh, blunt noisecore style that evokes strained and unresolved atmospheres. The scores were recorded by Roli Mossiman, the former drummer of the nineties experimental rock band Swans (who also produced bands such as Young Gods, The The, Celtic Frost, New Order and Skinny Puppy). Monno hail from Switzerland, though they are now based in Berlin (Conspiracy Records). Cheval Ouvert was partly born out of the idiosyncrasies of the label involved, and this edition has been embellished with a special digipack, brilliantly fashioned by visual artist Marc O’Callaghan, who is now settled in Barcelona. Although the project lies somewhere distant from mainstream metal-rock, it cannot really be defined as abstract or “conceptual”. Marc Fantini, Derek Shirley, Gilles Aubry and Antoine Chessex love the heavy legacy of a range of sound prophets. No matter the genre or the instruments involved, what really matters is the artistic aptitude. The album presents an avantgarde vision and a number of rarefied, almost atmospheric textures; permeated by intense, cinematic forms of seduction, hypnotic penitential drones, oblique melodies and winces. The distorted chords and the multiform continuum create an anarchic listening experience that may engage listeners from different music scenes.

 

Monno – Cheval Ouvert I (Sample)