Sonologyst is Raffaele Pezzella, curator of Eighth Tower Records and its parent label Unexplained Sounds Group. Here, he presents a recording that could be considered to roughly fall into the noise category, but actually explores the outer reaches of that space.
The theme of Dust Of Human Race is the decayed remnants of humanity, not a happy thought by any measure. The music fits this dismal and chilling topic with a mix of synth drones, dark ambient stylings, electroacoustic and walled noise, organ, pseudo-vocalizations, actual vocalizations, and synthesized rhythms. These components combine into a post-industrial landscape of sounds, many mechanical or electronic in nature. Static, spoken-word recordings, and wails abound.
But what makes this effort stand apart is its creativity and unpredictability. Drawing upon a broad palette, Pezzella assembles a set of compellingly weird and harsh collages. The pinnacle of the album is the 13-minute Chiangimuerti, which features bells, pulsing drones, and processed double bass. It is a slow-moving piece that is less dissonant than its predecessors and yet maintains an overall sense of foreboding and calamity. A large portion is dedicated to chants over layered drones, where the chants eventually devolve into screams.
Dust Of Human Race provides an echo of lost humanity through its machines, architecture, writings, and recordings. These sounds are what a hypothetical alien archeologist of the future might use to represent the darker side of our culture if presented with post-apocalyptic ruins. Well done and highly recommended.
Avant Music News 