Artificial Memory Trace and Porya Hatami — REPREMONTIUM

Gruenrekorder presents REPREMONTIUM, the second collaborative venture by Artificial Memory Trace and Porya Hatami. Available digitally in MP3 and FLAC formats, this massive single piece is a follow up to the duo’s 2015 release EVOLVA 5.

While I’m not familiar with the aforementioned album, I have spent quite a bit of time absorbing many of Artificial Memory Trace’s sounds. The moniker of Czech-born sound sculptor, Slavek Kwi, AMT crafts some exceptional field recording soundscapes. Porya Hatami is an Iranian-based sound artist that toils in ambient, minimalist sounds. Field recordings, minimalist sounds, Gruenrekorder….does that sound like the perfect synergy? Yeah, pretty much.

Nearly 70 minutes in duration, REPREMONTIUM is the perfect marriage of ambience and eeriness. The core of the piece revolves around repetitive sounds of chimes and bells that carry and resonate in mesmerizing waves. It carries on very delicately, but not without a little grime added for good measure. Cracks and pops gurgle in the foreground, as the chimes and bells gradually intensify. There’s persistent atmospheric exhaust sounds, and high end resonance that ebbs and flows. The sounds gradually take on a creepier dimension as more and more abrasive tones take up the track’s mid-section. There’s also these aquatic tones that sound (or at least what imagine it would sound) like being submerged in the submarine. Things quiet down again in the track’s final act where we similarly end as we began.
 
All in all this is another solid release from the reliably reliable Gruenrekorder. I honestly haven’t heard a bad album from this label.