Erland Dahlen — Rolling Bomber

There's something about the bowed saw which immediately makes me think of ghosts.  Probably the instrument's similarity in sound to the theremin, which was somewhat overused in horror film soundtracks shortly after its widespread availability.  Either way, its liberal use is not out of place on Rolling Bomber, an album which emits a spooky, haunted vibe throughout.  Yet this is no dark ambient record, nor does it subscribe to the 'dark' music clichés (everything here is fully tonal!) often employed to create such a mood.  After all, the album is named after the wooden drum kit formerly owned by a free-jazz musician that forms the core of the record.

The record begins on said drum kit, abstract hits and fills building to a climax of ride and snare mayhem halfway through ‘Flower Power’.  Yet the bowed saw and other percussive instruments (what sounds like a thumb piano and glockenspiel combine to suggest a child's music box) keep the mood subdued and quietly sinister.  A similar technique is used on ‘Dragon’, whilst ‘Pyramid’ use of snare and toms gives it more forward motion, an unstoppable machine of death.  It is perhaps unsurprising to discover that the album's most chilling, abstract piece, 'Funeral', which is in fact a remix by electronic producer Hallvard W. Hagen (better known as one half of Xploding Plastix).  The piece loses the rest of the record's percussive nature, pitting string scrapes and sinister tapping against electronic and acoustic drones.

Not everything on Rolling Bomber is quite so bleak, however. Track three ‘Piratman’ mixes shuffling rhythms and perky electronics suggests a playful nature, while ‘Germany’ closes the album with major key organ and driving rock drums that ends on a strikingly positive note.  These pieces lend the album a welcome air of variety (something a lot of records could do with), and the versatility of mood is matched by the versatility in instrumentation present throughout Rolling Bomber. 

A unique and fascinating record that exudes warmth and chills in equal measure, full of interesting textures and haunting melodies.