Iury Lech — Ontonanology

Spanish audio/video artist pioneer Iury Lech has been on the scene for over forty years. Continuing to expand on his electronic approach to sound art, his latest album, Ontonanology is a beat driven, pulsing piece of digital ambient. Focusing on the microscopic scale of the music itself, Iury hopes to bring these microcollisions and fluctuations to the forefront.

Ontonanology is composed of ten tracks of many sizes and scopes, textures and rhythms, and percussion and drift. While one has ample room to drift and assess what each song entails, Iury has sent along a quick cheat sheet:
A cluster planets convergence.
Infinite wave forms.
Dissolution in the vast matter.
Reflecting dark substance.
Invisible metaphysics.
Anthropocenetics.
Inmaterial chaos.
Abyssal gravity.
Origins amalgam.
Euphonic spheres.

With the size and scope in front of you, one can get a bigger appreciation for what Lech is putting forth in Ontonanology. With some larger themes, his restraint of tone and structure is coupled very well with the sonic themes shown on some of the microscopic or invisible songs. Built upon subtlety (and the aforementioned restraint), Ontonanology is constructed just like the universe. No matter how big or how grand something is, it's all composed of the tiniest pieces of matter. Layered and open to dissection and constant revisitation, Ontonanology is set in such a way that the listener can decide what to focus on, when to do so, and how to enjoy each successive listen. Using patterns to set the stage and seeing the pattern disintegrate, Lech speaks to the ephemeral nature of some events while also speaking to time distortion and interpretation: some events that seem to take an eternity for the one involved look to be very brief to an outside observer. Highs and lows, fasts and slows, Ontonanology spreads the scope over many areas, both in time, texture, and aggression.

Sometimes grandiose and cinematic, sometimes small, propulsive, and frantic, Ontonanology gives the listener quite the feast for sonic dissection. Multiple plays unlock many different aspects of the album, and Lech never forces a perspective. As an audio/video artist, Lech's take on composition is different than that of a traditional sound artist. One can hope that one day Lech will release a visual accompaniment to this album.