Modelbau — Movement
Opening with the slowly building, droning, thrum of a machine starting up, Mechanik begins our ride into the world of Modelbau. Cyclic, and monotonous it keeps humming away, as birds and other forest sounds interplay in and around the monolithic slab of drone. Dark ambient noise for a Sunday morning seems an appropriate description.
Measure is up next, again the central drone is a slow-moving slice of monolithic oppressiveness, pitch black and with the ability to draw the listener into some Lovecraftian realm of damnable evil. The track is stripped down to a couple of simple drones and yet retains a brooding malevolence.
Mass follows up next and within a few seconds it has already stepped things up a little, whereas the previous tracks felt like they were brooding in the corner, awaiting victims, this track has moved into the centre of the room and begun to mingle with the guests. Still dark, oppressive and brooding, the underlying drone is more prevalent and the whole thing sounds like stalactites dripping water in some vast subterranean grotto, home to some dank, slimy, cyclopean terror from one of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos stories.
Flip the tape over and the first track on side B is Malfunction. This instantly feels less oppressive than the first side, the opening drone lighter and much less monolithic in its nature. Don’t be fooled by this description however, it is far from light and a second heavier drone builds from beneath the central one assuming control of the situation and whilst less oppressive than the previous track it still offers up a fair slice of menace.
Final track Moribund continues in much the same vein as Malfunction, not as oppressive as side A, but still quite dark in nature and an uneasiness is retained throughout, sensing at hidden things waiting to step into the light. Synth swirls in the background hint at some greater cosmic terror awaiting the listener who dares venture further into the miasma of sound within the void that is opening up at the heart of the track.
I tend to think this release would make an ideal accompaniment to reading Lovecraftian short stories in front of an open fire, in the heart of winter, in an old cottage on the borderlands.