Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Sachiko - Anro [Utech Records - 2012]

The press release for Anro tells a lot about the name, which means 'dark path', but nothing at all about the music or the project involved.  I decided, then, to approach the review blind: only knowing that this is a single 37 minute piece about dark paths.  This is what I thought whilst listening.

The piece opens with a strange, tribal sounding chaos of droning strings and screeching flutes, joined by... is that percussion?  Strange jangling metallic sounds which could simply be background noise.  The flute dies away, replaced by what could be a strained voice, or perhaps a strange, exotic instrument.  Ten minutes in, some sort of string melody appears - briefly.  The drone continues, voices and instruments loosely playing around, almost raga-like.  It reminds me of the more freeform pieces by Six Organs of Admittance.  The piece seems to be invoking something.  In fact, didn't the press release say something about that?   "Sachiko invokes ritual from voice, instrument and magic, expressing the entity of the next world at the boundary."  Yes, this definitely brings to mind a ritual.  Eastern in sound, raw and tribal in feel.  A celebration, or a ceremony, or an invocation.  Seventeen minutes and the strings and percussion are definitely playing to some form of rhythm.  I wonder what is being invoked here.  Twenty-five minutes in, beginning to think maybe there is a specific mood for this kind of music.  Thirty-five minutes, it's still going in much the same manner.  And it's over.

Depending on your individual taste, this release is either very much for you, or it's not.  The range of sounds and instruments is interesting, with a broad range of textures, but unless you have an incredibly patient ear, or a particular interest in repetitive acoustic drones with a raga feel, then your patience may well be tested to the limit long before Anro has reached the halfway point.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Ross Baker
Latest Reviews

Sachiko - Anro
The press release for Anro tells a lot about the name, which means 'dark path', but nothing at all about the music or the project involved.  I decided, ...
281025   Hawkwind - Hall Of The Mounta...
281025   Sebastian Tomb - Homicide Cos...
271025   The Liberation of L.B.Jones ...
251025   Detonation! Violent Riders -...
241025   Playful White Fingers - Playf...
231025   The Island - The Island( Blu ...
221025   The Astronaut - The Astronaut...
221025   Smote - Songs From the Free H...
221025   Occulsed - Antegnosis
221025   Owners Of Knowledge - Lost Co...
Latest Articles

Michael Hurst Interview - Unbalan...
One of the more creative & original horror films I’ve seen/ reviewed recently is Transmission, a 2023 film which, a few months ago, received a DVD ...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom