“Chaoticum Vitae” starts with a juddering wall, built on fast-moving mid and lower mid-frequency scuffing; over which thin, itchy treble swirls - with an near tonal quality. The movement of these treble elements almost suggests they are billowing in the wind of the lower mid-frequencies. As the piece continues, the textures become a little washy, and the shifting treble becomes somewhat annoying; so its a welcome sight when a low drone appears near the twelve minute mark, followed by a change to the entire wall structure. This change presents a less trebly wall, with textures now dominated by scuffing textures; some of which have a pleasing “dryness” to them. The treble elements are now reduced to twitchy little stabs, which dance across proceedings. At the twenty-three minute mark, a drill-like skree enters, accompanied by whistling treble tones; again, there is a tonal quality to the drill texture, which seems to oscillate in the midst of the wall. This continues fairly statically, until the wall finally breaks open around the forty-six minute point. Here, the full force of crackle and bass churn announce themselves, with a fast-paced rampaging wall. The whole wall has (again) a nice, dry, “clipped” quality to it; with the presence of the speeding bass making the treble lurch about at points. Just before the hour is up, the wall shifts again to a mid-strong construction; somewhat reminiscent of a de-tuned radio - though accompanied by a very thin, but strong, line of treble wash. After nearly ten minutes of this, the wall suddenly has it’s guts pulled out - leaving a breathy, spacey collection of textures that blur the line between ANW and drone. It sounds like the whirr of electrical equipment, against a background of howling wind. As the track comes to a close, these elements gain in intensity; though without any danger of opening out into harsher climes.

As laudable as such a varied construction is, “Chaoticum Vitae” ultimately fails to overwhelm me due to a lack of memorable textures. There’s nothing truly exquisite here to charm my ears, though perhaps only the section before the first shift is really mediocre. These sudden changes to the walls are handled well, and act as landmarks alongside the more sly, gradual shifts in tone and texture. There’s little doubt to my mind that Otomo Hava has good technical ability, but it hasn’t resulted in a release that contains a lot for my ears.