Damien De Coene - Interference [Marbre Negre - 2019] Interference finds this Spanish noise-maker and stark drone maker presenting us with a lengthy submersion in the more walled noise side of his sound. The pro pressed CDR on Marbre Negre, finds a single track example of pared-back & atmospheric, yet at times violent volatile wall craft.
The CDR comes presented in a mini gatefold- this and the CD features monochrome pictures of branch cluttered snowy forest scapes, which nicely nods towards the often bitter, bleak- yet detailed walled noise sound-scapes with-in. The release has an edition of fifty copies- so all been well you should still be able to pick this up.
The single self-titled track here comes in at the fifty seven-minute mark. And from the outset, it’s a very slurred, stretched but often busy take on the walled noise form, as De Coene pulls out wispy like lengths of tearing, hissing, scaping & juddering noise matter- from time-time these are added to by more pronounced pops, rubs & snaps. The whole thing feels very flotsam & jetsam in its sonic flow, yet there are repeated textures, as well as revisited patterns, and the whole thing is clearly well composed & arranged. The feeling of free-ness, ebb ‘n’ flow, and playful atmospheric shifts make the whole thing compelling, and oddly soothing- as you wait to see what will next drift past you in the textured flow of the ‘wall’. As the track progresses there certainly seems more prevalence towards large, more intense, and longer textured drifts- but things always return once more towards the lose & hazily atmospheric feel. I could well imagine this track been perfect for looped play- as there doesn’t really seem a defined start or end to the ‘wall’.
Interference really shows that De Coene has really come on in leaps & bounds from his initial tries at the genre, which frankly came across as a little predictable and clichéd. With Interference, De Coene presents us with a fascinating example of atmospheric tinged wall-making. This is release I can certainly see my self returning to again & again- due to the very hypnotic feel of textural haze, the often unpredictable & eventful- yet still compositional sound flow of the whole thing, and the general skillfull use of texture present through-out the release. Roger Batty
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