Titanoboa — Seth

Titanoboa's second release on a-Musik sees the act expand its wings into more tones, textures, and styles all while keeping true to the dark electronic root. In addition to just Melani Wratil, Seth features guests on a few tracks which bolsters the Titanoboa's spread of sound. Opening with "Metallurg," Titanoboa and Dhirty Eigelstein quickly set the stage with grim electronics giving a sci-fi credits vibe, allowing the team to introduce intriguing sounds and ideas without having to spend too much runtime forcing them to develop. It's complete, whole, and an eye opening start to the album. "Qafshtama" follows and plays more into the oscillating buzz of electronics humming in power generation and machines speaking with each other. Swapping the reverbed pulses for noisier electronics, layers build and collide, creating an organized chaos that springboards perfectly from the first track. Calling upon Florian Karlecik-Mater for a hand in "6OG," the tone shifts a bit away from the urgency of the previous tracks and focuses on the dark electronic background. However, the German vocals that come in a little before midway through obliterate this semi-calm and add a terrified panic, which the music quickly comes to match. The beat toward the end of the track leaves the listener with some head nodding and brings the track to a close on a really high note. Returning to the bleak electronics, "Suheila" feels like an expansion to a Whitehouse track, with the feedback and high pitched electronics in the background and Titanoboa's oscillating throb cooking up at the front. With the separation of layers, on can easily jump between areas of focus and that adds even more listenability to an already excellent track. "Maman Brigit" rounds out side A with a dark, ethereal piece that wonderfully encapsulates the essence presented on Seth's first half. Florian's frantic vocals return at the start of side B with "Die Verbindung." Coupled with the telephone tones and offbeat electronics, this one delivers a sense of unease and refuses to relent. "Auki" pushes a straight forward noise agenda, not too harsh, but definitely far crispier than anything on Seth previously. While less noisy, "Ilk Dördün" keeps the dark vibe of this side alive and returns to a more propulsive ambient darkness. Blending elements of "Auki" and "Metallurg," this one is a really great track and has some fantastic sounds presented throughout.  Continuing with the more atmospheric, "Straumur" heads a bit more toward the cinematic with its approach, although it's still dark and unforgiving. "Zu Viel Welt" closes out the album, once again enlisting Florian's vocals. Very rooted in the delivery and cadence of Blixa Bargeld, these very upfront utterances can lead to tension, but the familiarity oddly lends a sense of comfort. While this probably isn't intended, the similarity to Blixa makes me feel at home and matching with the softer soundscape in the background leads to a welcome close to the album.

 

Seth is a well-put-together piece of dark electronics. Shifting effortlessly between a few different genres and approaches, the expanse of the album gives much to the listener and opens itself even further upon repeated spins. Never straying too far in either the ambient or noisy directions, Seth finds its path and sticks with it, all while delivering glimpses of the adjacent scenery, forming one inspiring image. For more info