Erg vs. Draumar
Kriegskunst
Released by Black Pyramid Records | 3" CD-R | 2009
Written by D.S. Ciarán
This is certainly one of the most well produced underground neo-classical albums I've heard in quite some time. A split between minds and countries alike, Erg (Spain) and Draumar (Germany), both offer up their own set and form of darkly cheery ethereal chants and strings playing cautiously over rumbling drum lines, leading the ascent downwards instead of up.
As different as these two artists may be, they certainly have their comfortable elements, with epic, extremely synchronised beats matching beautiful synth lines and electronically plucked string instruments.
Erg starts us off with the track Alborada, synthesised bagpipes fluttering in the breeze over the heads of disembodied soldiers still holding their thousand yard gaze; perhaps signaling the true essence of this battle of sounds. The 'versus' in the title holds its head high.
Os Séculos Escuros comes pounding into view, spearheaded by Draumar, a consistent, monotonous tribal drum plodding over long-held drones, the tone differentiation of which certainly knows how to flip the stomach in subtle ways.
Erg follows through with an equally strong track as the one that set us off, Spielzeugsoldaten. An exercise in impatience, this is not. Reared by tip-toeing marimba sounds and soft, daunting piano keys, the familiar drum march comes out to play once more, leading into what I can only describe as the precusor for angels divebombing headfirst from false Heavens. But there seems to be hope, yet... and the war wages on.
Draumar ends the album, as Erg began. An equal and fair fight, I would say. Trommelhall, a hopeful dirgetune at best and a throwback to fantasies yet to be revealed, trots onto the battlefield, grasping the hands of the fallen and the eyes of the wounded along the way, not taking notice to which side the patron is on. With a final kick of the drum, the trifling ends just as quickly as it sprouted up in the first place.
ERG online | DRAUMAR on Myspace | BLACK PYRAMID RECORDS on Myspace