BLACK EARTH

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE originally released its fourth album BLACK EARTH on the German label Wonder Records but didn't hit the American market until 2004 on the Ipecac label. Having retained a fairly stable lineup of Morten Glass (piano, Fender Rhodes, mellotron), Christoph Cl'ser (piano, Fender Rhodes, saxophone), Robin Rodenberg (bass) and Thorsten Benning (drums, percussion), this jazzy ambient band found another hit after its critically acclaimed 'Sunset Mission.'

Obsessed with the 'Twin Peaks' TV series and cult films such as 'Blue Velvet' and 'Eraserhead,' BORHEN & DER CLUB OF GORE focused on created eerie, spooky soundtracks that evoked an atmospheric and even Gothic vibe that hybridized slow loungy jazz, 50s rock and roll and dark creepy ambient music. The band found a successful formula with slow plodding tempos, minor key chord progressions and dissonant bass and drum effects along with lots of delays, reverbs and electric piano. The album is a bit long but admittedly is effective in its otherworldly effects.

The sounds of this dark and ambient album make me think of a soundtrack for the very, very deep ocean where no light shines and if you happened to go there in one of those specialized submarines all you would see is extremely specialized creatures like humpback anglerfish, lantern sharks, giant tube worms, fangtooth fishes or deep sea squids which lurk around in the abyss and where the water pressure is so high our puny little human forms would be crushed.

This soundtrack contains strange, eerie and spooky minimalist ambience with saxophone solos that creep up out of the shadows to shed a little light on the darkened sonicscape. The spirits aren't restless but they are on vicodin and slowly ooze out of the ethers to take your mind to a new realm where everything is slowed down and marches on in a rhythmic echoed path. Once you feel like you want to doze off choirs of haunting synths develop or a sax solo erupts from the nether world. If you're looking for something dynamic this is not the deep sea dive for you. This music is slow and pulsates like those glow-in-the-dark jellyfish that lurk in the darkness and sting you with their venomous sonic tentacles. Creepy but recommended.