Autopsia – Le chant de la nuit

Autopsia is a long-running avantgarde project, originally from Yugoslavia, but based in Prague for a while. They had over a dozen releases, on labels like Staalplaat and Hypnobeat/Hyperium. Autopsia celebrates its 25 year anniversary with the hybrid cd “Le Chant de la Nuit”, which is available from the band itself in a numbered edition of 300 copies.

The audio part of the disc contains 8 tracks. Neo-classical music forms the basis of their mostly instrumental music, but they combine it with industrial, ambient and experimental electronic influences. Their sound is perhaps related to acts like Test Dept, In the Nursery, early Laibach. The music of Autopsia is quite minimal and restrained, don’t expect very bombastic eruptions. The atmosphere is mysterious and sacred, with many ritual elements.

On this album Autopsia stay close to their traditional sound. My favourite track is probably ‘Interdikt’, a solemn hymn. I find this album very worthwhile, it has a good mixture of a nostalgic mood, an atmospheric cinematic sound and an equilibrium between experiments and beautiful music.

The data section (cd-rom) has a complete discography, interviews, gallery, screensavers and more. Created with Flash, it will keep you busy for a while, though parts of the content can also be found on the Autopsia website. The disc comes in a nice looking package with various inserts.

artist: Autopsia
label: Illuminating Technologies
details: cd/cd-rom, lim. 300 copies, 2005