This is the second cdr I hear of the Dutch one-man project Laufeyiar Sonr. Five tracks with over 20 minutes of electronic music, somewhere between noisy industrial and dark ambient. I found his first cdr promising, and ‘The Grimhild promo’ is certainly a step forward. The music has more dimensions now, and at the same time it’s tighter and more focused. Some elements have been added to the sound, which make the instrumental tracks just that bit more interesting.
Like the choirs in the first track ‘Grimhild’, which is by far the best track present. It has a machine-like industrial basis, with dry minimal electro beats added and enough rhythms and sounds to keep your attention. It gives me a similar feel as some of the dirty analogue stuff of the Galakthorrö house or even the raw retro electro on Invasion Planerte. ‘Through the burren’ fuses a dark soundscape with classical layers, with a repetitive spoken word sample on top, which enhances the ritual feel. It makes me think a little of Ildfrost. After a few minutes heavy beats and militant chants turn the track into a bombastic piece, with percussion getting louder as the song evolves. Certainly an interesting and working mixture of elements, though 8 minutes playing time is perhaps a bit over the top.
‘Sigyn’ is quite monotonous, consisting of rumbling machinery, dry beats, rather vague voice samples. After a while you’re surprised by the opera choir which enter the sonic picture. ‘Three girls and a second fire’ is pure torture, high frequency power electronics to destroy your ears and speakers. A sharp contrast with the previous, rather constrained pieces, and a good extreme shock effect, but this track of extreme noise is not something which I will listen to for my pleasure at home. ‘Smouldering’ is a more minimal, repetive affair, a deep industrial soundscape.
I think that Laufeyiar Sonr is on the good road with these tracks, and it wouldn’t surprise me if an international label would be interested to release some of his music. For the attractive artwork Laufeyiar Sonr gets a bonus point…
