Pacific 231 – Thule Apocalypse

Although this cd was released two years ago, the recordings were made way back in 1983. In 1999 the original sounds were digitally enhanced and released by the Italian label Old Europa CafĂ©, that is never afraid of extreme releases. Pacific 231, a project from Pierre Jolivet, who is based in Ireland, indeed is not the most accessible acts around. Pacific 231 belongs to the first wave of music in the industrial / power electronics fields. After various vinyl releases, “Thule Apocalypse” was the first release on cd by this act, limited to 470 copies.

It contains one long track, with noise loops that go on and on, harsh textures and a dense ‘old school’ industrial background. On top of that “Thule Apocalypse” offers us a World War II collage, with many speeches, war music and military samples. But also chansons and other songs of the time, in the same vein as contemporary acts as Der Blutharsch have on their repertoire. It offers the listener a sonic image of war from many viewpoints, from Nazi speeches to samples from Allied leaders, from violent war sounds to cheerful cabaret. An album for colelctors of war memorabilia… I must say that I find it quite a strenuous album to listen to for 45 minutes. The industrial sounds in the background are quite interesting, although a little too repetitive for my taste and perhaps sounding a bit dated nowadays. But if you’re into industrial pioneers like Throbbing Gristle you could give this a try…

artist: Pacific 231
label: Old Europa Cafe
details: 1 track, 45 minutes