Atomine Elektrine is one of the many projects of Peter Andersson (Raison d’Etre). And a good one too, so I’m very pleased with this release on the promising new Brazilian label Essence Music. The wonderful looking digipack (with nostalgic pictures) holds two cd’s, which contain two out-of-print albums and five unreleased bonus tracks, so you get 140 minutes of music in total.
Elemental Severance was originally released on Cold Meat Industry in 1995. The bonus tracks date from the same period. Atom Xtension was released three years later in a very small pressing by Yantra Atmossheres. I find both albums very enjoyable, so it’s a good thing that they are available again.
Atomine Elektrine is musically related to Raison D’être and other projects of Andersson, especially Necrophorus. Still it has a distinct character of its own, mainly because it’s more rhythmic and electronic. There are elements present which remind me of electronic pioneers from the 70’s, like Tangerine Dream or German krautrock.
Some tracks have a clear new age feeling, with a sacred atmosphere, nature sounds, voices and choirs. They make me think of the work of Delerium. Some songs are really light and floating, perhaps resembling Enigma, like ‘Severance I’ or ‘Oswiecim’ and 5. Other tracks work more in a trancy ritual manner, due to the rhtyhmic framework. At times orchestral elements come to the foreground (‘Film’), in the vein of the more orchestral work of In the Nursery. On ‘Atom Xtension’ even more influences are incorporated, like dub and chill-out music.
Overall this is very relaxing, dreamy stuff of high quality. Now and then the listener is treated to a more energetic piece of music to keep him awake, like the great highlight ‘Reliance’, with explosive percussion and sampled voices about george Bush (sr.) or the fine ‘ethnic’ ritual piece ‘Earthly delights in eden of rusty shells’.
The sound quality of the remastered music is also very good, though it was quite a complicated process, as Peter Andersson describes….