Album Details

• Artist: Olekranon
• Album: Abadina
• Label: Inam
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-08-30

Sujo's Ryan Huber continues his exploration of ambient noise, and the latest Olekranon release, "abadina" works with a limited toolbox, but produces far from a limited sound. With guitar and drum machine, Huber explores noise and ambient with a deliberate minimalism, but offers plenty of space for the sounds he makes to burst wide open and suggest their own further movements.

"Junin" is distant and icy at first, but dissolves into a noisy, Krautrock space/ambient drone. "Potosi" is louder, with echoing industrial abrasion; slows to a lull before a finale that incorporates that metallic soundscape with hints of a shoegaze riff, a chorus barely distinguishable from the industrial pulse.

"Red Clover" has the most recognizable "melody," or riff, with eh same propulsive but detached feel of the other songs, but the traces of a structure gives this a hypnotic feel. The finale, "Marek's Nail," follows the same pattern as "Norwalk," ( a track that features a quiet tribal intro before exploding into the familiar noisy tones)  but ends with a more majestic, though overloaded, sonic groove than "Red Clover."

The droning, sparse songs on "abadina" threaten to disappear as often as they deliver on erupting. The latest by Olekranon is a times undermined by its own deliberate pace, but the passionate results of staying with each track until the music finds its natural way into higher ground is stunning.

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