Hallelujah! Every now and then a record passes you by that fills a void, scratches an itch, cures an ache and expands your musical senses. French musician Igorrr serves up a lavish helping of truly Internet era music where musical sounds spanning centuries of time and culture are stitched together in blasphemous perversion of maelstrom noise abuse. Its a blessing to the ears of one who wonders from the darkest hells of depravity to the uplifting, effervescent wonder of our longest surviving musical creations. To hear such bi polarizing expressions dance together is mesmerizing, and on Hallelujah we are blessed with the maturity and musical vision to unite and mold music that leaves no impression of an experiment. In an age where information is available at the touch of a button it is no surprise that such borders are broken down, as time or travel can not hold us back from exploring the music and culture of our world, present or past.
On this record Igorrr is essentially a break-beat musician working with sharp and dense loops that are cut and composed at breakneck speeds. Glitchy, intricate patterns dizzy away with memorizing levels of detail. Lots of strange, electronic noises jump in and out of the beats which chop themselves over and over until at times they sound like buzz waves. Its an impressive compositional assault which guides these songs through its contrasting sampling that ranges from the Classical / Baroque era, to Black and Extreme Metal. How it all works still feels mysterious, as the songs effortless move between graceful melodic string leads into punishing, evil blast beat frenzies as guitars and drums pound relentlessly. Its in the dizzying glitched out break-beats that Igorrr perverts the gracious and paves the way to darkness with increasing schizophrenic cuts that twist and move the musics tone with pitch shifts and rapid sampling that keeps the listener on their toes.
Despite a continual onslaught of heavy drums and sampling, the record sounds crisp and well rounded. Beyond its aesthetic the tracks excite with their constant shape shifting and on edge progression. The occasional screams and operatic leads fit in well but these songs feel like they unravel without a plan or design, something I feel is a strength, but may hold this talented musician back from achieving more with an already delightful new sound. The relentless nature of this record did have me questioning when I might tire of it, but so far its been a consistent pleasure, one I feel comes more from the contrasting sample choices, more so than the dark twisted core.
Favorite Tracks: Damaged Wig, Absolute Psalm, Corpus Tristis
Rating: 6/10