Okay lets get the name sorted out first…
Beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand [Bein-a-hel-den-shafts-gegen-stand]
Noun: The thing that is almost the thing you want.. but not quite.
(okay, I nicked it from their Facebook page, but it helps put things into perspective) The Southampton based duo have a new album out (or at least it was when I started this review), and it showcases their ethos (or at least name) perfectly. You want something to carry you away, to open up the minds cinema (why else listen to music, if not enjoy someone’s story telling?), to let the mind wander, but do you want it is this dark and brooding?
When listening to “Red Threads” it becomes apparent that the album is in two parts. The first half is more a sonic journey in Ambient and Experimental; all dark and unrelenting. While the second half; or at least the last four tracks, of which they all carry a “remix” tag, are what might be considered more traditional music. Might!
Opening with “Crash” the dark soundscape lays down a canvas for samples and sounds to appear. The samples take the role of vocals with regards to carrying a narrative, all the while the soundscape becoming more ominous and darker. And while not the happiest of tracks, I am always left stumped trying to place familiar voices and quotes (got the Jacobs Ladder and The Professional quotes, but I think there were some others). If anything this is a very cinematic track. The music and samples work well together, without at all sounding like a “hodge podge” of disparate sounds cobbled together.
This flows directly into “Rope”, with spoken vocals to draw you into the ethereal world of “Bein…”, while the bell rings out as a warning. Tiffanie’s vocals/voice coming across in an ethereal feeling, just out of reach with the slight echo and soundscape just keeping her from your minds grasp. While “Virus” starts with a repeating medical sounding beep and is soon followed by ominous statements about epidemics, and “bodies burned in their thousands”. Throughout this track the soundscape fades in and out, and the ECG beep cuts through you like a scalpel. There is almost a feel of Kraftwerk, Radioactivity, to the throbbing back drop with its slight distortion.
“Things Man Was Not Meant To Know” possesses a Lovecraftian feel, but also is more chaotic in its sound, adding to the feeling of helplessness as the sounds wash over you. Perhaps even at times a hint of Einstürzende Neubauten.
Now it’s been a long time coming this review; listening to Ambient noise or Ambient/Industrial, but there is no questioning the ambient nature, or rather the experimental nature of the soundscapes of this album. It is one that can conjure up the darkest thoughts, and force the imagination to confront its fears. While it is easy to hear their influences, and easy to draw parallels to Throbbing Gristle and the legacy they left behind (Coil, Chis and Cosey,…), it is undeniably that this is an area where they have born their own sound, and only further work will see if they can persist and evolve their sound.
Just follow the opening instructions to “BreTheeth”…
Line Up
Tiffanie Wells
Simon John Bowers
Track Listing
Crash
Rope
Virus
Tin Man
Things Man Was Not Meant To Know
BreTheeth
Virus [Calm Death Mix by Caustic]
Cold Light of Day [Defeat Remix]
All Cut Up [Scarification Mix by X-KiN]
Bleed Between The Lines [raelism Mix]
Links
https://www.facebook.com/Beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand
http://beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand.bandcamp.com/
Words by Jon.
