NEMESIS: Early Days 1 (DDL EP on Retroduction)
This 2014 release features 18 minutes of electronic music, the first half soothing, the second portion more frenetic.
Nemesis is: Joni Virtanen, Jyrki Kastman, and Ami Hassinen.
Nemesis has always dabbled with crafting sedate electronic music that inevitably builds to some level of intensity. These early tracks display the genesis of that predilection.
Calming texturals are seasoned by low-key effects that do more than punctuate, but actually contribute to the flow's mounting tension. These lush foundations pulsate, almost approximating a cosmic breathrate. Meanwhile, a host of inventive auxiliary electronics swing in, wave, then exit stage left.
In one of the three tracks, electric guitar snarls chase a hectic keyboard sequence around, finally cornering the squeal and fusing with it.
In another tune, the chase motif is repeated, but this time it's a squad of space yachts racing across a panoramic nebula backdrop in which the stars release electronic flashes.
An harmonic presence is frequently undermined by repeated hints of melody, sneaking in here and there, and ultimately manifesting as an expression of release, as each tune infiltrates the audience's head to trigger some interpretation.
NEMESIS: Early Days 2 (DDL EP on Retroduction)
This 2014 release features 19 minutes of tasty electronic music.
Nemesis is: Joni Virtanen, Jyrki Kastman, and Ami Hassinen.
With this offering, Nemesis blends ambience with bouncy tuneage, offering compositions that wander from genre to genre: one minute pelting out snappy astral sounds, the next expressing a subterranean drone, and then on to another stretch of nimble electronics dogged by jealous effects.
While a lot of the electronics are atmospheric in nature, there's an equal share of fleet-fingered keyboard riffs and weirding effects ricocheting around in the mix. The spry melodies are catchy, bewitching; the mellow passages are mesmerizing-and just as bewitching. Some of those keyboard assaults are rather intense and insistent about it.
It's nice when a band can deliver on dual fronts. And one must salute Nemesis' penchance for mingling soft and hard into such delicious morsels.
ASHEN SIMIAN: The Ends of the Earth (DDL on Retroduction)
This 2014 release features 50 minutes of fragile ambience building to stunning electronic tuneage.
Ashen Simian is: Ami Hassinen (from Nemesis).
Track one features airy texturals sighing and coexisting with stronger outbursts of gentle diodes. An assortment of diode outbursts punctuate the flow, while the background atmospheric leads...
To the second piece, wherein additional tonalities slide into play, embellishing the foundation into a denser presence of electronic vapor. As various elements give and withdraw, a sense of northward motion is induced. Subtle wind sounds lurk within the mix, ultimately transforming into the swish of shooting stars and delivering the listener...
To track three, where isolated pulsations gradually establish a twinkling melody amid the celestial tones that swell to fill the sonic panorama. Bass notes enter the accumulation, augmenting the pulsations to achieve a sprightly passage of cavorting electronics. As the song progresses, additional threads enter the flow, strengthening the melody's mounting puissance, driving everything to a dazzling crescendo of stratospheric delight.
The fourth song continues that crescendo, pursuing alluring diversions among the interfacing instruments. A sense of stately power is maintained as the melodies surge and crest, offering a variety of ambrosial developments along the way.
The last piece introduces a more peaceful demeanor to everything. The pace slows down, the intensity ebbs. A new melody arises from these dwindling aspects, rallying its own vigor. Pulsating tones conspire with buzzing gears and gurgling electronic effects. A twinkling keyboard riff conquers the flow, signaling a final ascension as auxiliary keyboard threads appear to provide sturdy support.
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