Genre: Ambient / Drone / Industrial
01 I Never Promised You A Rosegarden
The temperature here in North Carolina is supposed to reach 100 degrees today. I'm already sweating and the sun is barely over the tree and skyscraper studded horizon that lies outside my east-facing window in the early morning hours. What better time to put on a disc whose press-release promises 'the sound of a blizzard in Antarctica.' An antidote perhaps ? Hardly.
While I've seen Bjerga's name around for a bit, this is my first actual listen. He's a busy man, prolific both in recording and also running the Gold Soundz imprint that operates under the TIBProd umbrella. I'm more familiar with his fellow Norweigian and steady collaborator Jan-M Iversen. I can see how these two would work well together; while Iversen's work has a dark quality, it's a bit more ethereal and evocative. Bjerga's work is more like the drone equivalent of black metal. What is it about Norway ?
To say that the music on this 3' disc is dark would be an understatement. This is foreboding drone music of the heaviest nature. Maybe like being buried under an anvil while periodic drops of molten lead add to the weight killing you ever so softly. Although you're being squeezed out of your very existence, there's something liberating about the whole experience. Is this the fabled final catharsis or the light at the end of tunnel ? Or just the end ? Nah, it just rocks. Here's the proof (if you needed any) that you don't need expensive guitars or huge stacks of amps to create truly heavy and punishing drone music.
It's not all static by the way. There are some minute variations along the way, most notably at about the halfway mark (it's a twenty minute piece) and again about three minutes from the end. There's nothing especially harsh about it except for a few noisy punctuations and the abruptly conclusive last minute. It's just a deep, gutteral soundscape that should be played as loudly as possible. Lucky for me, my neighbor's already off to work and my daughter is a sound sleeper.
If you have even a casual interest in drone music this disc should be considered essential. Owning this will also make you an elite consumer because there are only fifty copies. Buy them up and maybe we'll be treated to a repressing; this would sound absolutely phenomenal on vinyl !
As for my particular environment, I'm not getting the blizzard analogy. It sounds more like the gradually increasing temperature of sun on steel, like the old metal slide at the playground across the street. Like the song says : 'along with the sunshine, there's got to be a little pain sometime.'
