Svart1 is the dark ambient/noise project of Italian artist Raimondo Gaviano, active since 2007. He has produced under this moniker various releases like Ab Imo Pectore (2008, Kaos Ex Machina Promotions), Der Schnitter (2011, Mask Of The Slave) and Frozen Chants (2018, Luce Sia), and now he returns for the Romanian label with the new 9-track album Monotono.
Here we find a sound informed by dark ambient, drone and noise, rich in textures and ambiances engulfed by grim soundscapes and ominous scenarios. The result is an eerie, evoking style made of suspended tension and cinematic passages.
5.11 starts our journey with obsessive loops and subtle crescendos, giving us a droning motif in the form of waves of sound and distant effects, ready to emerge with shrilling distotions and hidden mechanical rhythms. 7.33 is a game of samples and effects, used in a strange rhythmic session soon reached by ominous atmospheres full of noisy vibration and obscure sounds. The dark ambient nature of the project is on full display here, building a crawling movement made of suggestions.
6.26 is an abrasive number with looping noisescapes and repeated elements, dwelling in dark degression and ghostly atmospheres. The hypnotizing drone is the field upon which sudden effects are layered, while the listener is captured in its black web. 6.12 ends the album with almost industrial undertones of cutting quality, once again using to its advantage various sound-sources taken from everyday life and modified for the track. Sparse rhythms give us the sensation of an inner turmoil climaxing during the second half of the episode.
An interesting work requiring a meditative state from the listener, an evocation of distant worlds habitating our minds and souls. Monotono is like an universal clockwork running on our inner darkness and the immutable rhythm of time. Try it for yourself.
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