Over the past decade Sult has created a thrillingly dynamic and visceral sound world, improbably forging a musical unity while also asserting the radically unique languages of its three core members, Guro Skumsnes Moe and Håvard Skaset, based in Norway, and Jacob Felix Heule in California. Their raw acoustic improvisations crackle with an energy that makes indirect communications reverberate on a cosmic level, evoking natural phenomena; storms, landslides, tectonic frictions, lightning splitting forests of trees. Sult's music exists on the outer edges of free improvisation and the avant garde, echoing the multi-layered, sonic intensity of AMM's Crypt era as well as Mauricio Kagel's most physical/textural work and the existential force of Helmut Lachenmann's "instrumental musique concrète".
"Always I Gnaw" is the sharpest realization of Sult's vision to date. Over the course of three pieces the group deploys extended techniques and invents original approaches to their instruments with a joyous fervor. Guro Moe’s contrabass brims with primal urgency, sometimes providing ballast and at other times glancing away in unpredictable directions. Håvard Skaset’s acoustic guitar scrapes and snaps like a fire's embers giving way to air, all the while percussionist Jacob Felix Heul's percussive frictions percolate from a distilled concentration, piercing the sonic maelstrom.
The title of the album's closing track, "The Freedom of Others Extends Mine To Infinity" quotes Mikhail Bakunin, the 19th century revolutionary anarchist, and perhaps perfectly encapsulates the uncompromising ethos and spirit that is embodied by Sult's music. The trio’s distinct voices both splinter and resonate in sympathy; individual demonstrations of virtuosity become utterly unnecessary. The combination of quick-tempered interactions made from noisy brutality and acoustic earthiness results in an album that glows with a healing, free-spirited wonder and an astoundingly unified wholeness.
Featuring the photography of Aage Villy Skåret. Presented in three variant tip-on jackets with gloss film laminate finishes, contrasting uncoated paper and metallic spot colors. Includes 27" x 11.5" tri-fold insert printed on both sides.
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SKU: TW-V
$23.00Price
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