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Frore — Biome
(Spotted Peccary SPM-4601, 2023, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-05-23

Biome Cover art

Frore is electronic musician and composer Paul Casper, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and although he has released numerous recordings over the last fifteen years or so, mostly on Earth Mantra, Relaxed Machinery, and Dark Duck Records, thus far on Spotted Peccary he has only appeared in collaboration with Shane Morris, until now that is; Biome is his first solo release on Spotted Peccary. According to Casper, the six long tracks that feature on Biome were inspired by the interconnectedness of a forest, and how one small living community can contain many components that comprise the whole. While that may have been the composer’s intent, there is far more going on within this work that might be interpreted many different ways. One will hear drones, pads, heavy tribal percussion, world instruments, hypnotic industrial sounds, sequences and even field recordings, all creating dense and immersive atmospherics that a listener can easily get lost within. The tribal elements are quite prominent throughout, though one might suspect most of the heavy percussives are created with software instrumentation loops, though they are no less effective. Synth elements are rugged and often abrasive, certainly not pretty or smooth, with snarly jagged edges and swirling psychedelic chemistry that opens the listener’s imagination. “Luminous and Tangled” is almost like a soundtrack to a shaded world of mystical dark imagery, where sounds of insects intertwine with synthesizers, flutes, bass loops and more. The opener “Algae Bloom” sets the stage with an almost frightening industrial introduction that gives way to a slow and measured cadence. One is treated to myriad found sounds in the introductory section of “Fern Cluster” as synths groan and grow over an intense primal drum beat, while ethereal synths paint colors in the distance. The fourteen-minute closer “Mycelium Dreams” weaves a complex tangle of alien sounds over an intense and massive ongoing groove. The intrepid listener can navigate this Biome on many different levels, each a powerful and engulfing experience.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Frore (Paul Casper)

More info
http://frore-spm.bandcamp.com/album/biome?label=1578511096&tab=music

 

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