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Reviews

Ni — Fol Naïs
(Dur et Doux DD-068, 2023, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-04-07

Fol Naïs Cover art

Anyone who’s heard the music of Ni before will find more of the same (or similar at least) insanity on Fol Naïs as there was on the band’s previous albums like Les Insurgés de Romilly (2015) and Pantophobie (2019). If anything, the music is darker and more brutal than before, pushing the kind of pummeling dissonance found on the heavier tracks from Thrak and Vrooom along with the bleakness and sonic despair of Present’s best work. With two guitars (Anthony Béard and François Mignot), bass (Benoit Lecomte), and drums (Nicolas Bernollin), Ni lacks the expanded sonic palette of Present, but they also avoid the kind of repeating patterns that later King Crimson often incorporated. Fol Naïs is a relentless rhythmic assault of angular rhythms that seem much more precise than human musicians should be able to produce. There are a few moments of respite, however. The first track, “Zerkon,” starts with a minute and a half of eerie ambience before the chaos intrudes, but it isn’t until track 7 that a listener can relax again for more than a handful of seconds. Something new this time out is the use of some digital effects in the mix, which occasionally derail the flow with blasts of noise. These merely serve to heighten the unease that the music imparts and provide the band with one more tool to keep listeners off guard. I suppose Ni has some things in common with math rock bands, though interlocking polyrhythms are not in the works. The music seems to consist of a series of intense notes not organized in metric patterns — even listeners inclined to count along and deduce the time signatures will be foiled by the lack of repetition. For those who are already fans of Ni, Fol Naïs will be a welcome addition, and for those who haven’t heard Ni but think the style might interest them, it’s a fine introduction. For listeners who think that King Crimson is too dissonant, Ni is likely completely out of the equation.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Ni, Anthony Béard

More info
http://niiii.bandcamp.com/album/fol-na-s

 

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