The Italian experimental trio Morkobot has committed another act of avant-garde sonic weirdness in the form of their fourth album Morbo, which is two-bass instrumental noise attack.
Morbo truly exposes the listener to pure bass mayhem, as the instrumentation actually only consists of two quite distorted basses and a drum kit. The tunes on the album have a chaotic, yet almost minimalistic feel to them, as the compositions emphasize repetition of compact bass riffs. The drumming is quite complex, as the drummer often opts for alternatives to 1-2-3-4 drumming - even in passages that actually have a 4/4 meter. The distorted basses, and the fact that they do not always play in unison, as well as Morkobot's occasional experiments with noise add to the apparent generation of sonic chaos.
However, behind this wall of chaos and noise is a skeleton of complex, but orderly, structure, based on patterns of various types. The drumming may come off as chaotic, but that is because the drumming is simply complex and technically advanced - if you listen closely, you will find that the drumming is actually very refined and controlled, but still, the drummer does beat the living daylights out of his kit. Similarly, the bass-playing, despite the noisy and chaotic appearance of the basses, is based on repetition of compact ostinatos, which are solid and precisely executed.
I do not think that the album will appeal to fans of commercial pop music, but if you like experimental progressive music which is both technically advanced and dirty and minimalistic, Morbo will definitely prove to be an enjoyable and challenging listen worthy of many spins.
Track list:
1. Ultramorth
2. Orkotomb
3. Orbothord
4. Oktrombo
5. MoR
6. Oktomorb
7. Obrom
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
