Grid comes in as a southing experience after suffering through two mediocre releases done back to back!
Electronic music is not always accessible, and sometimes it is just so noisy and too weird to be considered as music. Fortunately, it is not the case with this album. Ministry of Rites sounds like a kvlt, devil worshipper sort of a band. It was included in the infamous "666 box". Grid is the creation of two avant gardist artists: Tobias Fisher (PC electronics, loops, field recordings and piano) and Rent Romus (analogue electronics, alto/soprano sax, voices, radio and flute). Grid is a 60 minutes + dive into the imaginary & experimental world of those "feu follet" as their label is saying. Most of the time, the compositions are rather ambient; sometimes spacey and even pretty melodic, especially when the saxophone is making its frequent appearances. You can hear variation in loops and synthesizer textures, as well as some funny / cool tonalities on this disc. One of the aspects setting Ministry of Rites apart from what I've heard before in this type of music is the incorporation of nature samplings such as: rain, thunder, water flows and droplets. The sax is adding a nice melodic edge, while allowing the music to turn slightly into the free jazz form. I've enjoyed this album quite a bit, but I have preferences amongst the middle section : "Saturnine Shores", "Full-Moon Figment" and "Fadethrough".
Overall, Grid is a pleasantly different type of musical experience.
Track Listing
1 - Nightlight
2 - Saturnine Shores
3 - Full-Moon Figment
4 - Fadethrough
5 - Embers
6 - Grid