In his interview for
Indieville, Hans Grüsel described his music as ideally suited to a "spookhouse/dark
ride type attraction," where the participant is
brought through several distinct rooms fitted with terrifying
visuals. On Blaue Blooded Türen, that description could not
be more apt.
To secure the
imagery's overtness, the album's liner notes give a descriptive framework
with which to follow along. This journey begins at sea, makes its
way though a "blooded door," spends some time in the world of
Dallas
Bower'sAlice in Wonderland, then winds up going through yet
another blooded door. Grüsel's tools are a seemingly endless bevy of
sounds that he draws upon, ranging from harsh, mechanical noise to
odd snippets or melody (the carnival merry-go-round melody on "Down
the Rabbit Hole," for example). With relation to this album's
atmosphere, his background in videogame sound design renders him
quite adept at evoking strong feelings and images in the listener,
although clearly the artistic process is different when working with
music to be consumed without a specific context.
Beginning at sea, we
hear the dripping and bubbling of liquids on "Storm (Auf der Meer)"
and the weird electronic chaos of "Stress." Electronic elements and
viola are paired, melding the organic and the electric into a unique
cauldron of sound. The first blooded door draws the listener into a
horrific mess of sound on "Pulse Widthed Doors," only to face the
absurdity of chattering teeth and and woodpeckers abuzz on
"Dark Waldung", and later the funereal harmonicas of "Fanfares."
As the journey
continues, one is taken through the carnivalesque world of Alice
in Wonderland, and the horror of yet another (equally
petrifying) blooded door. Despite its whimsical subject matter, this is not an easily accessible release,
in that it falls well short of conventional notions of rhythm and
melody. However, its careful attention to detail, and its clever use
of sonic detritus, set it apart from the average noise release. As
far as experimental albums go, this is one of the more vivid and
auspicious discs out there - and one that separates itself from the
pack in terms of originality and execution.
