Re:Automation

Stanley Robinson | January 11, 2006

Kryptogen Rundfunk is a project from Russia who create, for a lack of a better term, Industrial-Noise-Ambient-Drone music. While the surface of Kryptogen Rundfunk's debut album "22.SZ" sounds like a blowtorch scraping away the rust off decaying metal, the underbelly sounds like a warm wave of sonic ambiance and soothing meditative tones. While some rhythmic elements do invade the occasional sonic barrage ("Ohne Augen" for instance sounds like Winterkalte on half speed), for the most part the music is radio noise, high frequencies, scraping noise elements and deep sonic tones.

Also worth mention is the great rendition of "Goworit Moskwa!" which for me was a really nice treat since I've always loved it since childhood. Also I'm in love with "Krampf" which to me is probably the most frightening piece of sound art I've heard in months, truly brilliant!

So to summarize, you're either going to fall in love with the music of Kryptogen Rundfunk or head straight for the aspirin. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle, because while I do love it, I'm not sure if I could listen to this for an extended period of time without having to take a break and re-center myself (a sign of great Industrial music I would say!). Either way, Kryptogen Rundfunk has demonstrated, at least to me, in a short time to be able to stand with the best when it comes to true Industrial sound. Perhaps more investigation is needed to really explore all the intricacies of this man's creations, only time will tell I'm sure.

link to original review