Berlin-based artist Dennis Schulze has always drawn inspiration from a wide range of genres and sources: from library music and prog riffs to synth sounds and psych-pop. On Release The Beast, his sixth album unter moniker CV Vision, he once again blends these influences into something uniquely his own. This time around, Detroit techno and death metal provide the foundation for his excursions into uncharted sonic territory.
What sets this album apart from his earlier works is its departure from conceptual frameworks. The Beach (2021), for instance, was inspired by a weekend at the seaside – including grey clouds drifting by. Tropical (2021) revolved around Sixties influences, while Im Tal der Stutzer (2023) fused psychedelic folk and art pop. What makes his approach so remarkable is that Schulze doesn’t rely on sample collages: he records his compositions live – together with drummer Uno Bruniusson – and then samples his own material.
Deep dives into sound
»I want to treat music as an art form, not a way to make money,« says Schulze, who now lives in Berlin. After working for years as a sound engineer, the 33-year-old now supports people with disabilities as his day job. He grew up in Bayreuth – a city not exactly known for its pop-cultural vibrancy. What saved him, he says, were the endless archives that opened up in the 2000s: “When YouTube really took off, I was suddenly discovering random 7-inches curated by 50-year-old guys sitting somewhere in the U.S. I would never have found those records in any record shop. The internet allowed me to dive deep into Sixties culture and psych music.”
Release The Beast
These days, Schulze finds inspiration in very different places: the sound worlds of Estonian artist Misha Panfilov, the grooves of Amsterdam-based band Devon Rexi, or the gently meandering kraut- and psych-rock explorations of Go Kurosawa.
