Scandinavian languages like to mislead you into thinking you can understand them without much knowledge, simply because they share one or two similarities with German. The project Civilistjävel!, presumably from Uppsala, does not make it so easy, however. The title of their latest album »Järnnätter« translates into »ice saints«, or literally »iron night«, but what about the name plus exclamation mark? The devil state? Mysteriousness seems to be part of the concept of this electronic solitaire who warns you right from the start with feedbacks in the first untitled track not to expect any cosiness. Which is not quite true for the full length, since the very next track is eleven minutes of strictly reduced groove building on the lowest of flames. The only warmth is provided by the somewhat rough synthesiser bass. Or is it actually singing ice that you hear tinkling? Ambient melodies wrapped in hoarfrost above, barely penetrating rapping from below, everything as captivating as a vast winter landscape. All in all, Civilistjävel! prefers the gruff, rumbly factory-band-like, somewhat shriller and brighter frequencies, and he likes sounds that are on the verge of veering into the distorted. All this, however, is never crammed into hopeless confinement. Claustrophobics need not fear this music, for there is always sufficient air and a thin splinter of horizon in sight. You could call these structures post-industrial soundscapes, biotopes in which inhospitable temperatures prevail. Nevertheless, the prospect of spring remains, somewhere deep inside this wonderfully unyielding music.
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Järnnätter
