Denis Frajerman - Macau Peplum [Klanggalerie]

French experimental composer Denis Frajerman should be a well known name to regular readers of these pages who had his last appearance reviewwise on here with his latest Klanggalerie album "Wastelands / Lawrence Of Arabia" back in May 2019. Now Frajerman is coming back with "Macau Peplum", a 62 minutes spanning longplay outing which in fact is a re-issue, marking the 20th anniversary of the release of this album which was originally put on the circuit via long time defunct imprint Noise Museum back in 2000. Split in two parts with the actual "Macau Peplum" composition consisting of seven tracks the album opens with a raw, somewhat fever'ish sequence of tunes amalgamating elements of Industrial / Ritual Electronics and cold, sci-fi athmospheres with sharp sounding, somewhat metallic and polylayered drums of an untamed, ancient and tribalistic nature, oftentimes paired with twangy, plucked strings and expressive vocals as well as echoes of DarkJazz and Modern Opera whilst pieces like "Romulus Vulvus" even feature Jazz Noir-leaning sequences, "Zöl Forceps (Spartacus)" indulges in deep, nightly Ambient scoreworks for a change before making way for more fever'ish drum ecstasy and intense chants whilst "Krui Ta Race" perfectly depicts, if intentionally or not is unclear, the steady flow and passing of time due to its stripped down and repetetive, yet ever so slightly changing nature just to pick three tracks for a detailed negotiation here. Furthermore the additional second half "Le Voyeur" spreads out over the course of roughly 20 minutes as one extended single piece, exploring more experimental, tense and well score'esque musical territories, evoking memories of bizarre low budget, short format art films whilst standing out as the way more interesting and fascinating part of the album even though the raw production and sound design don't leave a doubt about this being a piece composed very early within the artists career.

Album artwork on Instagram!