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review by Dene Bebbington Otarion is the recording name of German musician Rainer Klein and Faces of the Night is his fourth album on which he continues to refine and expand his unique sound. His style partly harks back to the glory days of Tangerine Dream of the 1980s due to the use of Berlin style sequencing combined with melodies, however, Otarion's music is generally more poised and perfectionist. He's one of those artists whose music has a distinctive sound, one particular signature that we hear, as on other albums, is the drum sequence that quickly builds up to a crescendo. There are many aspects to night which the album explores, some of which are dark in a sinister sense. The sun sets ushering in the night, so logically the first track is called "Nightfall"; beginning with a metallic drone, various effects and strands of wordless vocals in the distance, the onset of night is heralded as we enter a dark and sometimes disturbing realm. The piece then morphs into a sequence around which electronics, vocals, and electric guitar style synth melody get things moving and indicate that this is an album which works best with the volume cranked up a bit. Essentially the album is a mixture of formless stretches of music that add atmosphere, and lots of energised sequencing and melodies. Things even get a little gothic in nature in the piece "Nightmare", here a refrain reminiscent of John Carpenter's theme to the film Halloween gets the piece going as portentous synth washes and vocals come and go. Then towards the end of this piece we hear big organ sounds being hammered out, it's almost as though a mad organist is getting enjoyment from a soundtrack to our nightmare - or maybe I'm just being too dramatic! Faces of the Night is a solid release from Otarion, in my opinion it's his best since the debut Es Werde Licht and gets a recommendation for anyone who likes Teutonic style EM. Also, for those not familiar with the artist it's probably the best album to start with. |
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