MACHINIST - CYCLUS (CDR by Beton Toon)
The label from Zeno van den Broek, also known as Machinist, is called Beton Toon, dutch for tone made of concrete. That may say something about the music. Heavy as a brick, no, a rock. I imagine Machinist recording in an empty industrial space, or a silo, armed with a few metal plates, a cello, a guitar and above all a lot of reverb. Maybe he sits at home, and records his stuff, using a lot more reverb. Me personally I don't like this extensive use of artificial reverb a lot. It adds a sauce over the music which makes things oh so spooky, but it also hides away any inabilities the music might have. I wouldn't dare to use the word 'gothic' very lightly, but seeing he played at Summer Darkness, the biggest goth event in The Netherlands, might give you a clue. The monk chant like singing in 'Malopticum' is a further evidence. Darker then life, darker than black: this is not music to bring joy and light upon the listener. Best pieces are the shorter 'Disopticum' and 'Panopticum', which
rely more on drones. Though not bad, and certainly with an audience, this is all not too well-spend on me. (FdW)
Address: http://www.machinistdrone.com