Although the name may sound French Alphonse De Montfroyd is actually a pseudonym of Alexey Pilipenko from the Ukraine. Silence is his debut release and is also the second in Ad Noiseam’s Dark Ambient Series. Defect Analysts is a split release on Ukraine label Nexsound featuring 3 tracks from Pilipenko and 1 longer track from Nihil Est Excellence. Superbly packaged in a clear plastic sleeve with printed translucent inserts, Defect Analysts reflects a progression in Pilipenko ‘s work between this and his Silence CDR.
Silence is a simply packaged hand-numbered 3 inch CDR in a printed blue gatefold slipcase. None of the 5 tracks have titles but are all in the dark ambient vein. Track 1 resonates with high-pitched whirring alien-like tones while Track 2 has a plodding bassline over fizzing static and a constant oscillating tone. Track 3, the shortest of the tracks on this CDR at 1:25, features an eerily slow radar-like blip against the insectoid sounds of a tropical night. Shifting the pace up a little is Track 4 with its relentlessly mechanical thuds and animalistic wails that have an air of anxious urgency about them. Closing the single is Track 5 and its throbbing reactor tone over the whir of distant machinery.
In contrast to Silence, Defect Analysts shows another aspect of Pilipenko’s work by introducing a lighter more melodic element to his work. “Purple Shell” for example still has the resonating drones and futuristic pitched tones but also introduces an orchestral type warmth and serene melodic element. “Le Dialogue Digital” is completely different, featuring occasional bell-like booms and frantically bubbling digital bursts punctuated with silences. The last of Pilipenko’s trilogy of tracks, “Japan Night Bomber”, returns to a tropical bird song backdrop with almost tribal horn sounds. Closing the CD is Nihil Est Excellence’s single almost 10-minute track entitled “Wan-Vex”. Taking an increasingly low mechanical grind over minute scrapes and oddly manipulated fidgeting sounds, Nihil Est Excellence use silence and space to great effect as nightmarish drones, textures and wails permeate the latter half of the track.
Pilipenko’s tracks are textural and drone-based but skilfully executed. While his work is loop centred, it also subtly shifts, evolves and mutates as it progresses, each subtle becoming more absorbing. His work provides a futuristic air of tension, anxiousness and foreboding that is a good indicator of a quality production of this type. Nihil Est Excellence have a similar approach but adopt a less loop-based style, opting instead for the use of space and more miniscule sounds to add atmosphere. For fans of ambient or textual drone artists, both these releases are certainly worth seeking out and as a newcomer to the scene, Pilipenko has a great future ahead of him.
Paul Lloyd