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On disc: Nucleus Torn



Travellers - Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars
Andromeda Awaiting - Claudia Ehrhardt - 9 stars


www.nucleustorn.ch







Andromeda Awaiting

Andromeda Awaiting
(Prophecy Productions - 2010)


Swiss outfit Nucleus Torn aren't a typical band, Fredy Schnyder and his mates presenting Andromeda Awaiting, the last part of the trilogy which started with Nihil. The songs are numbered with Roman numbers - like on previous releases. The opener is slowly leading you into the soundscapes of Andromeda Awaiting. Maria D'Alessandro's voice is accompanied by the strings. In it's simplicity lies the beauty. But Schnyder knows how to create atmosphere with few but well chosen instruments. The second track is a notch faster, again the strings accompany Maria's voice, but it's a folk-ish tune. The whole album is a journey which let you discover different musical shores. At IV the flute is a dominant in the beginning, later the flute builds a counterpart to Maria's voice. It's a melancholy tune, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - before the darkness takes over again. Number 5 is only a short intermezzo which leads into the closer VI, another 15+ minutes long tune. Now Patrick Schaad has the leading role, the sadness in his voice is accompanied by piano and the strings. It's a bittersweet trip. The flute of Anouk Hiedl partly reminds me of Die Zauberflöte... But perhaps it's just my memory which tricks me.... Anyway, Fredy Schnyder is staying on track, he brings his musical vision to life. Nucleus Torn won't be the next big thing, but I guess that suits the Swiss just right. This is music for non-conformists, but if you are open-minded and if you like neo-folk and atmospheric soundscapes, then Andromeda Awaiting should please you.


9 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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Travellers

Travellers
(Prophecy Productions - 2010)


Nucleus Torn was born in 1997 and was an one-man project, the musical home of Fredy Schnyder. The multi-instrumentalist worked on his own for years, but then in 2000 Schnyder was ready for a band and started assemble musicians - and Nucleus Torn became a band. Travellers is a retrospective which presents the demo / EPs - overdone - as well as 2 new, previously unreleased tracks. As the original demo / EPs aren't available anymore, it's a good chance to get them now. Travellers kicks off with the 2004 release Krähenkönigin, but it makes sense to start with this EP, coz it was originally written in 1998 and so the first piece Schnyder wrote. The four-piece suite Krähenkönigin is a acoustic guitar piece which combines classic guitar and neo-folk.
Silver was the first stuff recorded with the core of what now is Nucleus Torn. The tracks were recorded in their rehearsal room, but the result didn't please Schnyder. Now the songs were overdone and as Schnyder says: "...today's digital editing technology allowed to uncover the hidden beauty of our performances. And now I listen to 'Silver' with pleasure."
After the title track Silver singer Patrick Schaad joins in for Witness - and the song gets more intense. No longer it's just acoustic guitar and so the atmosphere changes. And for the first time a dash of metal enters the Nucleus Torn sound.
The 2 songs off Submission were originally written for The New Grove Project, but Schnyder still enjoys the instrumental demos and so he added them to Travellers.
Leadless was written during the song writing sessions for Nihil, but the track was unique and didn't fit to the other tracks. Now it finally sees the light of day. At Leadless they surprise the listener with saxophone, but fans of Nucleus Torn are used to unusual instruments as hammer dulcimer, Irish bouzouki, mandolin, oud and saz baglama. The jazzy saxophone gives the track a different direction. The closer is Lurking which was written at the time of Nihil and is like a twin of Peregrina Sublime in Schnyder's way of thinking. Again it's an unusual song for Nucleus TornNucleus Torn, but it shares some chords with it's twin and as it was finished in 2009 it's probably also a look into the sonic future of Nucleus Torn...
Fans of Nucleus Torn will be happy to get the old recordings now for a fair price and that they no longer had to track them down on Ebay. Fans of atmospheric avant-garde and neo-folk will find it an easy way to get into the world of Fredy Schnyder and Nucleus Torn.


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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