Tunguska

   If your familiar with the music of Kevin M. Krebs composing under is 833-45 alias, then I think that you'll agree that "Tunguska" might just be his most compelling work to date under that guise. "Tunguska" is continuation of a theme that began with the self-released, limited cd-r "Solar Cycle 23" [reissued by Autoplate as a free, virtual album in 2002] and of his early live work at the time fusing noise, captured radio signals, and programmed beats into a potent long-player of rhythmic ambient noise. Just the association of the names "833-45" and "Tunguska" is suggestive of the sonic power inherent to this album. On the one hand, we have 833-45 delivering his own formidable take on electronic music and the noise aesthetic, but along with that we have the powerful image of the well documented 1908 "Tunguska Event" in which a massive explosion (possibly caused by the air burst of large meteoroid or comet fragment) flattened over 2000 square kilometers of a remote region in Russia.

   Whether it be the abstract, broken industrial beats and strident noise of the title track. the relentless, intoxicating rhythm of "Assassins", the beatless backdrop and surging, distorted electronic tones of "Amethyst", the melancholic and near apocalyptic atmosphere of "Alamut", or the swirling, electronic lamentations and distant voices of "Ialdaboath", listening to the sixteen tracks on "Tunguska" is an immersive sound experience that you will not soon forget. Coupled with some enigmatic track titles that only intensify the already mysterious aura surrounding the 1908 enigma, "Tunguska" is an aural experience that is sure to bring you to a state of sonic bliss.

- Larry Johnson

Cover art courtesy of Heath Yonaites.