Somnambulist uses analogue sounds to produce dark scapes that are pulled deeper into a belly of angst through wrenching vocals. Secret Life offer an early new wave sound, dripping with post punk attitude on the transition to synth wave.
Few labels have had a more successful start than Walhalla Records. After the deserved fanfare that accompanied Underground Belgian Wave Vol. 1, the Antwerp imprint served up Underground Belgian Wave Vol. 2. Amid lost cold wave came dust covered synth gems and long forgotten post punk. Over the two LP’s a doorway into the hidden world of Belgian Wave was opened. Now comes two LP’s that further peer into the dark caverns of Belgium circa 1980.
Somnambulist, Mark Burghgraeve, has been part of the Belgian minimal set since there was a set. Burghgraeve appeared on Underground Belgian Wave Vol. 1 under his M.Bryo moniker and on Minimal Wave in 2007. Now Somnambulist has been given a full twelve inches to work off. The LP, Withered Land, is taken from a live show by Somnambulist recorded at the end of October in 1983 in Antwerp. As soon as the needle touches down the listener is brought into the dark and paranoid world of Somnambulist. The album opens with “A Mirage.” The track is slow, with instruments acting as accompaniments to the piercing lyrics that penetrates in cold and measured slices. It becomes immediately obvious that this is going to be an album of heart ache, loneliness and absolute estrangement. “Facing the Moon” is a looming and menacing piece, with organs rising over dead pan vocals. But, Somnambulist isn’t beyond measures of quirkiness. The B-Side opens with “The 9 Fingernails”, a strange camp-side piece with earthy drums and wind instruments. But the shadows are ever present on ‘Withered Land’, with the light-heartedness soon eclipsed by “The Heat.” Yet, just as it seems that all is to be consumed in black “Tribe” arrives. Gentle chords and spoken word act as a respite before the solitude of “The Hunt” brings this stylistically turbulent live set to a close.
Next up for Walhalla are Secret Life and their Nineteen Eighty Four LP. The Antwerp based group had some notoriety around the Belgian wave scene in the early to mid eighties. The quintet restart with “Dashboard.” The track has a quintessential wave sound, with guitars and synths meshing; somewhat of a Poeme Electronique feel, but much less synth orientated. The Secret Life sound is not polished synth wave, but has a rough home-made quality. There is a steady disintegration on the record, Secret Life’s sound breaking down the listener whilst pouring forth a cold sorrow, as in “The Mind.” The group have a post punk edge that runs through their sound, coming to a head with the thrashing “Witches.” It’s hard to pin these guys to a sound, leaping back and forth as they do from the populist strings of “Searching” into the abstraction of “Aggression.” To round off the LP are two live versions, first up “Questions” followed by “Witches.”
A decent amount of the wave resurgence has been based around the synthesizer, the sound and feel of the early producers on brand new technology. For Walhalla’s latest the synth takes more of a back seat, being utilised by both Somnambulist and Secret Life to supplement their sounds rather than create them. Somnambulist uses analogue sounds to produce dark scapes that are pulled deeper into a belly of angst through wrenching vocals. Secret Life offer an early new wave sound, dripping with post punk attitude on the transition to synth wave. These are not of the synth pop tradition, at the opposite of that spectrum. These are guttural commentaries, echoes from the Belgian Wave scene which Walhalla is breathing new life into with ever release.
Both releases are out now on Walhalla.
