Monolog (aka Mads Lindgren) is one of those artists we know continues to gradually morph his abstract soundscapes into new and unexpected forms.
Claustrophobic electronics
There are musicians you can always depend on, release after release, and even with subtle growth changes through the years, whether it be in genre, style, or trajectory, there’s always that curiosity factor that arises. Monolog (aka Mads Lindgren) is one of those artists we know continues to gradually morph his abstract soundscapes into new and unexpected forms.
Monolog does in just over 25 minutes what most artists struggle to do on full-length releases. Four Four Twenty Twenty shakes and rattles with a darker edge, the Danish, but resident in Berlin, delivers claustrophobic electronics, meshing heavy metal elements with Scorn-like low-end rhythmic precision (ref. the title track as a primary example.) Elsewhere, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any breathing room—”UNDERWAY,” featuring Atsushi Itzuma, carves a treacherous path of sandblasted glitch and scorched dark ambient slivers. “PARAIAH” flows through calmer guitar-laden downtempo with pitter-patter notes and tones reminding us that everything will be okay. Not forgetting the splattered beats and shredded bass on the opening piece “CETACEANS (feat. Current Value),” a bleak and destructive composition.
Monolog finds comfort in the extreme; tracks like “NUX” hit like a locomotive with grunge, noise, and industrial smashed together as “NAIAD” zips by at 100 MPH; its sizzling beat work setting the tone of this otherwise exhausting and densely packed EP. Simply baffling.
Four Four Twenty Twenty is available on Murder Channel. [Bandcamp]
