Melancholic Anger is just that, an engaged album that punctuates the outer glitch-IDM landscape with a flare for classical moments peppered throughout.
Pauk (aka Pau Cabruja) returns to form with the aptly titled Melancholic Anger on the ever on-point Discontinu imprint. Here we see the Barcelona, Spain-based artist slide through various genres—melancholy brushed up against classical intonations, piano, and all manner of glitch and emotive debris.
Rapid-fire beats punch through wavy bass rhythms as noted on “Dark Grid.” Elsewhere, subdued tribal-techno tensions are released on “Tenshi,” a shivering acidic experiment that veers onto barren streets blissfully. Pauk isn’t one to stray far from drill’n bass densities as found on “Helianthus” and “Tusk”—filled to the brim with blips, bleeps and erratic blocks, these two tracks are creative cacophonies. “A Significant Spot,” perhaps the crowning achievement, elicits a fragrant instrumental blur, its softer tones and percussive collage are reminiscent of Clark, a highlight that merits repeated listening.
In all, Melancholic Anger is just that, an engaged album that punctuates the outer glitch-IDM landscape with a flare for classical moments peppered throughout.
Melancholic Anger is available on Discontinu.
