Underground Sounds: Anturgle – Oursgaard

Label: Howling Griffons Music
Band: Anturgle
Origin: ?

I know virtually nothing of this one man project, apart from that I suspect that is a French project. The maker must have an affinity with a wide array of music, because the sound of Anturgle betrays a lot of interesting elements, ranging from folk and black metal to maybe even a classical element.

While there’s only little information available, it becomes clear that the recordings were done in the Savoy Region in the south-west of France. Unfortunately who is behind the project is a mystery. A mix of English, French and Norwegian makes up the vocals and with little editing in the studio the songs  are just put together. The directness of this record is audible instantly.

The record opens with bombastic drums. Deep sonorous chanting accompanies the banging percussion on ‘Licou’. Then an eerie bit of distortion seeps into the sound and  harsh vocals can be heard. Heavy and very foreboding it’s hard to realise that these are mostly recorded sounds. It’s like a demonic string instrument is creating a dark bit of swing music. The manner in which the sound shapes up hardly feels like ambient, but in essence that is what you hear.

That feeling of a nekrofolk sound remains on the next tracks on the album. The ‘Cadaver Chute’ swings up and down but suddenly stops in a weird way at the end. There’s something playful with a dark twist to the sound of Anturgle. The vibe is an almost sardonic one, when the tune unfolds out on ‘Ours Deniers’. A noisy wave overtakes the melody and lisped vocals  by the musician, suggesting dark things. Speculative fears and mystery make this record what it is.

Dissonant riffs and howling screams delivered in a most peculiar way,help in unnerving the listener. The whole record assaults the ear and lacks the expected and comfort and also, in case I didn’t emphasize it, rather strange. Densely atmospheric and undeniably tribal like on ‘Back To The Forest’, the music remains an object of fascination. You should give this a spin.

2 thoughts on “Underground Sounds: Anturgle – Oursgaard”

  1. Hi,
    Thanks for this review.
    I found your opinion very instructive and “well seen”.
    For information (i’m not a mystery, i just don’t communicate a lot because i don’t usually like this) : I recorded this album mainly in my attic (for electric instruments) and in forest for some sounds (crows, wind, fire, screams etc.) and some voices on cave.
    All noises have been recorded in Savoy (mountainous region of France, at two steps of “Mont Blanc”).
    I mixed all these sounds with audacity and no more.
    Thanks again ; I didn’t know your blog, i will go rummage !

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