Definition of Raw Moments From a Different Perspective by Mago (Review)
It’s inevitable that I’m not going to be able to write about every band that comes along the way I’d like to. Good bands fall through the cracks, unfortunately, regardless of intentions. Such was the fate that nearly befell Mago. I’d picked up a CD of their work (Enlace) at Cornerstone 2001, and even had a chance to interview a couple members (again, something which has not yet been placed on the site). Well Fortune, it seems, has deemed fit to give me another chance to write about this group.
Mago is but one of several incarnations of the Crescens Collective, a group of like-minded Swedish musicians that also includes the likes of Sanctum, Parca Pace, November Commandment, Azure Skies, and Chromedragon. I haven’t heard all of the acts, but the ones I have heard do share certain common musical threads. If you were lazy, you could lump the whole thing into the “industrial” category, but that would completely dismiss the depth and variety contained within the Collective.
Of the collective, Mago definitely leans in a much more electro/industrial direction than, say, the neo-classicism of Sanctum or the tribal-driven Parca Pace. Of course, it also gets brutal in places, and by “brutal,” I’m referring to that sound that only Swedes seem capable of achieving. We’re talking dying factories where the machinery seems intent on tearing itself to pieces, alien soundscapes that seem like something out of a Tarkovksy movie, and distorted vocal run through AM radio stations lost in an Arctic blizzard.
The thing is, and this just goes to show how talented Mago is, it never feels confrontational or done just to be dark and ominous. Even when the noise it at its most solid and overwhelming, Mago (a.k.a. Jan Carleklev and Hakan Paulsson) are still capable of sculpting it into impressive forms.
Originally composed as pieces for a dance performance, Definition of Raw Moments From a Different Perspective moves all over the electronic board, and contrary to what you might think, it does so with incredible grace. Opening with “Tumbling Down The Rabbit Hole” (which takes the electronic bleeps of Craig Armstrong’s The Space Between Us in harrowing directions), Definition of Raw Moments From a Different Perspective definitely keeps you on your toes. Mago isn’t afraid to slather on the noise and dark atmospheres until you’re afraid your stereo might crumble to dust, and then suddenly shift away into a slinky, subtle groove.
“Your Mind Blew Across The Grass In Ripples” might have been one of the weaker tracks on Enlace, but here it’s given new life with a heavier, buzzsaw-like electronics and additional rhythms. The sounds are nothing new, especially if you’ve ever listened to any industrial music, but the context feels deeper and better realized. This is doubly so for “Enlaced by Ropes.” My favorite track off Enlace, it’s thrilling to hear it again.
Like “Your Mind…,” the song feels tuned to a finer precision, delivering an undulating mix of bass grooves and spiraling synth notes that twists in unexpected ways while battered by ragged, icy winds. It’s very reminiscent of Pan American’s work on “360 Business/360 Bypass,” also exhibiting the same attention to detail that makes a fairly minimal 12 minute song interesting to the last second. The album’s final track, “Infinite,” hearkens back to the ethnic-driven Parca Pace project, envisioning a Blade Runner-esque pursuit through a 22nd century Middle-Eastern bazaar with rhythms that grow increasingly out of control.
Definition of Raw Moments From a Different Perspective does feel uneven at times, especially “Spaceships and Piles of Mud.” Compared to the undeniable groove of “Enlaced by Ropes,” it feels rather loud and clumsy. But that’s a minor quibble. Throughout it’s 72 minutes, Definition of Raw Moments From a Different Perspective remains a fascinating study in electronic music, taking a sound that could easily become cliched and taking it into new (well, at least for me) and interesting directions.