Camecrude – Enclave II-II [Cioran Records]

Camecrude is the ritual/harsh noise project from French guitarist Valentin Laborde. Under this moniker the artist offers a tense, aggressive and droning sound in which dissonance and distortion become the main themes for eerie and grim soundscapes. All of this is obtained via machines and a hurdy-gurdy, an ancient string instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-tuned wheel which rubs against the strings.

The author has a peculiar approach to noise music mixing ritual loops, ancient sounds, modern abrasive elements and darkwave undertones. In 2017 he signed the label Cioran Records and he released the debut Enclave I in 2018. In early 2019 he accompanied the philosopher and writer Rolland Jaccard during a recording published on the homonymous compilation Le Danger d’Engendrer, mixing lucid philosophy and dark ritual music.

Now he returns with Enclave II-II, pursuing his unique path with strength and conviction while cementing an apt artistic vision. Les Maux : Minja Los Que Non Te Mingen welcomes us with a very long suit starting with fragmented effects, slowly developing into a coarse affair with majestic distortions droning noises underlined by sudden bursts of eerie voices and shrilling movements. The second all offers a sort of mutant psychedelia beaconing a link between different artistic expressions.

La Mort : Précis de Décomposition works as a chanson-in-the-factory, a series of dissonant sounds and gritty lines remade as decadent obsessions. The track reaches almost orchestral climaxes via saturation of sounds, once again offering a malevolent operatic taste in which discord becomes an inverted order; the final part instead dwells in subtler and darker effects.

Broishami has roots in ethnic music, a steady movement with electro-acoustic soundscapes and distant chants taking the front-stage with a slow crescendo. At last, a solemn motif with hidden melancholy offers a cinematic and exhilarating conclusion full of pathos.

The album ends with the rhythmic pastiche Vœu d’Échec, an enthralling commixtion of grave loops, looming movements, and sung parts with a peculiar dark/post-punk taste. The lucid fever-atmosphere is vivid and persistent, in a crescendo ready to collapse into cosmic abstractions and harsh distortions.

Enclave II-II is not your everyday noise or even ritual album. The artist conceives a personal space informed by ancient Occitan legends, occult, philosophy, using both modern and ancient elements in bridge between thr roots of one’s identity and their present. A sound which will surely find its best espression in a live setting with a proper choreography, but at the same time guides us during our mind-voyages in home-listening setting.

Release date: October 9th, 2020.
Text by: Davide Pappalardo