Scam. – Brutalism [Monolith Records]

Samuele Costa (Scam.) returns to Monolith Records with a new release in which industrial aesthetics predominate over other sound influences. Brutalism wants to be an anthem to solidity, firmness and imperturbability, the sonic equivalent of the visions inspired from the surrealistic ambiences of the forgotten mining area of San Leone, in Sardinia. The industrial architecture delivers sound elements echoing and morphing within a grim scenario rolling on a perpetual tension. Buried underneath the cyclical obsessive development of the Ep, vibrations and frequencies tell about life, there where life is actually extinguished. The place becomes a non-place, a neutral grey space of concrete where the music flows, marking the relentless time elapsing inside an isolated structure in which loneliness reveals hidden glances. The journey focuses on the vision of a cold solidity well wounded by the years, and offers an immersive experience able to locate those lost and forgotten hunting presences. It’s a story trapped within the stained glasses of a gigantic sonic cathedral, and the script reveals a deep stylistic research, based on a remarkable depth of thinking. ‘Scam.’ crafts his sounds like an artisan and establishes an addictive concrete pragmatism which develops mechanically, yet accounting on the emotional charge able to relocate the listener inside an unidentifiable dimension where the architecture, the machines and the human are conceived as a ritualistic ‘unicum’, moving through mesmerising modulations. The Brutalism EP is a different soundtrack for the industrial decay, and a monument to superior intents.

The journey is divided in 5 chapters. ‘Brutalism’, the intro, articulates modulations able to draw the lines of an odd scenario in which cavernous entities echoing from the distance, are calling to enter their forgotten domain. Right after having entered such grim dimension, ‘Counterparts’ hits hard and direct strongly contrasting with the intro. It’s a proper abrasive real contact with the actual materials of those haunting chambers, sounds that got field-recorded and arranged to shape up the structure of an underworld that is screaming and surviving although its end is already certain and consumed. ‘Gaze Detection’ steps back to find consistence with rounder frequencies, haunting soundscapes and gigantic drums roll over the cyclic development of the dehumanised piece, adding an horrific touch to the journey. ‘The Grey Empire’ finally celebrates the concrete matter that embraces and shapes the whole scenario. A conclusion into perpetual cycles that traps the focus into a mechanical vision that takes shape into technoid tool for the dancefloor able to square things off. An alternative end of the ep is masterfully crafted by Svart1 with an interpretation of the intro ‘Brutalism’ that serves as its diametrically opposed counterpart by closing the ep, returning to the cold actual dimension of the unanimated ambiences, that now are filled with sharper elements, a storm able to subtly disturb a necessary escape, by adding extra struggle.

All in all, the work is suitable for different dancefloors as much as a home listening, and proves a wide variety of original styles, tightly centred on a clear vision.

Release date: September 15th, 2020.