After Francesco Baudazzi retired the Violet Poison label it was surely only a matter of time before a new label sprung up in its place, so it'll be the prolific Italian himself who launches the Veleno Viola imprint with a five-tracks EP Absence Generator—an exploration of the murky waters of life and death, and probably his most introspective work to date.

    Immediately we're savaged by a barrage of noise on opener Enlightener Of Nothingness, heavily textured, rumbling drones conspire with an occasional loose kick drum, manifesting as a deep, reverberating, industrial tone, whilst being presided over by a grainy and muffled public address; a recorded message warning of the impending danger, and with it, an untimely demise? Like a guiding hand, the voice does provide a little comfort in the disorientating and isolating chaos, however, fear soon turns to despair with realisation that the life support systems are failing fast. Stern and focused, Absence Generator steadies the heart rate and calms your panicked demeanor with a resonant, pulsing beat and hard-edged, mechanical vibrations; with this thoughtful and contemplative ambiance, a more rational outlook soon brings everything into focus: it's all out of your control, in fact that's the way things have always been. With the voices now ceased, you're left alone to find your own path on Seeding Holes—metallic scratching causes friction to slow down and hardens the percussion; gasping in a metronomic fashion, the machinery around you mimics the rise and fall of your own diaphragm, projecting a calm acceptance of a grave situation. An equilibrium is achieved on Hacres Hacres, the organic and inorganic alike become balanced and seem to marry perfectly, sticky kick drums spit out foamy residues, causing a chain reaction that leads to gaseous expulsions of rippling sub bass—all wired together with electrical noise; an understanding of purpose and place is achieved, but more importantly a sense of knowing who and what one's self is. Final track Repulsion Of Innocence is the sonic equivalent of a life flashing before your eyes: reversed, quick-fire imagery and a million plus one memories are characterized by a sci-fi stun gun and a contorted vocal track, the cells being deprived of oxygen ultimately leads to asphyxiation, the machine-like wheeze of the failing hardware mirrors your last breaths as you return from whence you came, but it's okay, it doesn't end here.

    This feels like a deeply personal record from Baudazzi, that is quite revealing; unraveling as a path to enlightenment—a journey through a dark, coarse and often unsettling landscape that gradually becomes smoother and the atmosphere clearer, helping you to find a firm, navigable path until it ultimately reaches a satisfying conclusion; along the way it forces questions upon us—who, and what are we? And where does it all begin and end? On Absence Generator it becomes clear that there is no death, only decay and rebirth. As I listened more and more to this EP, I found that I couldn't help but visualize the second half of Stanley Kubrick's and Arthur C. Clarke's masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey"; we're spiritual beings on a human journey not human beings on a spiritual journey, if you don't believe this now, maybe after listening to Absence Generator a few times you'll be a lot more convinced of it.

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 31 March 2015

Release Format: Vinyl

Record Label • Catalog: Veleno Viola • VV001

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