I'm very glad to have the opportunity to review Beasts of the Five Labyrinths, a glitchy ambient electronic suite with sound design sensibilities straight from the best of 1970's cult scifi.
I was initially hooked by the album's premise, an escape through five levels of a labyrinth each guarded by a beast. The album started somewhat unassuming, with some funny noises, rhythmic ambience, glitchy percussive elements like steam escaping a broken valve, and spacious use of stereo.
The second track, appropriately titled Level Two, feels empty but threatening, dark and raw, but reflective. I find myself wondering "how does one write something like this" and as if to answer my question, I hear what sounds obviously like the effect of a knob turning. Not an automation lane in a digital workstation, but a real analog knob turned by a human hand. I'm reminded that there's a person on the other side, doing what feels right in the moment.
As the album progresses, I'm continually impressed with the sound design. It feels so authentic, bringing me back to that classic 70s analog sci-fi sound. I envision this music coming from a great machine, taller than a person, and heavier than a car, with spinning wheels of tape and a small team required for its operation.
I have written in my review notes "I wish I knew how to make those noises". Elsewhere I have simply written without additional context "cool".
When the final track, Final level, began, I eagerly anticipated the showdown with the promised final boss, the Beast of the Labyrinth. Keeping in the ambient style established so far, the action intensified but in a way that felt out of sight. This wasn't the boss fight music you might expect from a typical action video game soundtrack, but a fight with a boss equally as mysterious as the Labyrinth itself.
Not only will I listen to this again, but it has made its way into my personal folder of musical inspiration for my own future projects. I'm excited to listen to more of The Occupier's extensive discography.