OGIVES - La mémoire des orages
OGIVES is an octet, driven by the composer / multi-instrumentalist Pavel Tchikov and the drummer / poet Alexis Van Doosselaere.
Chamber music, loud riffs, pure choirs, electronic textures, OGIVES is a myriad of contrasts. The classical composing techniques such as tintinnabuli, polytonality and polyphony intertwine the post-rock legacy, while the electronic textures of modular synths embrace the pure classical female vocals.
Moreover OGIVES' music finds its inspiration in the ancient European music and in its inherent spirituality. Byzantine chants, baroque counterpoints, Old Roman monodies all are elements in the background of the band's composing style.
OGIVES' roots are lying in the legacy of numerous artists such as Arvo Pärt, Swans, Low, Steve Reich, Coil, Iannis Xenakis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Tool, Autechre, King Crimson, John Zorn, Amenra, Einstürzende Neubauten, Extra Life, Mono, Neurosis, Floating Points, et al.
The album opens with a bell call, evoking a spiritual ceremony, introducing the horns section then the choir, reminiscent of medieval chants, carried by electronic textures until the two drum kits' and the electric band's eruption. After beating one of the album’s main patterns, the first song ends up with a dense ritual choir and screams. Then comes a long and quiet moment with the two female singers engaging in a praise for the thunder’s slowness.
The B side is composed of two 10 minute songs, with a rock feel and melancholic vocals inspired by the early seventies. Side C consists of an epic 20 minute development that begins with a chamber music ensemble and a classical female duo - purity and air - until an avalanche of synthetic noises appears, carried by a punchy drum pattern, and sharp electronic sequences then drive it to an epileptic trance.
The last side brings the listener back to where it all started. The elements from the beginning make a return, but with different arrangements. A dense bass riff, the return of the two drum kits, a crying saxophone solo, a tribal asymmetrical groove, an a cappella contemporary choir, and eventually an epic electric finale... and the darkness hosts the light.
The double LP offers long and dense tracks, symmetrically arranged into a 75 min creation. These intense pieces unveil refined melancholic images about the passing of time and the prospect of death.
La mémoire des orages (The memory of storms) was recorded in Belgium and mixed by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio with the band members. Albini gave the album that distinctive sound nature where loudness doesn't lose clarity, and the natural dynamic range is preserved in order to guarantee pronounced an rich contrasts.
