Compositions

Helge Sten has been doing his thing as Deathprod for over thirty years and the gear in his Audio Virus Lab hasn’t changed much. I cannot swear to it, but Compositions sounds a bit like it’s recorded live in the studio, meaning that there’s a mic in the center of a huge cavernous brick space being filled with synth and machine noise. Swells and echo are the two major tools here, like slow blooms of oil in water. Sten has an ice cold vibe and it has rarely ever been this cold. People say dark ambient but I’d rather call this hot circuits or something—the pull here is hearing one person manipulate gear and give voice to a particular sensibility, like a great line drawing. Possibly more like a solo piano or guitar record than ambient music, Compositions is the sound of a man playing his instrument.