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“Antropocen” is the latest release from Matthias Andersson’s No-fi project Arv & Miljö, and it is one of his most remarkable releases so far. The title refers to the *Swedish term of Anthropoc emphasized for the current geological epoch by a Dutch-born German atmospheric chemist Paul Jozef Crutzen (* taken from Lust Vessel).The first untitled track (all tracks are untitled) is a mixture of outside sounds (birds, ..), natural environment drones, construction works, scratchy noise and a high ranged loop, all well put together. At the end the track gets more noisier and it’s like everything is getting swallowed by the ravashing noise. The second one, “Untitled 02”, starts with scorching, high ranged electronics and crunchy, low, broken noise. This ‘broken’ concrete noise is also the typical sound of Arv & Miljö, that you won’t hear somewhere else. They are joined by what it seems to be moving metal objects of all kinds, going all over the place, but remaining on the background. “Untitled 03” opens with repetitive, high ranged electronics, drenched in hiss, sounding a bit like crickets. More sounds join in, but they are keeping a more low profile than in the previous tracks. The fourth track has a eight minute run of brutal harsh noise, metal and shrieking electronics. Field recordings of unplaceable sounds also come in. This track has a bit of a junk noise feeling, but than again it’s totally different than the mentioned latter.
Track five, on the other side, opens with a nice industrial drone, shifting in shape constantly (if you listen carefully). The drone is joined by violent noise jabs/slashes and other environment sounds that add up to a deep and utterly bleak atmosphere. Glass-like shattering noise is the frantic opener for the sixth track. You can clearly hear the sharp edges of the sound as they pierce the ear. The ending is cool to, as it seems to disappear into a more atmospheric field scape. Track seven has crunched and totally broken electronics, sounding like industrial entropy in full glory. The low rumbling on the background creates a nice and solid underlayer, which carries the other harsh sounds. The last track is maybe the least abstract one. It starts with heavy, brutal banging on metal objects and other aggressively, moving steel objects. A last venture into unremorseful chaos, you would think. But it ends with a field recording of the sea (with seagulls).
The most important thing about Arv & Miljö is that it all feels very natural, as if even the noise is taken right out of the environment and nature. Also, there are allot of sounds to be discovered in Antropocen, if you listen with full attention. This is truly recommendable stuff if you are into uncompromisingly noise.
Antropocen is sold out on Lust Vessel, but still scattered around on several distro’s.