Tomas Bodén’s latest as Civilistjävel!, “Älvgång”, is experimental electronica with its roots firmly in dub techno. Skeletal arrangements of bass boom, bumps, low drones, strange stretched sitar-like tones and tight, twisted glitches. All synthesised on vintage analogue equipment and Serge and Buchla systems.

The mood is dark and eerie. Coloured by spooky, spectral emissions. Cut by scraping, metallic arcs. Haunted by hypnotic ethereal vocals. “Strinne Tre”, a collaboration with Soccer Committee’s Mariska Baars, is a beatless, hummed and sighed lullaby.“Strinne Fyra” rides a loose, rattling, techno rhythm, part Basic Channel, part Burial, reduced and reshaped by Guy Brewer aka Carrier.  This, and the rest of the album, bear a sense of ritual. Slow, shuffling, tribal drums underpinning a stealthy, sinister, unease. A icy, Scandinavian mutation of Jamaican reggae’s dub dread.

“Bjärtrå Ett” features lonely piano keys and percussion like creeping, cinematic footfalls. Sonic sources distorted into subtle subterranean splashes. “Bjärtrå Två” is rougher, like the ghost, the shadow of an Ndagga record. Marked by aggressive bottom end growls. “Bjärtrå Tre” too, feels like it has an African griot lost, broken in its darkness. With strings that are almost symphonic, it finds Bodén at his most melodic.

The final number, “Bjärtr Frya”, focuses on the enchanting chanting of Jabu’s Jasmine Butt (here, billed as “Guest”). Despite the futuristic musical accompaniment, her delivery bears the air of an ancient witch’s spell. Her reciting, and Bodén’s clanking, creating a folkloric feel, while delay and decay give the piece the texture of an unearthed relic or rite. Butt’s words spinning backwards only serving to emphasise this occult vibe.

NOTES

By the end of the album I was thinking of releases by ROIS, Oliver Hyde-Mobbs and Susu Laroche. Something in the aesthetics also allies it with the records of Miles J. Paralysis. Both seem to be trying to tap into the pre-Christian histories, old gods, Norse or Pagan, of their respective landscapes.

Civilistjävel!’s “Älvgång” can be ordered directly from Six Of Swords.