Restraint

Gothtronic reviews Bone Music:

The still relatively unknown Ad.ver.sary project of the Canadian Jairus Khan surprises with a debut album which combines the best of spherical ambient IDM and technoid rhythmic industrial. Here the worlds of Asche and Converter on the one hand and acts like Displacer and Tonikom, merge into a perfect one. But beware, Bone Music is an album with tracks that aim for the dancefloor with a focus on the rhythms. Constantly changing patterns and sound textures in the various tracks go well together with technoid atmospheres and in a song such as ‘Waiting for Gira’ also a rocking guitar and bass lick is included, later joined by heavy drums. At other moments a track is build up with piano loops and violins to create a more majestic atmosphere together with slowed-down breakbeats.

Next up are atmospheres which are more claustrophobic and threatening, with fast distorted beats and glitch sounds. What is striking is that the compositions have been carefully arranged, with layer upon layer resulting in a complex microcosm of sampled sounds, synth textures and rhythms. ‘Ancient’ perfectly illustrates this. Also the aggressive ‘Number Nine’ is an impressive sonic spectacle, which in the remix by Synapscape gets a more compact treatment. Bone Music is a refreshing album in this genre and it furthermore combines a wide array of electronic influences into a complex yet terrifying cold sound. The album furthermore contains remixes from Tonikom and Antigen Shift and a bonustrack, in which Ad.ver.sary has remixed fellow Canadians Urusai. Recommended and also another splendid release from the young Tympanik Audio label. (8.5)

ReGen reviews Bone Music:

Bone Music is a rather impressive outing for Jairus Khan, proving that he has the chops to become a hero in the industrial music scene. With a hearty helping of melody and thoughtful arrangement coupled with a command of experimental noise and sound manipulation, Ad·ver·sary finds a balance between the brutal and the beautiful, sometimes unsettling and sometimes soothing, while still maintaining its own personality in the wake of a number of similar artists.

1: An interview with Side-Line:

SL. The music on your site is released under a Creative Commons license. Any particular reason?

A. I download a lot of music. A lot. I’ll go through gigs and gigs of it, and buy the albums I like – and it really frustrates me when I open the cd and there’s some snarky message in the liner notes saying “thank you for not downloading this like those other scumbags”. Well, I did download it, and that’s why I bought it.

2: A review from ChainDLK:

Bone Music offers a very well thought out and developed blend of instrumental industrial, EBM, ambient, and noise. The key to this album is Khan’s ability to blend organic soundscapes and harsh industrialized rhythms and noise in a way that strikes a balance between what many would consider to be two mutually exclusive musical forms. Indeed, throughout the album, neither approach dominates the other. Some of the stand out cuts from Bone Music include the album’s lead off track “Ancients” which utilizes very simple samples and effects that gradually build up into a very powerful and driving industrial tour de force that is harsh and mechanical while maintaining a sense of musicality, and “Waiting for Gira” which features a very ominous militaristic beat that is backed by subtle soundscapes and a very evocative guitar part that is interestingly reminiscent of U2. For those of you who like harder hitting noise driven pieces “No Exit” and “Number Nine” are aggressive and cacophonous workouts straight from the factory. Overall, Bone Music is a great album that provides a glimmer of hope that industrial music is not dead.