Conor Fynes
'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' - Senmuth (5/10)
The second part of a tetralogy Senmuth released in the latter months of 2010, 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' continues the Russian project's instrumental journey with something that's quite a bit more complex than the folky ramblings of the first installment. While keeping with the apparent theme of short ethno-ambient records that the series established with the first, the musical style is developed to incorporate more of a dense, varied soundscapes, resulting in a slightly better work than the first.
While the first album was quite mellow by comparison, 'Artefacts II' adopts a much wider array of sounds, ranging from the electronic, to sludge metal, to the ethno-ambient soundscapes, which are still quite prevalent here. While the majority of the sound here is synthesized through a computer, the music here simply works better than the first 'Artefacts', if even only for the fact that the electronics feel less contrived and awkward than the lifeless folk emulation instruments that the more folk-derived music relied so heavily upon.
The album shines it's brightest when Senmuth fuses these genres together as one, using the textures of the electronica to back up the hypnotic tribal percussion and lead electric guitars (being the only live instrument I can confirm as being as such on the record). However, many moments on the album still feel quite listless, and the moments of inspiration on 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts II' are still quite far and between, instead settling for a somewhat forgettable patchwork of music.
The second part of 'The World's Out Of Place Artefacts' certainly does not feel out of place when compared to the rest of Senmuth's discography; and while it may be closer to what Senmuth usually does with his music than the first installment, it is slightly more effective than the first.