Erik K. Skodvin - "Red Box Curves"


Erik K. Skodvin is the real name of Norweigian avant-garde, dark ambient producer Svarte Greiner. As Svarte Greiner, Skodvin has released a handful of well-crafted, lurching albums, such as his great debut Knive, and 2013’s Black Tie. He has also recorded music as half of Deaf Heaven. But it is not very frequently that he puts out music under his birth name. In fact, only one album, 2010’s Flare holds the name. But now Skodvin is releasing a follow-up in Flame, and has debuted a glorious new song from it, entitled “Red Box Curves.”

The music Skodvin makes under his name is a little more succinct than the music he makes as Svarte Greiner (who is no stranger to epic-length dirges), but they retain similar elements. “Red Box Curves” consists of not much more than a hollow, relentless percussion, screeching strings, and some dissonant atmospherics and subtle distortion. It sounds a little like something that wouldn’t be so out of place on The Knife’s bizarre Shaking the Habitual, and it is really made of the same things as many Svarte Greiner tracks. The difference is in its pacing: “Red Box Curves” is over in less than 4 minutes, and doesn’t waste any time. Its elements dance around each other, slowly increasing in intensity. If this were a Svarte Greiner song, it’d all be much more discordant, elongated, and droney. But under his own name, Skodvin feels free of the heavy chains that can sometimes burden his alias’ music.

Flame is out next week via Sonic Pieces.

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