Adrian Aniol ~ Arrhythmia

TQA Records’ first full-length release is a mysterious beauty, a tribute to the filmmaker James Hartley, who died last year at the age of 30.  His untimely demise is the ghost that hovers over Adrian Aniol‘s score to Hartley’s film Arrhythmia.  An appreciative chill is felt from the first moment the grey package is opened; the effect is like receiving a package from beyond.  The glossy, black-and-white photos that accompany the release are purposefully grainy: a chipped hallway, an outstretched hand, the words, “HELP ME”.  Such enclosures lend an aura of sadness to a release that might otherwise be interpreted as gloomy or claustrophobic.  The black disc bears silent witness like a shroud.

Eric Quach has done a marvelous job remastering Arrhythmia, which was originally released a month before Hartley’s death.  A coda, It All Falls Apart, is also available from Utech Records.  The Utech connection helps listeners to appreciate the pedigree of Arrhythmia, which stretches past the dark ambient to the post-industrial; fans of Raison D’Etre will be just as likely to appreciate it as those of The Haxan Cloak.

Despite the presence of saxophone and strings, the album remains relentlessly bleak.  Disturbed drones wander the corridors like restless spirits looking for a host.  Percussive rattles drop like chains.  Behind each door lies a sadness, a secret or a scare.  The inability to predict which will arrive next provides the album with its power.  While tracks such as “In a Darkened Room” offer fearsome jolts, others – such as the introspective “Lament” – invite empathy for the tortured soul.  Even better are the glissandos and knifelike shears of “3AM Revelations” and the windlike whirls of “The Closing”.

Due to the timing of this release, one can’t help but compare it to its closest competition, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  That release, which has been getting all of the press, pales in comparison with Arrhythmia.  While Reznor and Ross’ score is incredibly effective in the theatre, the 3-hour, 3-disc score is a slog to plow through at home.  Arrhythmia, on the other hand, conjures its own images and works well without the accompanying film.  If judged on its own merits, Arrhythmia would be the score receiving all the nominations.  (Richard Allen)

Available here