Thomas Köner – Novaya Zemlya

I don't think you'll find any innovations here. I guess not. But in any case, this is highest class work. Everything is real, with an expedition to the texture under investigation and as a result - an precise fall into the vibe, into the mood. Into the atmosphere. At the same time it is quite suitable as a soundtrack to any post-apocalypse visual realization. A feast of post-nuclear sound, whispers of Arctic deserts and glaciers, touched by eternity and romance of long ago nuclear bomb experiments.

Truly masterpiece.

The cold wind whipped through her hair as she opened the door that led to the main deck of the icebreaker ship, in which she was the captain. The sounds of the giant ice glaciers being crushed by her ship made her uneasy, yet she was accustomed to the sounds weight. It had a bass to it, and reminded her of the fragility of life. Something so cold and massive could give way with the right pressure and patience. Strangely, she had gown used to it.

If she closed her eyes and listened, it sounded has if the Earth itself was splitting, opening its self wide to release a New Earth (Novaya Zemlya).

To listen to Thomas Köner one must be equipped with a great pair of headphones or a system with a powerful bass. Novaya Zemlya means “New Land” in Russian, and the opening thunderous drops suggest at explorations of unknown territories where sound stands still, as if in a vacuum, barely escaping outside of its humid atmosphere. Yet Novaya Zemlya is not a synthetic or imaginary place – it does indeed exist. Just outside of north Russia, between the Barents and Kara seas, lies an archipelago of mountainous territories covered in snow. The sounds on the album paint an aural portrait of this abandoned land, full of frozen waters, glaciers and ice. The incredibly low rumbling drops among the signature Köner drones suggest an atmosphere of void, broken only by the collision of the colossal icebergs, at a slow relentless rate. On Novaya Zemlya Köner flexes his muscles once more, composing an environmental landscape “towards a metaphysical geography” with slight hints of dystopia and self-destruction: in 1961, during the Cold War years, Soviet Union has detonated Tsar Bomba on on Novaya Zemlya – the largest and most powerful nuclear weapon to date. Fans of minimalism, isolationism and indeed existentialism will be delighted with this next installment in Köner’s catalog, who has been creating dark ambient soundscapes since the early 90s. In fact, in 2010 John Wells’ Type Records has republished Köner’s earlier works in a three disk boxset: Nunatak • Teimo • Permafrost, which I proudly own, and suggest you pick up as well. Köner is known for his massive sound installations, combining visual and auditory experiences focused on physical listening, with a few live recordings on Mille Plateaux: Kaamos (1998), Daikan (2002), and Zyklop (2003). A spooky reminiscence of human demise and an enormous undertaking that could be only backed by Touch.

Imho, this is Koners weakest release. It is yet another winter/cold soundscape, but vastly inferior to his other works. Koner can still create some of the most amazing sounds in ambient music, this time they just aren't arranged as well.

One of the strongest releases to date! "Novaya Zemlya" continues in the vein of "Unerforschtes Gebiet", but Koner expands his sound palette even more, even including several "voice transmission" samples. This album is as close to visual art and actual travelling as possible, totally agree with Thierry [author of liner notes] here.

...I had never been to the "New Land"...once I had listened to this CD...it was as though I had ...and I wanted to explore more with repeated plays...beautiful, haunting, deep and as cold as the winters from which the inspiration came...magnificent Koner indeed!

Amen