ABAUNZ “Ilunpean Arnas Hotsa Entzuten” C32 (Jollies Records)


From just southwest of the Pyrenes Mountain range, Abaunz, singing primarily in Basque, commands a raw & dirty mix of old school minimal industrial brutality, employing ancient drum machine programming, occasional guitar destruction, classic 80s stock synth tones, and tortured/chanted vocals; but overtop these elements is where it gets really interesting; Abaunz sprinkles in an innovative mixed bag of ambient texture, Euro-danciness, and even a skosh of Latin and Middle Eastern flavor, making “Ilunpean Arnas Hotsa Entzuten” (translation: Hearing the Sound of Breathing in the Dark”) a truly novel and inspiringly agitating, cohesive ride in unfamiliar (if not outright uncharted?) country.


https://jollies.bandcamp.com/album/ilunpean-arnas-hotsa-entzuten

and/or

https://soundcloud.com/abaunz


—Jacob An Kittenplan