Review: Struchni – 'Impending Doom'

STRUCHNI 

'Impending Doom'
NOISJ 

Struchni, is the solo project of Croatian industrialist Tomislav Stojko, that in three short years has already released an impressive catalogue of dark and demented recordings. 'Impending Doom' was originally released last year and unfortunately passed Intravenous Magazine by. But thankfully due to the album going into another pressing, it has made its way to us. 

Struchni could be given the rhythmic industrial quite easily. The album is full of slow, stomping rhythms that fans of the likes of iVardensphere, ESA and W.A.S.T.E would appreciate. However the tracks on 'Impending Doom' also display a finely honed sense of melody that consistently provides a nice counterpoint to the relentless industrial rhythms.

The album's intro 'The Point Of No Return' is a great example of the pure unadulterated sense of melody that forces hanging chords and light, classical sounding piano to the fore before industrialising it. Tracks like 'Darkening', 'In The Ashes', 'Restless' (featuring Fractured Machines), 'Wrecking Crew' (featuring Static:Reset) and 'Killing Fields' (featuring The Illuminati) balance a steady dance pace with cinematic soundscapes, noise, dubstep and electro industrial in an accessible and enjoyable package. But perhaps the crowning achievement of the album is the seven-minute closer 'People Like You, Always Die Alone' which sounds like it should come straight from the soundtrack to one of the Hellraiser films.

The only real drawback to the album is the fact that for such a long track list, there isn't much variation in the pace of the songs. Some faster tempos would inject a bit more energy into it and take away some of the repetitiveness that occasionally crops up.

'Impending Doom' is a surprisingly solidly produced album. Despite having its roots in noise, the production isn't full of layers of distortion. And in fact it favours a more cinematic approach with a very open and free atmosphere rather than an enclosed cavernous one.

Struchni is definitely a name to watch out for in the future. The quality of the song writing is very high, and the production always strives to match it. It's going to be interesting to see where the next full-length outing goes.

Posted in: Impending Doom,music,Struchni