This fellow turned out to be famous
prog-rock drummer Mattias Olsson, formerly of Änglagård, proprietor of Roth
Händle Studios, and one half of Necromonkey (David Lundberg completes the duo).
What is Necromonkey? Well, it’s a band that, to me at least, embodies the same
inventive spirit as those videos. With Roth Händle’s droolworthy collection of analog
gear at their disposal, they conjure some exotic sounds and set them to
suitably cunning beats and arrangements. While the spirit may be experimental, the tunes are
solid and the craftsmanship is serious. The duo are expert manipulators of
sound as well as skilled composers. Sometimes their music resembles bands that
the general public knows and loves, like Air, Mogwai or Tortoise. Sometimes it
displays progressive rock’s flair for the dramatic, as on “Every Dead Indian,”
with its tense CAN beat that transitions to an eerie second half. Some of these
tunes could work as movie themes, like “Small Rome”, where the wistful piano
and Mellotron provide the perfect soundtrack to a point-of-view shot of a
stroll through a park at dawn. The album takes a few detours, with interludes
based around just one or two instruments, from a glitchy horn section
to the delicate, barely adorned bass solo on “Empty Traps and Nightfall.” It’s
their fearless drive to make new sounds with old devices that gives Necromonkey
its edge. On Necroplex there’s beauty to be found, fun to be had, moods both disturbing and
soothing, some odd-time rough-housing, and good old rocking—nearly every track
on Necroplex springs a surprise on you.
