“Across the mangroves, we will invoke hope.” The two paragraphs that accompany this instrumental symphony of doom conjure up a group of young, dispossessed individuals trudging through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Against all odds, they venture into a desolate wilderness in search of a place where they can survive, without being sure of its existence. The heat is pressing. Something’s brooding. The silence is deafening. The only sound is the splashing of their boots in the shallow water too contaminated to drink. Yearning for the world that once was, they are crushed by the guilt of having played their part in the catastrophe that brought the world as they knew it to an end.
“Nous sommes l’orchaostre,” proclaim WuW on their third studio album (their first for Pelagic), and indeed the two brothers (Benjamin and Guillaume Colin) slowly build their compositions to sound like a massive wall of sound. «Orchaostre 3» and «Orchaostre 5» are propelled by gargantuan riffs that fll the atmosphere like a hot summer wind. Albeit just a duo, WuW really appear as an orchestra on record, the way they march through the diferent parts of their epic compositions. Being infuenced by minimal music and contemporary classical music, the themes are cyclical, repeating themselves until they change meaning, shape-shifting new themes emerge.
With L’Orchaostre, WuW deliver a veritable post-metal odyssey, one that takes you on a journey through rhythm and texture and that lets your soul wallow in a soft shell of desolation. The marching rhythm of «Orchaostre 1» and the swaying rhythm with the slow chugging patterns of «Orchaostre 2» take you along on this intricate journey, slowly numbing the senses in the throes of repetition. Nevertheless, for those who manage to keep their eyes peeled on this descend into forgetfulness, there is a world of beauty and a spark of hope to be found.The atmosphere is thick, the mood is heavy, and across the slow riffs and funerary drumbeats, the wailing e-bow guitars and myriad of synthesisers evoke kafkaesque atmospheres as well as strange poignant textures that inspire desolation.
Evoking the work of early electronic music innovators, notably during the climactic finale of «Orchaostre 1» but also halfway through «Orchaostre 3» WuW breed a sense of pristine beauty, like unadulterated nature. In fact, the beauty of Orchaostre feels so unspoilt, so devoid of any human infuence, it becomes alien, resulting in a harrowing experience of the exquisite in the eye of a hot and hazy storm.
L’Orchasotre will be released on February 3, 2023 via Pelagic Records and can be pre-ordered here
