I have to give the Audion magazine, founded by Alan and Steve Freeman from Ultima Thule Records, credit in their new issue after looking at their preview YouTube video of issue 87. When I read a snippet of Alan’s review of this artist I didn’t know about named Kreng and the new album Wormhole, I was intrigued. After hearing some samples of the music on the Bandcamp website, which reminded me of Ligeti’s arrangements from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, I immediately went ahead and bought the album straight away to find out about this Kreng.
And let me just say this is not just an album for the faint of heart; this is an album that puts you on the edge of your seat. Now, some of you may ask, “Who is Kreng?” Well, Kreng is actually the dark ambient/modern classical project of Belgian-based composer and producer Pepijn Caudron. Caudron has created these darker, moody soundscapes with classical music and electronic atmospheres.
He has scored over 50 theater and dance productions for Abattoir Ferme and released albums on the Miasmah label. It was originally started as a strictly sample-based project, but delves into more live instrumentation. Mind you, this is my first time delving into the world of Kreng’s universe as I step into the Monolith, revealing the darkness and unknown worlds beyond the Wormhole Caudron has given us.
Delving into the minds of David Bedford; Alain Pierre; Gyorgi Ligeti, Kohntarkosz-era from Magma; Karlheinz Stockhausen; and Klaus Schulze’s Ohr years, Caudron pushes you into those minimal-like intensities by encountering this post-apocalyptic nightmare on the brink of insanity that speaks of the 2025 video game, Cronos: The New Dawn. It gets even more nightmarish as the music travels onto the paintings of not just Hieronymus Bosch but also the worlds of French illustrator Philippe Druillet that speak of his illustrations from the Lone Sloane series.
The fact that Caudron really delves deeper into the psychic worlds that aren’t just superheroes conquering the solar systems, nor delving into the Marvel universe, but more into the minds of Metal Hurlant and the surrealistic paintings that are brought to life, in which you could view the image of Druillet’s portrayal of Urm the Mad from Heavy Metal magazine in 1978.
It is not an easy album to listen to. Yet, I’ve delved into difficult albums for many years that got my attention. Whether it’s Trout Mask Replica, Ummagumma, The Faust Tapes, Phallus Dei, or Tago Mago, Wormhole is one of those albums that will take repeatable listens to embark on. Whether you get it or you don’t, you have to approve the daring challenge Kreng has set on this world to give us the opportunity to see what will happen next.
And yet, we got to experience the surrealism Pepjin has encountered in his completed mission. And I can imagine there’s more on where that came from.
