Instinctual
Spasm Destructiv
Contondent/ Pe Viu
Raptus
Crud
Siluete in Ploaie
Victimizare Sistematica

Every country in the World it seems now has an underground movement. I'm willing to bet that even Luxembourg, population 121 + 5 goats and 2 cats, probably has one. Romania has one for sure. Admit it. That surprises you. Surprised me anyway. F.I.R are a record label dedicated to releasing the latest music from this fledgling scene. F.I.R actually released a limited to 100 copies CDR compilation titled "Compendiu de muzica electronica" to showcase the talents involved in creating IDM / Industrial / Ambient / Backbeat and Triphop music. One of the acts on this compilation was Narkoleptik. What now follows is a review of his third release. The first two "Punisher" and "Embodiment / Ready to receive" were not submitted for review. These things happen in the wonderful world of reviewing.

Frustration or admiration? I can't quite make my mind up. Visiting his website at www.freewebs.com/narkoleptik reveals nothing about the artist. Some bits in Romanian and English but no delving into the mindset of the artist could be discerned. An admirable excuse to remain clothed in secrecy or frustrating to the point of anger. You tick the box. This 7 track CDR (the label doesn't mention how limited it is) was, according to the press release, recorded mostly live without overdubs apart from two tracks (doesn't mention which ones) which were mildly modified by tape recorder. Musically "Impuls Dominant" is a power electronics / noise Industrial piece of work. Which says it all really. You only need to refer to any of my other reviews to know exactly what to expect here. The same words crop up time and time again. Not so much a case of limited vocabulary on my part but when dealing with this style of music the limitations to describe it becomes readily apparent. Pick from any of these: powerful, extreme, painful, cutting, swathes, disorientating, cold, cacophony, nauseous, grating, liberating (that's a new one), the list goes on. And on. There isn't anything on here that you, if you're into this genre of music, won't have heard at least a thousand times before. Certainly I found nothing to get overly excited about. Which was a pity because I kind of held high hopes for this. Don't know why. Maybe if the artist would have added something else into the recording, samples / beats / anything, instead of just trying to out noise every other such available recording then I might have been more impressed. As it was I was left feeling short changed and thinking of what might have been. Back to the drawing board for you I feel.

Which isn't to say that "Impuls Dominant" is a waste of time. The 41+ minutes flew by as is the wont of these recordings. The effects the artist wanted to create have been fully realised. The presentation of the packaging was very good considering it's a CDR. The music having an appeal that noise fanatics will readily get into. After all this is the audience that Narkoleptik is aiming for. And on "Impuls Dominant" his aim is true. So rejoice if power electronics / extreme noise moves you. You can now add "Impuls Dominant" onto your wants list. All I'll add is that maybe a little bit of variety wouldn't go amiss next time around.

Stop press - the population of Luxembourg has now increased to 121 + 5 goats and 7 cats. The felines have just had a litter. Ahhhh.

ANM