Descent
On Sea Level (-70m)
R.O.V. Prometeo (-392m)
Groundless (-400m)
R.O.V. Mercurio (-210m)
Unexplored
Hiball 300 R.O.V. (-310m)
Speleosub (-100m)
Deeper
Olhon Sounding-Line (-91m)

M Magrini, of Bad Sector fame, has teamed up with Zairo for this latest project named Olhon. The first release for this meeting of minds on the Eibon Records label - there were possibly others before this release, though I can’t find any information to back this up. Whenever you need the Internet to come up trumps it inevitably lets you down.

‘Sinkhole’ is a musical journey to the centre of the earth. Actually it’s a journey into a depression in the land surface called the Pozzo del Merro situated somewhere east of Rome. Comprising two parts, dry and wet, the sinkhole dates back 200 million years and is made of limestone. In the dry section the walls are covered in vegetation whilst on the bottom, the wet part, lies a small lake hiding a dark abyss more than 1016 feet deep. It is the biggest sinkhole in the world. And Zairo went and explored both parts. He’s a braver man than me Gunga Din. Taking with him recording equipment he captured the sounds emanating naturally from the sinkhole using special microphones and sensing equipment and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV). These sounds were then treated, processed and mixed by both artists back in the studio. The resulting 10 tracks, spread over 41 minutes, will leave you, quite frankly, speechless.

To call "Sinkhole" an ambient recording doesn’t fully do it justice. Sure the sounds that the artists have coaxed from the surroundings are steeped in ambience, dark and dank so fitting a description, and obscure aural dimensions but in reality you’re hearing something that very few of you will ever experience in your lifetime. This is a sonic journey into the unknown. The ROV going further than the length of the Eiffel Tower to capture the ongoing atmospheres of the abyss. You sense the light invading moss covered half of the sinkhole before plunging deep into the prevailing claustrophobic darkness and heart stopping chill of the water in the abyss. All these sounds created primarily by nature itself.

The Bad Sector project by M Magrini is well renowned. He explores sound like so few others. Every release is an experimental adventure that can provoke great debate and sheer excitement in equal measure. "Sinkhole" by Olhon continues on with that tradition. The lines dictating what constitutes actual music increasingly blurred and crossed at will. He couldn’t have made this recording without the adventurous spirit showed by Zairo whose concept it was in the first place. "Sinkhole" is a fitting and lasting testimony to the talents of both these explorers who tread the paths others fear.

ANM