Started in 2018, Cryptochroma is the cold and minimal electronic music project led by Belgium-born musician and composer Jan Vinoelst, the latest of several monikers since the early ’90s, such as Cape Sidereal, Cluster M13 and Messier 39.
Inspired by the New Wave from the 80s, the Saint-Niklaas-based act relies heavily on analog synths, obscure atmospheres, and dark contemporary themes, which permeated last October’s second album “Ominous Clouds”, via Brussels‘ label Red Maze Records, from which the video for the second single “Drifting Vessel” is taken.
Urgent and futuristic “Drifting Vessel” sails by building expansive dramatic outer space dimensions through thumping beats, swiftly rolling undulating basslines, warm weeping forlorn synth swathes, jittery screeching strains, and distorted robotic vocodered vocals, searching for an elusive origin to guide them through the relentless hardships of future horizons.
An immersively animated psychedelic sci-fi fantasy fuses earthen landscapes with the metallic innards of an industrialized spaceship to give the viewer an image from the alternate-dimensional atmosphere of the soundtrack. Parallel timelines bound by the connective tissue of shapeshifting symbols and comforting archetypes give insight into the meaning of a lonely soul’s struggle during a cold, dark journey through the outer dimensions.
Cryptochroma‘s second full-length LP is out now, on Vinyl 12″ and Digital, via Red Maze Records.
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