Rafal Kolacki - Panoptikon

I know not much about Rafal Kolacki, and even a search on the internet brings me to nothing but other men by the same name, and going through pages on his musical adventures have led to me to know that he's ben involved in groups such as Mammoth Ulthana and Hati. Still, I am not too sure what to make of him other than he can create good ambient and experimental music through and through.

This latest album, Panoptikon taken on as a solo project, focuses on a history of abuse behind bars. Just the flags on the cover showing off symbols of once powerful but now dead totalitarian nations is takes justice to that. The giant bulging eye like that of a beholder centered in a floating fortress just goes to further the big brother theme that's ever present on the album.

Now only that, but the music was also scored for a film by a man named Marcina Gladycha. While the trailer is in a language I do not understand, it still shows that it's centering around the same theme of domination by a military power.

And, the music gives off a fairly somber feel to it as well; the intro song is definitely dark with its low pitched sound first coming in. The flute (at least what I think to be a flute, or a form of one) is also played within the song. However, the breathing that can be heard in between the noises coming out of the instrument kind of takes away from the feel of the music. The tribal drums that slowly come in afterward add onto the effect of the song bode well.

The second and short song coming in at just fifty three seconds was alright, but nothing to behold in of its own. Jezyk Bez Konca, Znaki I Przypadki, Widzialne Niewidzialne, Blask Kazni, Zamknieta Pokrywa Stonca, and Plaga Goraczek all come in as fairly plain ambient and drone songs that don't do much to spice themselves up. and, considering that's half the album right there, I was a wee bit disappointed already.

However, I got the bad out of the way, so now let me talk of the good. Cialo Skanzanca did a wonderful job combing what sounds like wind swept beats along with violin work and chimes. Although it really remains steady throughout the album and not much changes, it was tolerable.

Zywoty Ludzi Niewidzialne was another wonderful song on the album, giving way for a track backened by little to no electronics, with piano work making it's way all the way through with an echo effect. Once more, this is all that was really present in the song, but it worked well enough to hold its ground.

Panoptyzm was the next song I found some glory within; it started off with a nice synth line, along with some other worldly electronic sounds which slowly added and changed effects here and there. Though they are subtle, the conscious mind will render the slight transformations as simple amazement. And, though the last track was short at just forty five seconds, it was really weird and different. Piano work sent us off with some faint effects going here and there, but it was lovely to be sent off on such a nice note.

And there we have it. While the theme of the album may be misconstrued to not really have a focus on anything to do with violent history, it still can be nice here and there. I found a good half of the songs to be dull and redundant, but the other half were pretty good and I can say lovely things about them. Perhaps on Kolacki's next solo outing, I shall find more joy rather than dull tunes. Apr 23 2014