‘Iter Itineris III’ is the third in a series of albums by experimental ensemble Epos Nemo Latrocinium (according to Google translate it means ‘Epic No Privacy’), and was recorded live in the studio. It features Noisepoetnobody on metal objects and stringboard, Tatsuya Nakatani on percussion and Joy Von Spain on piano and vocals (although the album itself is mainly instrumental). This is freeform music that is stretching the very definition of the word, mixing instruments and effects that attempt to rewrite what we expect from music itself. There are times when it is simply noise, others when it comes together in perfect disharmony, and others when somehow it makes perfect sense. I know my own musical tastes have expanded greatly over the years as I know that if I had been sent this even ten years ago I would have discounted it harshly, but now that I try to listen to Art Zoyd on a daily basis I am far more accepting of what they are attempting to achieve, and for the most part they get there.
Tatsuya Nakatani is a Japanese avant-garde percussionist and acoustic sound artist. Based in New Mexico, he has released over eighty recordings and tours internationally. Performing solo, in collaboration, and with his Nakatani Gong Orchestra (NGO) project he plays over one hundred concerts a year. For well over fifteen years, Casey Chittenden Jones has been soundtracking the collapse of civilization under the moniker Noisepoetnobody. Utilizing homemade instruments and modular synthesizers to create haunting, discordant, and broken sounds to express the need for creativity in a dying ecosystem. Joy Von Spain is a Seattle-based vocalist and instrumentalist (Eye Of Nix, To End It All). As a student, she learned composition and orchestration with Donald Erb, and early music with members of Sequentia and the Baltimore Consort. Now primarily playing experimental metal and death industrial, she has also worked with Butoh performers for the last decade, utilizing vocals, keyboards, or drums.
This is not music for everybody, in fact most would argue that this isn’t music at all, but for those select few (such as myself), this is an experiment well worth investigating.
7/10
by Kev Rowland
