Sion Orgon - Discord In Disorder

Rising drones, the tinkle of cymbals and processed, cut-up voices lead into a build-up of sequenced tones before giving way to orchestral swells, electronic squelch and further fractured vocal fragments. So begins Discord In Disorder, the latest album from Welsh sound artist Sion Orgon. It marks a significant departure from his previous albums which often balanced experimentalism with more formulaic pop songs. Discord In Disorder instead ventures further into electroacoustic composition and abstract sound design. As a composer, multimedia artist, sound designer and longtime collaborator of fellow Welsh sonic explorer Thighpaulsandra, Orgon brings all this together here with remarkable finesse and clarity. The results owe far more to the electroacoustic work showcased in his Modulisme session and to the experimentalism of The Black Object than to the avant-pop sensibilities of some of his solo releases.

Across its tracks Discord In Disorder explores the relationship between discord and disorder. It's an album where discord leads to harmony, chaos reveals hidden structures and fragmentation leads to beauty. Disorder is presented not as random or destructive but is shaped into musical form, and one that moves beyond the avant-pop of his previous albums.

Tracks build slowly through layers of sound and textures, with swelling distortion, treated and filtered instrumentation often cutting abruptly into silence. 'Schism' layers darting effects over noise textures and processed squelch, steadily increasing in volume only to cut to silence and a fleeting passage of muted saxophone giving the music an unsettling noirish atmosphere. Likewise, 'Chaos In Bloom' stretches wavering distortion over eight minutes, contrasting quiet passages of vibration and hum with bursts of noise eruptions. The track functioning as an exercise in controlled tension and release.

Orgon utilises a number of acoustic instruments including piano, trumpet, violin, saxophone, percussion, along with voice, all heavily transformed so their familiar recognisable sound increasingly becomes abstract and fragmented to the extent the distinction between the organic and the synthetic becomes blurred. This approach is perhaps best represented by 'Duality Decent' which amid the buzz and fizz, juxtaposes ricocheting rhythms with snippets of orchestral passages and angelic hum, always disintegrating before the beauty is allowed to fully form.

Voice is another recurring element though never as a focal narrative or melodic point. Instead across 'Inside The Fracture Dome', 'Discord In Disorder', 'Cacophony Of Voices' and 'Flesh Modem' they are stretched, filtered and dismantled with only the title track revealing the sole audible word of "psychological" amid overheard conversations and the disarray of rhythmic clatter, filtered tones and cut-up sequences. 'Inside The Fracture Dome' is filled with morphing effects, scratchy textures, orchestral sweeps and a constant drip and drop. 'Cacophony Of Voices' unfolds like a BBC Radiophonic Workshop experiment with its bleeping tones and stretched and processed voice spliced with squelch and scattered sequences. 'Flesh Modem', the final track, is a mass of sped-up and slowed-down voices, gestating bubbling tones, sound shifts and ripping, textured effects.

There are moments of relative calm throughout. On 'Sonic Rebellions' slow ebbing drones and sustained vocal hum are pierced with metallic clashes, bass tones and rubbed cymbals creating an uneasy serenity. 'Pineal Glitch', meanwhile, is carried on long arcs of strained orchestral harmonies, often shadowed in a mass of ghostly choir, emerging through a rumbling drone, which eventually dissipates leaving only an aching, mournful orchestral hum. It is one of only a few occasions where the beauty is left intact and not fractured or corrupted.

The brief but ferocious 'Malfunction Ataxia' strips away much of the collaged elements as it is sucked into a careering squelched harsh noise littered with clash and clatter of sonic debris. This is Sion Orgon at his most direct and confrontational. 'The Body Of Asunder' and 'Tidal Violence' continue that momentum with distorted textures, random percussive knocks and ever increasing intensity tones. 'Tidal Violence', however, also introduces snatches of piano, a greater use of processing and filtering and another cut to silence before it reemerges in ghostly airy tones.

Discord In Disorder is an uncompromising and deeply immersive work that rewards patience and repeated listening. Rather than relying on melody or conventional song structures, Orgon uses an electroacoustic approach to composition, meticulously constructing a constantly shifting sonic landscape in which noise, texture, silence and fragmented sound are sculpted to great effect, revealing the harmony and beauty within the discord and disorder. Drawing on the experimentation of his previous releases, along with his work as a sound designer, the album establishes Sion Orgon as one of the most adventurous composers working today. For those willing to accept the challenge, Discord In Disorder stands among his most accomplished releases. Discord In Disorder is available as a limited CD in an edition of 300 copies from Fourth Dimension Records and digitally and on CD from Sion Orgon bandcamp