Release year: 2024
Label: Zoharum

Once again I am faced with the task of reviewing a release by Polish Zoharum, and once again I find myself a bit stumped. This happens every now and then, especially when it comes to the more minimalist and abstract experimental electronics the label releases.

And Rafał Kołacki’s Mowa Tworzenia can certainly be lumped at least into the category of abstract, and a lot of the time into the minimalist pigeonhole as well. This is one of those albums it’s exceedingly hard to get a grasp on. Starting from the cover artwork.

I mean, take a look at that cover. Dull gray and a blue outline. Looks like a bad MS Paint album cover if I ever saw one. Yes, the back cover with rocks outlined in blue gives a sort of explanation as to what the blue shape is – the outline of a rock or some other object – but it’s still a pretty meh cover. And far too abstract to give anchor the music in anything.

The music itself is equally abstract. Consisting of minimalistic and understated layers of field recordings and electronics, Mowa Tworzenia is an album of pulsating hums, soft drones, snaps, crackles, pops and various effects. The sound of water, of what sounds like footsteps, and so on. The way they are put together and layered sounds more haphazard and like a collage of sound more than well thought out compositions. There’s nothing extreme, abrasive or confrontational about Mowa Tworzenia – but neither is it atmospheric or harmonious enough to be ambient.

And that’s my problem with this album. It all just seems so disjointed somehow; too abstract, too uncomposed, too formless to get a grasp on.

Apparently the name of the album translates to “Speech of creation.” Perhaps herein one can glimpse some angle to the abstraction, formlessness and intangible nature of both music and visuals. Perhaps Mowa Tworzenia’s abstract and sort of unformulated nature is meant to embody creation as an act in progress; as syllables and sounds, from which words are formed, from which in turns things will be created?

I don’t know, I’m just freely associating here. And even if that is so, I’m still mostly frustrated about the album. This is a really frustrating album to listen to, just because it is so formless. It’s impossible to get a grip on it.

Now, I freely admit I’m not the biggest fan of experimental electronics. Give me the blaring, blasting cacophony of harsh noise or the premeditated sadism of power electronics any day. Give me the brooding darkness of dark ambient. That I can wrap my head around. Stuff like this… well, not so much. And as such, this here’s my bottom line for Mowa Tworzenia: it’s an annoying and frustrating album. It’s obviously exactly as intended and as such calling it bad would be unjust. I just get nothing out of this.

Visit Rafał Kołacki’s official website