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Don’t you just love it when a distinguished musician branches out and defies the trends by delving into the huge panorama of styles that only progressive rock can offer, as it can incorporate everything one can think of. Venus Loon is a Peter Lawson’s collaboration with drummer Wolfgang Osterman and their latest Ophanim album is brilliant slice of modern prog with all kinds of retro-winks to artists like Roxy Music, Eno, Phil Manzanera and Bill Nelson. As a solo artist, Peter released the Witchfinder in 2024 and now, releases an all- electronic album, inspired by his love for some of the more ‘progressive’ electronic bands of yore such as Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle etc…
In that spirit , Peter clearly identifies FUN as being the main igniter of this offering, nothing more, or less, playing his various synthesizers like the true prodigal toy that it can often become. This impression is immediately obvious on the “Functional Addiction” track, the title worn fittingly as it encompasses all the classic electronic activities and moods made famous by the pioneers of the genre. The fully analog vocoded vocals, the rambling sequencers, the oscillating waves and that relentless percussive pounding fits all together like a bionic hand with tactile finger sensors seeking new sonic caresses. The three longer tracks in the 4–5-minute range shows Lawson at his most inventive, the adhesive melodies slowly developing with mettlesome interplay between the various knobs, pre-sets, switches, and bi-colored keys. “Narcotic” comes across as a soundtrack that yearns for undulating experimentation and occasional rhythmic mood shifts. The same can be said for the surreal “Still Walking” , a rather thrilling promenade, as if Peter has taken his Audi onto the limitless speeding allowed autobahn. ‘Wir fahren auf den Autobahn”, and occasionally putting the synths in cruise control, before accelerating on a dime. Truly excellent stuff. “Sucking on Razorblades” maybe the ultimate definition of masochism or vile turpitude, clucking electronics swishing from palate to tongue, crashing into rows upon rows of enamel, leery of any gash or slash. Voices effects add to the arpeggiated insanity , sustain meeting decay, and attack encountering release. Call the ambulance! The wires are bleeding again!
The shorter tracks have a strong sense of urban chaos, noisy echoes of non-silence, wishful vocal interjections and feigned ennui (“the Oxymonkey’s Paw”, a somewhat Eno-ish reference perhaps). “Poison” confirms an aural toxicity that exhibits a choking sensation, the oblique sounds evoking a muffled pressure that vigorously strangles the already compressed airwaves. The final two mini- pieces set the controls to the heart of the goodbye wave, bouncy and unbridled. Bye-bye go the electro percussives! “What Have You Done” is exactly the question I was going to ask. The chugging bluster of “Zeptosecond” lingers in the mind like the Canadian band MOEV , a 2.50-minute industrial typhoon, slippery and seductive.
Thoroughly enjoyable gift from this prolific artist. Check it out on bandcamp.
4 Automatic deliberations