A defining work of ambient noise, this is the work of hAj, the sole mind behind the project. Translated from Japanese, the name implies the music of negative scalar dimension within desolate silence, and Less Physical Vortex could not be a more apt representation of that concept. This is bleak, extremely dark, violent and brutally intense. Like Gridlock with less beat and more dissonance, or like the noise collages Skinny Puppy would play in concert, Less Physical Vortex is a seething nightmare of noise, rhythm and chaos. These are ten tracks of raging cacophony; lethally edged and seethingly wired, psychotic would be an appropriate frame of mind for utterly understanding the scope of this album. Creeping, inky-black atmospheres, heavy synthesizer sequences, distorted vocals and sporadic crushing beats recorded on an alien warship essentially provide the musical mixture for this album. Each track is basically a variation and rearrangement of the key ingredients, so the entirety of Less Physical Vortex is a consistent nightmare. Some tracks are more successful than others, either in the realm of more or less beat, noise and distortion included in the track, so the appreciation differs with one's frame of mind, though Coldy Recognized Aesthetics is an apt description for any of the tracks here. Seij Minus Ac are actually very minimal in sound, or rather skeletal. This tends to make the music all the more frightening and dangerous, for it is not the sheer quantity of noise, atmosphere and such that provides the tension, but that the minimalism can be so terrifying that causes the disquiet. This unknown artist could, and very well should, become a reference point for ambient, rhythmic noise. A truly impressive effort, Less Physical Vortex is one of the more intensely discomfiting releases to come along.

review by: Phosphor