Zosima‘s track “Katorga” is off the Austrian musician’s new LP Apropos Of The Wet Snow out now on Enfant Terrible. The artist runs the label Noiztank, and since 2014 he has released industrially textured, deconstructed techno on his own label, as well as Serial Number 849 and Vizion Division. On this first effort for the Dutch label Enfant Terrible, Zosima continues to follow his own idiosyncratic path drawing from the darkest corners of electronic music to craft 6-tracks of existential dread.
“Katorga” features a vocal track that slithers with resonating menace while icy drones add a palpable air of anxiety to the proceedings. Several Russian references run thru the record, so it’s probably not a stretch to assume this cut’s title refers to the system of penal labor used by the Empire. It might account for the fact that the sonics here are capable of grinding the listener into a wary submission with death rays of sweeping low end and other weaponized textures. Meanwhile, a pummeling bass drum stutters in fits only to occasionally cut out before renewing its’ unsettling efforts. “Katorga” is the only track on Apropos Of The Wet Snow to include vocals, and throughout, they add a truly chilling effect. Disembodied and mechanical sounding, it is the voice of doom itself exhorting you to total surrender.
