Thanatoloop | 2015 | Irpasiri

Experimental | Industrial | Avant-Pop
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Michel Leroy (Korg Trinity Plus and Electribe, tapes, field recordings, vocals) and Kamila Lunae (vocals)

Although Thanatoloop's discography as a whole constitutes, in its originality, an oddity, Irpasiri is an album that stands out in a particular way within the Chilean's vast catalog. Estranging itself from Thanatoloop's most noisy tradition, this is a record that explores neighbouring soundscapes with beautiful delicacy.
Thus, the exploration begins with an industrial experiment which suddently becomes an introspective form of avant-pop, which to some extent evokes Psychic TV or even The Legendary Pink Dots. Then, a comeback to the experimental atmospheres follows, intermittently playing with that new avant-pop formula geniusly developed by Michel Leroy, with a sound tinged with a melancholic and fragile intimacy, free of excesses and reduced to its essence. For the same reason, Irpasiri is elusive to the listener: it demands a certain mood in order to reveal all its richness, which lies precisely in that introspective character and that minimalist spirit which does not show its secrets at first listen.
In its simplicity, Irpasiri hides beautiful nuances that, rather than positioning it in a privileged place within Thanatoloop's trajectory merely due to its sonic divergence, transform it into a prominent album by its own merit: due to its quality, its melodic sensitivity and its depth. —IMF

Un Festín Sagital & Armchair Migraine Journey | 2015 | Habitando la Fisura

Avant-Folk | Drone Doom

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Michel Leroy (guitars, piano, effect, vocals), Alisa Slimani (guitar, vocals) and Armchair Migraine Journey (synthesizer, theremin)

After the amazing Kosmodynamos, Un Festín Sagital's neverending evolution does not stop. Habitando la Fisura, the result of a collaboration with Armchair Migraine Journey, shows a sonic progression that although preserves the avant-folk character of Kosmodynamos, adds new elements to the band's sound, some of them for the first time in their discography.
"Habitando la Fisura / Urgencia Pediátrica III", the first half of the album, summons Michel Leroy's work in Médula, combining the aforementioned avant-folk component with noise and drone. However, it distances from that album as it has a greater monumentality and a theatrical intensity that is obvious from the beginning (Médula is, undoubtedly, a more introspective LP). Without leaving UFS' own spirit behind, the second section of this song approaches drone doom decidedly, evoking Nadja's sound, but it is gradually deconstructed, giving shape to a more dismal, oppresive atmosphere.
On the other hand, "Eros III (A Nuestros Padres y Amig@s)" builds a more explorative piece, that develops a soundscape through more subtle, delicate brushstrokes. Accordingly, the band relies on a language closer to ambient, in which Leroy's piano work stands out (especially towards the end of the song) in its contrast with AMJ's more ethereal and abstract synthesized basis.
Even though it is a record with just two tracks, Habitando la Fisura is an album with a striking and captivating eclecticism. Un Festín Sagital's sonic journeys seem to always hit the mark, and this release is not an exception. —IMF

Un Festín Sagital | 2014 | Etna

Space | Experimental Rock

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Michel Leroy (guitar, organ, waves, theremin, drums), Constanza Lagos (flute, organ), Fernando Pinto (bass) and Diego Pinto (drums, guitar)

Etna could be considered, without doubt, the easiest point of entry to Un Festín Sagital's discography. On the one hand, its sound, without leaving the band's experimental vocation behind, ventures without fear into the exploration of psychedelic, lethargic landscapes; a trip that puts the album among UFS' most digestible works.
But what's interesting about the album is not only its accessibility. On the other hand, the combination of this space facet with Un Festín Sagital's more habitual avant-prog makes Etna an entertaining, well-conceived album, with a compositional quality at the level of the other releases of the band and a stronger performance than ever. Although eclectic, it has its own spirit and each track fits perfectly in its place, contributing from a particular flank to the developing of an hypnotic, captivating atmosphere. The album wanders without difficulty between lysergic pieces such as "Árboles Negros" (a song that had been recorded before) or "Anubis: Sueño y Muerte", the kraut of "Lakonn" and the intense "Etna", and the more experimental passages of "Acéfalo" or the cryptic "Asesino del Sol III", closer to Festín's distinctive avant-prog.
Etna perfectly summarizes the fact that Un Festín Sagital can explore anywhere they want without stumbling, always reaching outstanding results. Their discography as a whole is a living proof of that, and Etna constitutes one of the key pieces within that exceptional binnacle. Another must-hear Un Festín Sagital album. —IMF