AUTARKH
Emergent SEASON OF MIST
Dutch futurists get their co-ordinates scrambled
Across Emergent’s nine labyrinthine tracks, Autarkh throw all manner of ideas into the cybernetic blender, resulting in some captivating soundscapes. With pulsating electronic beats and dystopian industrial chords, the band build an ethereal wall of sound on Open Focus and Eye Of Horus. Michael Nienhuis’s acclaimed previous band, Dodecahedron, come to mind on the jarring Duhkha and Trek’s troubling undercurrents. While his vocals fit the avant-garde delirium of Countless Kaleidoscopes, his thin screams rarely complement the more melodic excursions. Much like Autarkh’s 2021 debut, Forces In Motion, Emergent often resembles a jam session with little cohesion or tangible weight to tie its bright moments together.