Enigma by Rorschach Garden Records

sub.ver.siv neo 02 The Rorschach Garden – Enigma

An “Enigma” is by definition something that defies total comprehension, and indeed TRG has swept aside all preconceptions and delivered the unexpected. While remaining faithful to a number of musical aspects Philipp has explored since his quest started in the late 1980s, there is a remarkable advance: “Enigma” works almost entirely without vocals, and leaves the storytelling to music itself.

10 tracks, 49 minutes, classic song-based album format, but then: From the beginning we get treated to the trademark TRG analogue feel, but also the compositions appear more eclectic, daring and experimental (which is of course also a classic TRG feature considering the project’s industrial roots, check: “Rotten Flowers”).

When you feel you have said a lot of things before - and some of them multiple times - remaining silent and letting the music do the talking is quite the consistent choice! Only slight traces of vocals appear, an angelic wail in “October Values” and a vocoder voice in the cheekily titled “Barkhaus”. The rest is all electronic sound, more adventurous than harmonic, more confident than introvert, and somehow impossible to classify – an enigma that demands your attention.

Sascha Ruf, 2021