Strotter Inst. - Wehrbauer [Luce Sia 112]

Released via the Swiss Luce Sia label on October 1st, 2k26 is "Wehrbauer", the latest album outing by Christoph Hess a.k.a. Strotter Inst. who is catering a set of four brand new compositions on most beautiful picture disc vinyl with this one which in itself makes the limited to 230 copies print run a collectors item. Subsequently named "Wehrbauer #1 - #4" with each side holding two musical pieces and accompanying descriptive texts setting a scene on the additional print inlay we see the relatively short cut "Wehrbauer #1" paving the way for things to come with a mixture of deep Desolation Ambient paired with yearning harmonies hidden within the rather granular mix, accompanied by echoes of echoes of half-recorded traces of vocals and varying rhythm signatures of seemingly mechanical origin followed by the vast and extensive "Wehrbauer #2" and its explorations of postapocalyptic Post-Jazz melancholia and an unending maelstrom of mind-numbing (Un)Ambient nothingness as thick and mostly untextured as heavy maritime fog, apart from occasional seagulls and lone metallic or stone scrapings. On the flip side we find "Wehrbauer #3" diving even deeper into icy, almost arctic Cold Ambient minimalisms with rather brittle and crisp textures, once again also incorporating slightly unsettling Field Recordings of undisclosed origin before "Wehrbauer #4" changes gears with its intense, in parts thundering Rhythm Industrial foundation, brooding, almost apocalyptic atmosphere and tectonic low end movements for a grande finale and probably our favorite cut on this album. Recommend for a reason, not only for collectors of perfectly executed picture disc vinyl.