This interesting experimental noise project hails from Finland and offers up 10 tracks of diverse compositions that range from what could be called orchestral ambient to what could be called industrial (complete with some beats, samples, distorted guitars, etc.). "None More Equal" opens with some piano and melodic synths, eventually picking up into somewhat aggressive industrial soundscapes before reverting back to the calmness of the introduction. "Fry Me Up" is like subdued/tasteful techno at the start, using beats and whatnot, but towards the end it calms down with an unexpected ambient break and some excellent clean guitars. "Neuphoria" runs damn near nine minutes and is fairly musical, but what's up with the bassline taken from Michael Jackson's "Beat It"!? "Light White Load" employs some Godflesh-esque beats and samples alongside additional clean guitars. I find the guitars to be somewhat distracting in this case, but overall it's still a very strong piece. On the other hand, "Genocide a Day's Work" uses feedback sampled from Slayer, drums sampled from Judas Priest, and then some guitars and vocals are layered on top of it. It sounds a bit muddier and more primitive than the other tracks, so I would guess it's an earlier recording. Sadly it's not nearly as mature, it doesn't fit and shouldn't have been included on the CD as far as I'm concerned. Other than that the recordings are very clear and sound nice. There's a good presence of low-end, but things are generally bright as well. The sampled elements are usually manipulated very well amidst the programming and such, and it's an enjoyable listen. The CD-R comes in a foldout cardboard sleeve (hand-cut) that has been assembled with brown packing tape. A few inserts are glued on (color computer printouts), and one of them includes a sort of "mission statement" for the project that is best summed up with the first line: "Mutantum is sound exploration." This is an intriguing CD. I don't like the way the disc is presented, and I feel that some of the titles and the imagery (clowns and circus sideshow freaks with instruments) cheapen the power of the music, but there is promise here...
[self-released]
Running time - 52:35, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Fry Me Up, Light White Load, Blind They Dream Divine]
Mutantum - http://www.cult.tpu.fi/student/mmuranen/mutantum/
