Psicopompo is the work of German composer and musician Hermann Kopp on violin, tambourine, and electronics, and Italian noise artist Lorenzo Abattoir, who plays the Shruti Box, Timbal & electronics. According to the label, they took for their inspiration Psicopompo, the death guide that accompanies the dying to the afterworld, and synchronicity, the occurrence of two or more events that appear to be meaningfully related but not causally related. In this composition, they left the results “entirely to chance.” Kopp explains this process further: “In no more than a week we recorded several eight-minute-long improvisations – one of us recording the ‘rhythmic’ part, the other one the ‘melodic’ part, without knowing what would be the final result. The mixing was realized with hardly any effects or post-production, two tracks him, two tracks me.” Cool premise – let’s see what it sounds like. Lorenzo Abattoir opens the disc with “Blackfrock,” a track of static mingled with dissonant drone. Kopp counters with “Trovatore,” which increases the dissonance significantly. Like a bag of angry cats with a hornet’s nest thrown in. These two tracks set the stage for what will come next in the collaborative tracks. “PP1” keeps the dissonance going with the addition of sparse junk percussion, then shifts to quiet, plucked strings before getting noisy again. “PP2” shifts gears with a simple, calm, hypnotic synth line, but with sawtooth waves that still give it an edge. This would almost be peaceful if it were it not for the jagged waveforms. Then the percussion comes crashing in to remind you that you’re walking with a supernatural entity into the afterlife. There is some spoken word buried in the mix, but it is difficult to make out anything. Nicely done. “PP3” is a calmer track, with droning tones interspersed with strings and snare drum. “PP4” finishes the disc off with more strings for a nice, calm ending. Overall, this is an interesting disc that brings some of the experiment into experimental music. The music is engaging and interesting and manages to keep you guessing as to where it will go next. Just when you think that it is starting to mellow out, the noise comes back in. But this is not harsh wall noise. Instead, there is considerable restraint shown here. Well done. This album weighs in at around 67 minutes and is limited to 250 copies.