BIG BLACK SQUARE

Released the same year as Paper White, this album is one of the most obscure (and obtuse) of Tarentel's discography. Just one 43-minute track where not much happens, and a bleak industrial artwork to match it, this dark piece of music is not everyone's cup of tea, and certainly not my fave.

Sometimes, the music of this lone (and I suppose title track) number IS actually fairly interesting, but this is rather rare. We have to wait for the 13-min mark to hear some real evolution in the arrival of drums and the track slowly evolving to a more menacing atmosphere, but soon the drums come to a fairly high volume, which in the long run becomes slightly unpleasant. With their music remaining relatively uneventful, one can clearly see that their inspiration more or less directly point to Zeit-era Tangerine Dream (with added drums) and Eno's more gloomy works.

I would strongly suggest prospective fans to check out Tatentel's earlier releases, because this one is really aimed at hardcore fans. And from this review, you might have understood, that I had stopped being one a while ago.