The Yawn of the New Age
Encyclopedia
The Yawn of the New Age is the debut album
by the Norwegian
electronic
/noise
/avant-garde metal artist Zweizz
.
All music and lyrics are created by Svein Egil Hatlevik, except "Blacker Than Darkness", which is an adaptation of the song by the same title, written by Norwegian black metal group Immortal
.
Pitchfork
's monthly metal columnist, Brandon Stosuy belonged to the enthusiasts: "Hatlevik's one of the most compelling musicians (and minds) in this realm today...check it out."
Decibel magazine
gave the album 8 points out of 10, writing: "It’s been a while since black metal questioned itself like Zweizz is doing here, and in a BM scene so awash with turgid, unthinking revivalism (and lame bands), it’s nice to know the fringes of extremity can always be counted on to keep things interesting. And pink."
In ink19.com, reviewer Matthew Moyer wrote the following: "The Yawn of the New Age is not metal. It doesn't owe anything to anybody. You want your Crowleyan freedom? Here it is, and it's already set your house on fire and stolen your car keys and your Tamagotchis while you weren't paying attention. You can't even call Yawn noise music, that's way too restrictive and regressively macho for the mischievous sonic riddles and puzzle boxes that former DHG keyboardist and black metal musician Svein Egil Hatlevik have painstakingly constructed."
Ignacio Coluccio of the webzine maelstrom.nu gave the album 6.6 out of 10, and concluded: "In the end, The Yawn of the New Age is a good album with some horrible tracks and some great ones; an album that will surely be a hit-or-miss with inexperienced people, while people with more varied taste will probably understand for what it is: nothing exceedingly weird, but definitely a good try."
The online underground publication Heathen Harvest
trashed the album, saying, "Part of me wants to consider this album a joke. The Yawn of a New Age is no doubt about how boring music in general has become these days, but I can name a thousand electronic, ambient, and industrial acts that are better than this."
One of the most scathing reviews was published at Encyclopaedia Metallum
: "It's quite clear that Zweizz takes experimental music to a new level in which no backbone or intelligence is displayed. I keep hearing about Zweizz's new breed of avant-garde, but let's get real: a bored teenager could poop out something like this in a few hours."
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
/noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
/avant-garde metal artist Zweizz
Zweizz
Zweizz is the primary performing alias of Norwegian musician and composer Svein Egil Hatlevik .Hatlevik started using the Zweizz alias in 2003 after leaving the Norwegian black metal group Dødheimsgard. According to Hatlevik, Zweizz should be considered a one man band, not a solo project...
.
All music and lyrics are created by Svein Egil Hatlevik, except "Blacker Than Darkness", which is an adaptation of the song by the same title, written by Norwegian black metal group Immortal
Immortal (band)
Immortal is a black metal band from Bergen, Norway, founded in 1990 by current frontman/guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta and former guitarist Demonaz Doom Occulta...
.
Critical reception
The Yawn of the New Age has been met with reviews ranging from very favourable to very unfavourable.Pitchfork
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's monthly metal columnist, Brandon Stosuy belonged to the enthusiasts: "Hatlevik's one of the most compelling musicians (and minds) in this realm today...check it out."
Decibel magazine
Decibel magazine
Decibel is a monthly heavy metal and extreme music magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media. Since October 2004, Decibel has featured a plethora of extreme metal bands and musicians. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame...
gave the album 8 points out of 10, writing: "It’s been a while since black metal questioned itself like Zweizz is doing here, and in a BM scene so awash with turgid, unthinking revivalism (and lame bands), it’s nice to know the fringes of extremity can always be counted on to keep things interesting. And pink."
In ink19.com, reviewer Matthew Moyer wrote the following: "The Yawn of the New Age is not metal. It doesn't owe anything to anybody. You want your Crowleyan freedom? Here it is, and it's already set your house on fire and stolen your car keys and your Tamagotchis while you weren't paying attention. You can't even call Yawn noise music, that's way too restrictive and regressively macho for the mischievous sonic riddles and puzzle boxes that former DHG keyboardist and black metal musician Svein Egil Hatlevik have painstakingly constructed."
Ignacio Coluccio of the webzine maelstrom.nu gave the album 6.6 out of 10, and concluded: "In the end, The Yawn of the New Age is a good album with some horrible tracks and some great ones; an album that will surely be a hit-or-miss with inexperienced people, while people with more varied taste will probably understand for what it is: nothing exceedingly weird, but definitely a good try."
The online underground publication Heathen Harvest
Heathen Harvest
Heathen Harvest is an Internet publication devoted to music criticism, music news and interviews. Its focus is on underground and post-industrial music, including ambient, metal, folk, classical, gothic, industrial and various forms of experimental and avant-garde music.The site, which was...
trashed the album, saying, "Part of me wants to consider this album a joke. The Yawn of a New Age is no doubt about how boring music in general has become these days, but I can name a thousand electronic, ambient, and industrial acts that are better than this."
One of the most scathing reviews was published at Encyclopaedia Metallum
Encyclopaedia Metallum
Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives is a website which lists bands from various forms of heavy metal music...
: "It's quite clear that Zweizz takes experimental music to a new level in which no backbone or intelligence is displayed. I keep hearing about Zweizz's new breed of avant-garde, but let's get real: a bored teenager could poop out something like this in a few hours."
Track listing
- "The Yawn of the New Age" - 04:45
- "Rævkjørt" - 02:04
- "Nowadays only the Boring Everything is so Frustrating" - 03:53
- "Blacker Than Darkness" - 02:34
- "Thank You in the Face" - 05:17
- "Your System Sucks" - 04:57
- "Sawbeam" - 02:02
- "Catacomb" - 03:58
- "Hommage a Knutsen & Ludvigsen" - 03:25
- "Masturbatory Attention Deficit Disorder" - 02:13
- "Musick is Organized Sound" - 03:45
- "Big Black Dick" - 04:16
- "Amateurs" - 05:07
Credits
- Svein Egil Hatlevik - Computers, Vocals, piano.
- Gamle Kripos - Bass on tracks #1, 7, 9 and 11.
- Homo Vinter - Drums and programming on track #4.
- CzralCarl-Michael EideCarl-Michael Eide is a Norwegian black metal musician, multi-instrumentalist , and vocalist. He is also known under stage names Aggressor, Czral and Exhurtum. He has played in various black metal and avant-garde metal bands...
Guitars on track # 6. - Kjetil S. Matheussen - Computer processing on track #13.