Philipp Münch - Greyscale (2018)

due to the ‘many-worlds hypothesis’ which is an interpretation of quantum mechanics all possible alternate histories and futures are real, each representing an actual ‘world’. it’s stated that there is a very large – perhaps infinite – number of universes, and everything that could possibly have happened in our past, has occurred in some other universe or universes. while taking an overview on philipp münch’s previous works, distinctive treatments of past influences are clear to hear – a sonic chain spanning his releases between ‘into the absurd’ and ‘post elysium’ over a period of six years. with this album, ‘greyscale’, philipp has closed this chapter and widely opens the door to a different cosmos where different influences and incidents took place, shaping the sounds that were made.

while listening to ‘greyscale’ a dramatic change concerning the lyrics is instantly obvious: they are now primarily in german, pointing at philipp münch’s personal musical roots in the legendary project ars moriendi including famous co-members such as andrea börner (morgenstern), andreas schramm (asche) and tim kniep (synapscape). ars moriendi’s unique mixture of power noise rhythms, dark ambient spheres and often aggressively performed german vocals lay the foundation for the updated conceptual turn on ‘greyscale’ as well as the fortified use of acoustic instrumentation besides omnipresent electronics. a project that also leaves one’s mark here is philipp’s alter ego rasputeen which combines minimal electro with headstrong and often time-critical lyrics. assimilating these influences and giving them a contemporary update, ‘greyscale’ displays the topical manifestation of philipp münch as an artist and as a musician – both as he is now and as he was, simultaneously.