Wrekmeister Harmonies with Mark Solotroff and Alexander Hacke
When: Wed., July 30, 10 p.m.Price: free
Chicago sound artist J.R. Robinson has been creating music as
Wrekmeister Harmonies since 2006, channeling the frigid, demonic spirit
of black metal in slow-building, minimalist ambient music. Sometimes he
plays solo, sometimes he lines up a collaborator or three, and sometimes
he puts together an ensemble a couple dozen members strong for an
especially monumental and grandiose sound—for his summer solstice concerts
in Bohemian National Cemetery the past couple years, he’s recruited
heavy-metal stalwarts from Indian, Nachtmystium, and Leviathan, to name a
few. Lately most Wrekmeister Harmonies performances have been of “Run
Priest Run,” a 30-minute slow burn of dark, spaced-out guitar and
synthesizer, with Robinson in a duo with Mark Solotroff of Bloodyminded
and Anatomy of Habit—a master of bleak sonic punishment himself. For
tonight’s version, German experimental musician Alexander Hacke—a member
of legendary avant-garde industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten—will
join the heavy drones on bass and electronics. Robinson and Hacke have
performed together in Europe, but this will be the first and possibly
only set by the trio with Solotroff. Hacke will undoubtedly add a
gigantic, grim exclamation mark to the already crushing atmospheres. —Luca Cimarusti