Konrad Ciesielski: Koniec

Konrad Ciesielski looks like a man of contradictions: an extreme-metal drummer who also plays some Southern stoner rock on the side, loud and powerful yet fluidly graceful, finally making a solo debut and titling it Koniec (The End). In a somewhat sideways step from his past history, this is a sweeping musical panorama that feels downright vast in scale. Yet by the end of this virtual movie-for-the-ears, all those things do not even feel like contradictions. The picture is simply big and expansive enough to have space for some of everything.

Without focusing on any particular genre, Ciesielski keeps his central focus on rhythm and relishes plugging into an array of futuristic electronics. Often-minimal melodic patterns still evoke genuine (sometimes genuinely heart-pounding) drama without relying on overblown theatrics. His metal roots show through in his willingness to get loud or harsh; the cyberpunk "Miscommunication Land" layers quasi-mechanical chants over a buzz-synth booming and dropping with the weight of a black hole. At the album's most organic point, "Labyrinthine" pounds through a tribal percussion trance out of Peter Gabriel's nightmares.

While the sci-fi trappings could easily feel dystopian, Koniec insistently keeps something human amidst the chilliness. "Out of Gravity" orbits around an incongruously cute voice musing in English on celestial fancies. The vaguely proggy dub groove of "Kamdra" makes way for a monologue in Polish that is quiet enough to sound almost philosophical. Several passages feature a sax or trumpet creating canyons of echo as if ringing through outer space; those spots most overly evoke the floaty trippiness of Portico Quartet, crossed with a widescreen scope closer to the grander side of the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Each of these pieces seems to occupy a world of its own that continues to exist beyond the allotted few minutes we can hear. The experience feels continually tinged with something alien, but almost always keeping some palpable organic beat to drive the warp engine. With ambition and imagination to spare, hopefully this End will only prove to be the start of things even more beguiling.

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