Cleveland OH’s Boris Oicherman uses droning dub compositions to create an unsettling nest for sampled lines of poetry. Based on the title, I’ll assume these are translations of Paul Celan’s poetry, but not speaking or understanding German I can’t even guess as to the actual lyrical content.

The poetry, offered with a deadpan delivery and in German, is sometimes offered clearly and high in the mix, focusing on the linguistic content. At other times the lines are sampled, phased, and repeated like a chant so their rhythmic aspects contribute to the overall tone of the music. That tone remains consistently dreary and unsettling throughout these eight tracks, repetitious and viscous and hypnotic.

This music is much more about vibe than composition, but there’s a lot happening sonically. Multiple tones overlap in calculated synthy drones, rhythms rise and fall, patterns emerge and dissipate. With most of the tracks extending into “long song” territory – seven plus minutes for the first two, nine plus for the next two, six plus for a couple on the back half – these are musical compositions designed to expand like shadows through the cavern of your listening.

As a focal work of art, the interplay between elements is active enough to keep interested listeners engaged. While the tones and instrumentation remain consistent throughout the album (percussive synths and classic walking low end dub basslines, echoing percussion and steady kick drum downbeats), each track builds a sturdy enough groove to hold the song together. Most listeners not already invested in drone or dub might find its lack of hooks (or melody at all really) causes it to fade to the background, where it might provide a fitting soundtrack to creeping anxiety, should anyone be feeling anxious these days.

I won’t defy the band’s name and try to interpret the reasons for juxtaposing German translations of poetry over dread-inducing dub. As a sum of its parts,Stimmenis a durable and intentional work that conjures a unique response. That’s a rare thing, and even if this isn’t uplifting music, it deserves to be lifted up.