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Norwegian producer Snasen has steadily been building up a following for himself after his 2011 emergence onto the electronic music scene with a self-titled EP. His breakout release, Failing Upwards, won him accolades from publications like Pitchfork and XLR8R, and last year’s Grok EP further strengthened his reputation. Grok was a record of raw and melancholic techno, and Forsvinningen (his first full-length album) develops upon the formula he established with that release. In comparison to Grok, Forsvinningen is meditated and altogether more thoughtful, with a layer of craft and depth that he has not previously displayed. It is a subtly intense album, almost unrelentingly despairing, and while Grok felt almost like an exercise in sound with this LP it feels we are finally being given an insight into the artist’s own character.

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Snasen operates in a similar space to that which is occupied by more well-known producers such as Andy Stott or Actress; his latest is a techno album that is designed to be sat and listened to, rather than heard in a club environment. The album maintains this techno sensibility for its entire duration, while never seeming to feel a need to attempt to confine itself to the genre – nowhere is this better illustrated than in first single and album highlight Ink Blot. Its rickety, clinking drums recall Snoop Dogg’s Drop It Like It’s Hot, and while this might seem a trivial comparison it illustrates well Snasen’s ability to borrow liberally from myriad genres while maintaining a distinct sound that is wholly his own. The track is carried by a resounding organ lead, and features wonderful vocal interplay from guest singers Ellen Sofie Mosebekk and Aleksander Johansen of the band Psyence Fiction. Having been established from the very first track, the general tone of hopelessness is abandoned to some degree in the subsequent track Motion Commotion, before the album hurtles back into darkness with the bass-heavy, chiming The Message/Ride Home. This track is an attempt on the artist’s part to preserve and translate the emotions he felt upon visiting the hospital to discover that his daughter lacked a heartbeat. From here on in, the album maintains its tone, reaching its most anguished point in the echoing, spectral track Vaapen.

“Forsvinningen” is a word that translates into English as “disappearance”. It’s an apt title that captures the hollowness and emptiness displayed throughout the album. As mentioned above Snasen is a Norwegian producer, and the soundscapes he presents most definitely conjure to mind images of the vast, empty fjords and cold, barren lands that one would most readily associate with that country. Forsvinningen is a mature and honed album and hauntingly atmospheric, and is a good reflection of the four years that Snasen has devoted to releasing his own brand of sombre electronica.

Forsvinningen will be released on Sellout! Music on June 8th on vinyl + digital.