deathprod: treetop drive

Based in Oslo, Norway, composer HELGE STEN has been crafting this music since the early '90s, a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself. The DEATHPROD concept arose in 1991 when Sten realized his complex array of homemade electronics, samplers, sound processing and analogue effects—cumulatively known as the “Audio Virus”—could add a musical dimension above and beyond the merely technical. Almost obsolete samplers and playback devices distort and transform sounds into unrecognizable mutations of their former selves. The virus breeds layers of complex and overlapping sonic debris, creating a kind of cellular composition. Sten is a founder member of Norwegian improvising group SUPERSILENT and has produced records by Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen and others. In 1998, alongside Biosphere, he electronically transformed the music of Norway’s leading contemporary composer, Arne Nordheim. More recently he composed music for Harry Partch’s legendary invented instruments for the Cologne based Ensemble Musikfabrik. Now the core trilogy of Deathprod albums are released for the first time on vinyl. Cut to vinyl by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering in Berlin, they form Deathprod’s complete official canon.