- An intense, sometimes bleak trip back into the woods with the ambient techno master.
- Wolfgang Voigt has over 20 aliases and projects. The one that has overshadowed and outlasted almost all others is arguably the simplest: GAS. Something about the mythos of the German forest, paired with classical music and distant kick drums, resonates on a deeper level than almost anything else he's been involved with musically. The Kompakt cofounder took a full 17 years off between GAS releases and seems to have been drawn back to the project not only because of popular demand, but to the eternal appeal of the concept. "The project was never away from the people, from the fans. Because they used to listen to those older GAS records constantly all over during this time," Voigt told Rolling Stone back in 2018.
Voigt's seventh album as GAS, Der Lange Marsch ("the long march"), revolves around the temporal nature of Voigt's sylvan techno experiments. The title, for starters, hints at an inexorable journey. Then there's the poetic language that concludes the press release: "Way. Destination. Loop. Forest loop. No beginning. No end." GAS has always been about disorientation, an anachronistic style of music that mixes old and new technologies and traditions. On this new LP, Voigt creates the sensation of being lost in the ever-darkening woods, trudging endlessly through fractal landscapes that offer no landmarks or any sense of progress.
If you didn't get this feeling from the title, you'll get it from the rhythm: a timpani-like kick drum that runs across the first 45 minutes of the record. It's monotonous, and that's the point. The variation comes instead in the melodies, which are furnished by classical samples. Voigt's "orchestra" is more evocative than ever. The bulk of Der Lange Marsch sees disembodied string, wind and horn sections cycling through countless peaks and valleys. On "Der Lange Marsch 6," the instruments parry and thrust, all underpinned by a thudding, duple time kick (a pattern where there are two beats per bar).
"Ever since I started listening to music, I've been in love with any kind of duple time music," Voigt once told The Quietus. "I love reggae and ska, as well as folk brass, Schlager and polka musics—the stuff with this kind of 'oompah oompah' beat." With the addition of the duple time kick drum, Voigt brings this obsession to GAS the way he once did with polka. Against this staunch dedication to the "oompah," subtle details emerge vividly, the same device used in the most hypnotic of minimal techno.
These changes bloom on the record's final movement, starting with "Der Lange Marsch 8," where which the instruments blur into a blissful drone in line with the classic GAS records. The bassline is finally altered as the stately horns of the ninth track dissolve into the climactic "Der Lange Marsch 10." This ten-plus minute centerpiece pairs swelling strings and chorale sections with more modern production touches, exquisite synths and reversed hi-hats that gesture towards dance music.
Der Lange Marsch is not an easy album. The pleasant propulsion and smudged sonics of Königsforst have long been replaced by a more severe reading of Voigt's ambient German forest techno. It's an endless journey, sometimes even a slog. But the forest contains multitudes—the Grimm tales, for example, were foreboding and enchanting in equal measure. In the Rolling Stone interview referenced above, Voigt spoke about his decision to revive GAS. "GAS was asking for its right to come back out again," he said ."It wasn't really my decision." Voigt's mix of art music, techno and classical, of fairy tales and field recordings, feels singular and timeless 25 years on. It's not Voigt's most beautiful or immersive record as GAS, but it remains a forest we can all get lost in.
Tracklist01. Der Lange Marsch 1
02. Der Lange Marsch 2
03. Der Lange Marsch 3
04. Der Lange Marsch 4
05. Der Lange Marsch 5
06. Der Lange Marsch 6
07. Der Lange Marsch 7
08. Der Lange Marsch 8
09. Der Lange Marsch 9
10. Der Lange Marsch 10
11. Der Lange Marsch 11