It's clear that Wolfgang Voigt has certainly not run out of GAS. It may be 17 years since the Kompakt empire co-founder went into a studio to last work under this moniker and produce ambient techno standout Pop, but Narkopop shows that Voigt has lost none of his GAS bearings or vigour in the interim.
He is also as entranced and fixated by the forests around his native Cologne as he ever was, forces of nature which gave him a place to escape to and dream things up. While he's released a slew of other releases and albums since Pop, this new cargo of deep, compulsive and symphonic sonic depth charges indicate that Voigt's work when it comes to ambient soundscapes and washes is still of the highest quality.
As always, the patterns, pulses and tones create auras and atmospheres which are both meditative and occasionally menacing, suggesting that there’s always a dark side to contemplate even in the most rapturous of moments and settings.
