Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – Piano Nights (2xLP, Crystal Clear Vinyl)

Bohren & der Club of Gore's Piano Nights arrived in 2014 as the German group's seventh album, drawing the piano further into the centre of a sound they had spent decades refining after emerging from the Ruhr hardcore and metal scene. Rather than abandoning their slow, nocturnal approach, they distil it: long instrumental pieces, deep bass, brushed drums and saxophone moving with a patience that feels closer to late-night film music than to rock convention.

What makes this record especially appealing is how spare it is without feeling empty. Morten Gass's piano and Fender Rhodes give the album its calm, shadowed pulse, while Christoph Clöser's saxophone, vibraphone and additional keys add colour without breaking the spell. Tracks such as Bei rosarotem Licht and Fahr zur Hölle hint at the album's hushed, hypnotic character, and the writing by Clöser and Gass keeps everything focused on melody, silence and atmosphere rather than drama.

Recorded by Clöser and Gass at Dark Victory Studios, mixed and mastered by Andi Reisner, and produced by the band themselves, Piano Nights captures Bohren at their most restrained and tender. If earlier records could feel colder and more severe, this one leans warmer and more cinematic, making it a particularly inviting way into their self-contained world of doom jazz, ambient melancholy and after-hours stillness.

Features

• 2xLP, Crystal Clear Vinyl
• Gatefold cover

Reviews

• Piano Nights is luxurious in its warmth. - Pitchfork