Looking over his discography, Conclusio marks the first solo work from Asmus Tietchens since 2022’s Schatten Ohne Licht, which is quite a significant stretch for him. He has been consistent with his collaborations, but solo material has been less frequent in recent years. Compared to the previous album, Conclusio is less sparse in its construction, and instead is rather dense, focused, and quite intense, while consistently displaying Tietchens’s careful crafting of sound.
One consistent thing on the 12 individual pieces that make up the album, all of which are traditional song length, is Tietchens's employment of drastic shifts in volume and dynamics, with occasionally shocking results.
Throughout many there is a digital sheen, either via the use of reverb or other forms of modern processing. This overall sound, intentional or not, gives a sense of parallel with his earlier works on Sky and Discos Esplendor Geometrico and the recontextualizing of contemporary electronic sounds into something entirely unique.
The metallic echoes and near-percussion of "German Angst" exemplify this, with ghostly electronic spaces and scraping/rattling sounds, peppered with unsettling volume shifts, almost feels like a direct nod to classic industrial music, which the title further seems to indicate. "Imperial Logistics" is one of the more open pieces, with sci-fi soundscapes interrupted by occasional menacing thuds and other banging noises that are not so much rhythmic as chaotic.
Another theme Tietchens returns to throughout the album is contrasting open space and the aforementioned jarring outbursts. Opening with loud, aggressive interference and immediately followed with wide, reverberated spaces, "Die Schwere der Leere" balances these two, with spacious hums and sharp stabs appearing throughout. "Idyll Im Obszän" may begin with hissing white noise that transition to droning tones, but again with this almost unintentional (but surely not) sounding loud digital glitching throughout it keeps things unsettling.
Some of the other pieces feature almost melodic elements that Tietchens employs, intentional or naturally occurring, that also give a unique quality to Conclusio. With "Organischer Restbestand" there is a lot of open space, but he blends in some loud metal clanging that sound like massive metal cables being plucked, but beneath this is a series of swirling tones that become melodic in their own way.
"Raudi Agil an der Bahntrasse" is arguably one of the most distinct pieces on the album given Tietchens's variation of sound and techniques utilized. Shimmering, time-stretched drifts of sound become the basis for structured pulses and swells, and repeated loops give a greater sense of song-like structure to the piece. Violent robotic squeals and what could be best described as deconstructed sinister carnival music results in a complex, but uncomfortable piece. The concluding title work is a bit more static than the rest of the album, with blasting, ghostly winds hiding melodies exhibiting subtle variations throughout. The structure stays consistent, but the sounds used make for a focused conclusion.
Given the title and the length of his career, I am hoping that this is not indicating any sort of finality to Tietchens's body of work, given the consistency he has maintained throughout his career while never seeming to settle on any one style. I find his collaborations engaging, of course, but I find his solo works especially engaging, and the juxtapositions he utilized throughout this album exemplify his work perfectly.
