Mask Dance

The Korean quartet Black String take their name from the geomungo, the funkiest of Korea's zithers, whose name translates as ‘Black String’. Yoon Jeong Heo, leader of the group, is a superb geomungo player and is joined by Aram Lee on daegeum (flute), Min Wang Hwang on janggu drum and percussion and Jean Oh on electric guitar: three Korean instruments plus a Western one, although the music remains firmly Korean in character. The album opens with soft, tentative sounds as the instruments slowly introduce themselves until the janggu drum takes up a steady rhythm. Once the drum starts, the opening track ‘Seven Beats’ has an unstoppable momentum, with the geomungo lending a rhythmic throb as the guitar and reedy flute reach dizzy heights. It returns to a calm close 11 minutes later.

The flute leads in ‘Growth Ring’, the geomungo in ‘Flowing, Flowing’, and the drum in the triple-beat ‘Dang, Dang, Dang’, while percussionist Min breaks into soulful vocals on a couple of tracks. In short, the album is full of dynamic landscapes, rhythms and textures. Black String, on the evidence of their WOMEX showcase, are one of the most exciting groups in South Korea today.