Released simultaneously with Morals and Dogma, Deathprod's first new album in eight years, this eponymous box set proposes a sum of Helge Sten's music under his favorite solo moniker. The box set consists of four CDs packaged in digipacks and an accompanying 32-page booklet, all housed in a heavy-duty cardboard box, the whole thing predominantly black. Each CD is a stand-alone album in itself. Disc one, Reference Frequencies, is a collection of early pieces and compilation tracks. From 1991, the four Reference Frequencies pieces illustrate Deathprod's sound in its infancy. The crude electronics and treatments (what Sten calls his "audio virus") are strongly reminiscent of Arne Nordheim's electronic music. The two Recording the Jürg Mager Trio pieces are the only tracks of the whole box set stepping away from Deathprod's idiosyncrasies: this organ/percussion/test oscillator trio features Sten's theremin-like use of the latter, but the music is much more in a lounge/post-rock vein. Released in 1994 in 500 copies, Treetop Drive occupies disc two. Featuring the violin of Hans Magnus Ryan and orchestral sound sources, this album already features a highly crystallized aesthetic. The 15-minute Treetop Drive 1, with its ebb-and-flow washes of treated sounds, evokes Tibor Szemzö's The Other Shore. A very coherent and captivating listen, this CD makes you wonder why Deathprod didn't get international attention prior to his work in Supersilent. Imaginary Songs from Tristan da Cunha (disc three) is a different affair. Released in 1996, also in 500 copies, it is divided in two contrasting parts. The first one features four short violin (Ole Henrik Moe) and electronic treatments pieces, transferred to phonograph cylinders to give them an antiquated feel. The second part is the half-hour piece The Contraceptive Briefcase II, a very powerful drone work by Sten and Moe, featuring a sextet of vocalists and glass players. Disc four is the album Morals and Dogma, the only disc in this set also sold separately. Morals and Dogma has its own review, so it will not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that it represents the pinnacle of Deathprod's career up to this point. Some may find the price of this set to be a little steep for only three hours worth of music, especially if one has previously bought Morals and Dogma. ~ François Couture, Rovi