Charlie Werber Collabs with Daniel O’Sullivan on Solo Debut ‘Krater’

Chicago-based drummer and composer Charlie Werber unveils Krater, his first release under his own name—an album that transcends boundaries of rhythm, time, and consciousness. Featuring a collaboration with Daniel O’Sullivan (Ulver, Sunn O))), Guapo), Krater explores circular rhythm, the dissolution of dualities, and the fusion of opposites through sound.

Werber explains

“Krater is both a fruit and a seed. I see this work, in part, as the fulfillment of a visionary experience in which divine intelligence—amusingly wearing my body as a garment—planted an egg in my head. One half of the egg was light (eternity, or stillness), the other dark (time, or motion). It became clear that this egg would rotate at an accelerating rate until the distinction between the two became imperceptible—dissolving and yielding something beyond.”

Built upon the foundation of Werber’s extensive work in avant-garde and progressive music—spanning projects such as The Flying Luttenbachers, Chiromancer, Murmur, Lovely Little Girls, and Guzzlemug—Krater marks a moment of singular artistic expression. At its core, Krater is a study in ouroboric polymeters: circular rhythmic structures that bypass traditional compositional storytelling in favour of a dynamic interplay between listener and pattern.

“My aim was to create a durational piece in which growth arises from the reciprocal yoking of listening awareness and rhythmic pattern, rather than relying on narrative to drive development.”

The album is divided into two sides, reflecting a dualistic interplay: one side features Werber’s intricate drum patterns in isolation; the other expands outward with the collaborative energy of O’Sullivan.

“Beyond my longstanding admiration for Daniel’s work, I sensed a specific resonant thread running through it—something that made his contribution feel innately aligned with this project.”

At its deepest level, Krater is an act of transformation—a meditation on movement, cycles, and the dissolution of perceived boundaries.

“Among the many ways this work engages with the union of opposites, I see the spinning record, in its dense material form, and the spinning egg, on a subtler plane, as existing in a state of co-participation.”

Charlie Werber ‘Krater’ album artwork