If you like music that is completely chaotic, with loads going on in it, this one may not be for you. Minimalist is a very good word to describe the focus of the two projects on this split CD and the soundscapes they create are incredibly descriptive even if they do unveil themselves in such a stripped down fashion. First we have five tracks from Dust To Dearth who describe their art as ‘slow and desolate sounds,’ which is exactly what you get here. The act is a side project of Mandy from Murkrat whose excellent self titled album you may have read about on this site.
The title track of the disc slowly builds with sinister rumblings like a giant walking slowly forward and shaking rocks in his path. Vocals sorrowfully come in courtesy of Mandy and cast a forlorn funereal shroud over things and listening to this very dark atmosphere it is very difficult not to shiver as you are gripped with a sense of both loss and foreboding. There are plenty of moments of calm lulling ambience as well as sudden peaks of more jagged and violent noise as perhaps alien machinery clanks into life in an underground lair. I think the cover of the disc really sums things up as there is something almost prehistoric at play here and of long forgotten civilisations; well that is how my mind interprets it all. As we head into ‘Winter’ there is an almost pagan like recorder passage very quietly in the background heralding in that total loss of the sun and light, as low ebbs great the darkness. A slow drum beat builds around the divine sounding vocals, I am somewhat reminded of the beat of The Terminator main theme albeit a lot slower and this does have a feel of the soundtrack about it at times. In the background again more traditional instruments can now be heard practically trailing sparks of static in their wake. With track titles such as the piano etched ‘It Is Dark’ being very self descriptive by title, Dust To Dearth have forged a truly impressive dark and imaginative piece of work. Even though at times it feels like there is not a huge amount going on I could easily rattle off a massive review as it is left to the imagination to interpret and the imagination should be an endless void.
This is great music to listen to late at night but it does not stand alone as the disc then expands to a full 70 minutes running time with the introduction of three tracks by Lysergene. This is another side project and one from Gordon Bicknell of the mighty Esoteric, so I was certainly looking forward to hearing it especially as I read that it hinted toward early Lustmord. This kind of drones in riding on the waves of the final dying notes of Dust To Dearth and the Nephilim in me picked up title ‘Mourning Sun’ instantly. It sounds like a didgeridoo that is lowing away and again I am taken back into that feel of ancient prehistoric civilisations and again this is a very eerie sound. Weird warped mad professor type symphonics crawl out the ether and spread tentacle like feelers out and we are drawn towards second track ‘Nebula.’ This is perhaps lighter and airier and gently pulses away like the creation of the universe, with an almost sentient feel to it. ‘Black Whole’ takes us further into space and things whoosh and whir before a slow and sinuous keyboard pulsation gives some gravity to things and mesmerises as the track slowly folds in upon itself.
This is one of those discs that takes you on a journey and although it does not perhaps need your complete attention if you do provide it you will be richly rewarded. Both projects work really well together on the one disc and I am pleased I was presented with them in this format, as if anything one listening experience has perhaps accentuated the other. One thing I will add is that I would consider this a solitary listening experience and one that should not be shared, anyway most company would not get it anyway, which to me makes it all the more special.
http://www.aestheticdeath.com
http://www.dust-to-dearth.com
http://www.myspace.com/lysergeneproductions
