There is a legitimate reason we have never reviewed Striborg before and that is solely due to the fact that we have only just started working with his label Displeased Records. If that were not the case we would no doubt have reviewed the artist from Tasmania who goes by the name Sin Nanna countless times, as to say he was prolific would be akin to saying that the sea is somewhat wet. Since 1997 he has notched up over 40 releases on album, splits, demos, boxed sets and more best of compilations than you can shake a stick at (something he no doubt does a lot of whilst walking around the forest looking for inspiration). Our paths have crossed a few times musically but I admit to only having a fleeting listen to Striborg’s music now and again so cannot really go in depth and compare Southwest Passage to his other works.
My main concern is that this was going to be an exercise in quantity over quality and although this did not instantly grab me I have enjoyed the album more each time I have listened to it. I have noticed that in the past Sin N has put out albums with tracks up to the 30 minute mark on them, with this in mind I am guessing that this with 6 songs in 40 minutes is a bit more restrained and I guess as far as I am concerned as good a place to properly start as any. Leading with the title track the one man army hits us with fuzz laden guitar and snare drum bouncing off all treble heavy. Vocals are heard but not in the front of the mix, more bestial and full throated lurking in the background and possibly obscured by trees trying to get closer and devour their prey. This is pretty monotonous stuff with melody looping around and not really seeing the track go anywhere. It’s easy to mention certain un-incarcerated Norwegians of similar musical disposition but I shall try my best to avoid, simply saying this is nothing special at all. ‘All Contempt Reciprocated’ sees the instrumentation getting more strident as far as guitars are concerned but vocals still could be higher. This is a lot more in line with the USBM of Xasthur and has a more effective and downbeat feel to it but the album really shines in negativity when we hit ‘Human Extinction.’ What a bleak and miserable track this is, one chord over and over again and completely wretched in (err) execution. Finally the drum and fuzzier guitar comes in and the misery simply piles up with angst ridden torturous cries joining the clamour. I like and hate this in equal measures, just perfect! ‘Dwelling in the Fullmoon Forests’ should perhaps be bracketed with the words (with wind chimes) but this track works well at putting across an atmosphere as well as some odd sounds being wrung out of it and some skewed melody that lurches about and slow downs and disorientates as the song slowly runs do)))wn.
I’m not entirely sold by Striborg, bits I like and others are just too formulaic and it’s a case of heard it all before. The weird closer Requiem For A Lonely Ghost’ does however show that the artist has ideas of his own and can make (excuse the pun) haunting music and I am sure it wont be long before something else turns up to listen to. I wonder actually if we are going to get a monthly album; Southeast Passage, Northwest Passage, etc etc, well it could be interesting getting lost with Striborg.
http://www.myspace.com/displeasedrecordsfrombeyondproductions
