The Rock Blogger

Raate - Halki Kuolleen Maan. 2007. 4.5 stars.

Halki Kuolleen Maan is a mind-bending black metal album from Finland that encompasses nearly everything great about the genre. The cold, hypnotic buzz of distortion, cyclonic percussion, airy keyboards and a harsh misanthropic atmosphere are all part of Raate’s post-Burzum vision.

Not content with mere shrieks and lo-fi tremolo riffs, Raate’s compositions are layered forays across many peaks and valleys. Each lengthy track is replete with well-paced transitions in texture, from the cascading guitars to tribal drumming, producing an immersible experience. Its many interludes are also absorbing, including the acoustic folk guitars on “Kaskeajan Laulu” to the sounds of a crackling fire, coupled with rumbling drone, during the last minutes of “Hävitys, Tuhkaa”.

Despite their relative obscurity, Raate has created one of the preminent expressions of black metal art. The scope of their debut is mystifying, with its deep appreciation for atmosphere, cohesion and detail. While Raate may not have the distinctive quality of more popular acts (Wolves in the Throne Room or Ulver for example), they still stay true to the frost-bitten roots of the genre. Recommended.

Maeror Tri - The Beauty of Sadness. 1996. 5 stars.

This an exquisite and emotional drone/ambient album from this now defunct German trio. Deep bass lines and subdued guitars underlay the brooding moans of synths which lapse over each other in densely layered compositions. Jangling riffs are contrasted against airy ambiance, evoking desolate spaces broken only by soft pillars of light.

While many experiments in the genre have crafted moody atmospheric pieces, they cannot compare to the fluidity of Maeror Tri’s progressions as they slowly build around shimmering motifs. The cascading waves of sound, the resigned melodies against buzzing effects, is musical transcendentalism at its most refined. The Beauty of Sadness avoids the tedium of minimalism and the harshness of hard noise to find the golden mean between experimentation and tragic catharsis. Like a Mark Rothko painting set to music, Maeror Tri chart the landscapes of sleep and find hollowed ground. If you are familiar with Labradford, William Basinski, and Stars of the Lid you will certainly appreciate the fine nuances of this record.

Oren Ambarchi - Intermission 2000-2008 . 4 stars .

Intermission is a meditative compilation of drone and ambient pieces from this prolific Australian artist. Consisting mainly of subtle guitar and bass tones, these plodding tracks are drawn out over long periods of time to the point where they loose their deliberate instrumental quality and become natural background noise. While the gradual processes of the record take their sweet time, the effect is quite stunning once it sets in - evoking calm ocean waves or a placid morning sky. Pieces like "The Strouhal Number" are weightless pieces of ambiance, only punctuated by the low rumble of bass tones and the sleepy crackle of static.

While the album passes through an otherworldly atmosphere, it avoids the symphonic excess of most ambient records - these are meticulously crafted experiments in sound manipulation that sift through your memories, rather than just lulling you to sleep. It is certainly a challenging collection, and it is not as forceful as the psychedelic drone of Birchville Cat Motel or Natural Snow Buildings, but it still carries on a deeply cerebral undertaking with care. Anyone interested in experimental music will be fascinated by its many crevices.