Customer Reviews

Sun Baked Snow Cave

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i bought this and was at first annoyed by the extreme minimalist guitar which is present in the 1st 8 minutes or so of this piece.....(this was in my car driving home from the record store).....i got home and put it on from the beginning (this is approx. a 62 min. single track album, mind you....) and realized that this is quite a heavy and heady piece....very heavily ambient with fluctuating and ever-changing noise...a challenging listen....not melodic or overtly musical, but powerful nonetheless....it is ever-changing once you get deep into the piece (the 20 min. mark, or so...)----i was drawn to this as a new Merzbow fan and due to Scorpiomoon...i have never heard Boris before on record.....darkness is very present here. delve. patiently.

...one track...60 minutes long...to me that was all I needed to hear to think that I was going to listen to an epic track of large qualities...and to an extent that's what I got with two bands that separate from eachother are perfect at making the noise that they make...for a little recap let me briefly explain what kind of music these bands make on their own separate grounds for those who don't know...

Merzbow: Lead by the pioneering Akita who started off with simple loop tapes to high tech laptops...he creates sounds of static and white noise...he takes what others would think of as noise pollution and composes it into a deep, thoughtful and provokative journey...where every change in pitch opens up a new wound ready to be licked at by the thorns of Merzbow...either you think of it as beautiful art...or a mess of noise...

Boris: A band that takes ideas from drone and post doom to try and create an experimental sound of their own...maybe the fact that their name resides from a Melvins song givs you a clue of their sound...I'm not as much fans of their work but they definetely have a very nice quirk to them...

...now...to describe this track...I have listened to long epic tracks before...some good...some not so good...and to be honest...this is straight bang in the middle...as I really feel nothing for it...

...it starts off very delicately and softly...with the slight ping of a guitar chord that you'd need a very sensitive ear to hear...it will gradually get louder after a very very very very very very long wait and the static will now begin it's crescendo (again it takes an insanely long time to kick in to it's top power) but the truth is once it all reaches its climax...I really feel nothing for it...it truly does seem that I spent the whole time listening for it to build up...and I understand maybe this is what a snow cave would sound like if I walked around it for an hour...but the very simple truth is...I don't get the message they are getting across...

...all instrumentals used are ridiculously monotoneous and when they finally do create an atmosphere that they have been pitching for a good 40 minutes...it's just not spectacular at all...Sunn O))) manage to create monotoneous drones very well because what they manage to produce is very dark and hypnotic...this merely felt like an underscore to this as there was no climax to their crescendo...it literally just got louder and slightly more polyphonic...

...it's not bad...I'm sure many people will claim that this is a masterpiece and I'd agree with you that this is an outstanding display of artistic atmosphere...but it doesn't make me feel anything at all...when I listen to a long track (especially one over 60 minutes) I expect to feel something epic or it won't grow on me...

...I still listen to this when I attempt to practice meditation to see if it will grow on me...maybe someday it will...until then...I'll keep my harsh noise and post doomy droney music separate...

One 62-minute track called "The roar of a (gigantic) wheel as it turns uncontrollably, I vaguely recall it in a warm snow cave. A boom like a chorus of thousands of cicadas heard under the sun, such a story desires to be born." Pretentious much? It starts off with some low-key white noise, and then some more low-key white noise that is a bit different, and then after a minute a simple guitar plucking wanders in. The guitar is all you hear for about 10 minutes, but then the Merz-noise picks up as the guitar bit carries on and on. The noise rises and swells to an unholy pitch, at which point you realise that it's the Les Paul that is accompanying Merzbow. Two thirds of the way in, the hellacious fever-pitch screech subsides and gradually becomes a drone of sorts, and then things chill out, the acoustic guitar steps back in and plucks and ploops as everything melts into nothingness.

The album artwork is metallic and seems computer-drawn, it's very trippy and surreal and is by Hydra Head Records founder (and Isis guitarist) Aaron Turner. The gatefold and back cover also contain very trippy dippy artwork.

Thank god its not as extreem as some of Merzbow's stuff
are you a Boris Fan?
Get it!
Are you not used to Drone or Doom?Then you better have a big cigar first!
This sounds a lot like Sunn o)))
Pretty heavy
But strangly beautifull too

Have you ever been sitting somewhere, maybe inside, possibly outside, and been so wrapped up in a conversation, or cloud, or money (what?) that you hadn't recognized the small, tingly ants crawling up your arm? Yeah there was a mild sensation when you saw the shape of a unicorn but you thought maybe its just Enlightenment. Then once you look down and see them, that just seems to fuel their mandibles and they're scurring and nibbling on a millionth of a millionth of your flesh. And it doesn't hurt enormously but you can't stop them and it feels like it will never stop?? Me neither but this is a great album. Even late!