Remanence: Premonition
by Chris Christian, Sonic Boom
This band reminds me of early In the Nursery albums, very orchestrated, with many artificial woodwinds and percussion instruments, that lie throughout the tape. "Where the Shadows Lie" rises into upbeat tempos of varied keys, with synth work rising to a crescendo, and finally crashing down into the next track. "The Hurt Heals Slow" is a slow keyboard track, with an underlying sampling of a conversation in German. The music is very dark and brooding while the keys are slow and constant.
"Violence in Chinatown" works mostly with percussive bells, which rise and converge throughout the track. Very symphonic and subtle. "Litost" starts slowly with a very intriguing set of drums and metallic percussion tones, and elevates quickly with organ like keys, and then suddenly cascades back into the percussion and the conclusion of the track. "Second Wave" picks up the silence with a very oceanic sound, watery samples, which is very orgasmic at times, the track ends with the sounds of a helicopter flying off into the distance. "Smile" breaks from the tradition of the slow brooding pieces, with a very upbeat sound almost march-like. It doesn't fit very well into the gothic ambience of the rest of the tracks, and almost seems out of place.
An astounding cassette EP which heralds only the beginning from this exciting duo. Expect a full length album titled "Apparitions" which will contain tracks 1, 2, 3, and 5 in their original forms sometime in the near future.
The packing of the EP is also very innovative. The tape comes in a brown cardboard box covered in plain black artwork, and tied closed with a black ribbon. Inside the box wrapped around the cassette is some type of wax paper with various literary articles written across the foldout sheet detailing all sorts of occult information, and machines designed to record the spirit aura, and more.
Excellent overall concept from the artwork to the music by a very impressive duo.
