“Subdued” or “restrained” are not adjectives that can be stuck to this CD, chock full as it is of glorious roars and stomach-churning rumblings. Still, there’s also abundant proof of an impartial attentiveness to the flood of sonic events that indicates the stratum of acuity to which David Jackman and Z’EV elevated themselves during the production process. As the latter explains in a few lines on the sleeve, the basics were thrown by working side by side on a computer; the sacrosanct furore typical of Organum’s legendary pages was added in subsequent solitary circumstances. After all, lone wolves actually need no help; yet, given the merits of prior efforts by the duo, it looks like this particular partnership has been somehow carved in the stone of inevitability.
The three tracks – over 47 minutes – that define the structure of Temporal sound as a sort of initiation rite for someone who’s not used to be overwhelmed by the viciousness of metallic howl. Although an implicit harmonic delineation is present in a number of junctures – notably in the mind-boggling accumulation of cymbal resonances, snarling skins and holy chants that constitutes the core of “Eagle”, an ideal trait d’union between both artists’ current fields of research – listeners are left just about staggered, assaulted by acoustic incidents weakening the fortifications of their personal fortress from every front, without actually realizing what exactly is hitting the ears, if not for a vague sense of blurred responsiveness. More than discerning the effects of reverberating percussions, we feel like escorted by an imperishable angst: one foresees the end of existence while benefiting from extensive portions of unadulterated ecstasy. Distress and enchantment indeed, the admiration for this type of artistic solemnity absolutely inescapable.
This material wraps our ignorance in coils of choking hostility which, grisly perspectives notwithstanding, suggests a way out of discouragement through its very threat. A sensitive person’s wisdom is definitely enhanced as a result of continual sessions with such a record, one of the most bad-tempered displays of creative integrity in recent times. Die Stadt’s unfaltering heart does not skip a beat: we’re fortunate that a label on this level of trustworthiness still exists.
A five-star album for a starless future.
Die Stadt
