Blank Depths — Untitled
On offer here are just two tracks- track one is entitled “Gust” and comes in at 16.19 mark, and track two is entitled “Rain” and that comes in at spot on the 15.00 mark. Sound wise both of the ‘walls’ brought to mind a more simplistic & less active take on the type of weather bound ANW/HNW that Puerto Rico based Tromba did. The first track is built around a churning, receding then growing billow/judder ‘wall’, and this sort of simulates the sonic feeling of a battering/ roaring storm heard from with-in a building. It’s ok I guess through I found my attention starting to wonder very soon after the track got going, you see the noise textures the pair have chosen feel more than a little clichéd, and their manipulations felt rather predictable & underwhelming.
Thankfully track two “Rain” is much better than the first track, and as it title suggests it attempts to recreate rain like texturing. The ‘walls’ built around a very slowed ‘n’ sluggish juddering/purring texture, and in front of this we have a nice persistent ‘n’ fresh wet crackling noise texture. Unlike the first track this really sucked me in from the get-go, and kept my attention through-out. From time to the juddering/purring texture seems to slightly shift, and once again this adds more interest to the mix. Just past the six minute mark a closer/persistent static haze like crackle is added to the ‘wall’, and this nicely makes the whole thing feel more intense yet still ambient/ enchanting. By the ninth minute the static hazing has disappeared, and it’s replaced by quite a eerier sounding collection of distant ambient industrial knocks ‘n’ bangs- these run under a mixture of slow juddering/ purring, and distant wet crackles.
So to my ears this opening shot is very much a game of two half’s - the first tracks more than a little underwhelming & un-captivating, but the second track is both captivating & cleverly put together.