Church — Faceless
The project are a three piece from Wales & they have so far two other eps as well as appeared on a few compilations too. I have to admit that they have one of the more intriguing & original sound I`ve heard in quite sometime, it`s the way the very cleverly & effectively mould & mix together the guitar textures, field records, subtle electronics & other sound matter in a very hypotonic, strange & organic manner. Faceless offers up three tracks in all that run between the seven & fifteen minute mark & each track creates it`s own strange & separate sonic picture or disturbing place & imagery marvellous well.
Opening up the album we have “Seeping & Arising” which mixers together these series of looped, jittering, oozing & shifting subterranean like textures, creepy harmonic ambient drifts & this slow moving shimmering guitar electric guitar texture. The track wonderful conjures up the feeling of moving through a strange & hunted underground dip & organically shifting cave network & it`s truly Goosebumps rising stuff. Next up we have the track “Sky Pox” which opens with a sort of longing & melodic slightly digital clipped blues meets atmospheric guitar scape which hums with the lonely wonder of swooping through endless greying skies. As the track progresses the layers of guitar textures & loops build-up into this hypnotic yet still harmonic wall of sound with jittering electronic drones also sliding in. Around the half way point in this twelve minute track you start to hear subtle traces of lonesome & squawking bird call which build up more clearly as the track nears it`s end & the guitar & electronic textures are lessen until we`re just left surrounded by the eerier & autumnal sound of bird squawking & calls which seem to be coming at you from all angles of the stereo channels.
Lastly we have the wonderfully entitled “Face of Entrails” which really does sound like its title; as if a beast straight out of Lovecraft`s stories is coming towards you down a damned & red corridor its entrails face twitching & seething as it walks. This track is a lot more urgent & less ambient in its feel with at times it rising to quite noisy & threatening highs. It enters with this thick, muffled & throbbing electro tone that almost feels a bit like really messed up techno, around this centre element the project at first add in this weird off centre clunking footstep sound which really makes you think someone is walking towards you (it`s so effective I check to make sure no-one was sneak-up on me while playing this). The as the track goes on more layers of uneasy & fucking with your head sounds are added like chanted & scuttling voices texture, more percussive details ect. At around the 6 minute mark a chugging & boorish guitar tone takes centre stage with these weird Arabic like touches underneath the dense & threatening sound soup as it sort of goes all bizarre jam freak-out like as we get layers of tabular, cymbal seers & dips, and all manner of chaotic yet atmospheric sounds attack as if the entrails beast has now fallen on you and it`s rapidly twitching & seething it`s self all over your face as your mind erupts in blind panic.
Simply put “Faceless” is one of the most original, distinctive & at times very disturbing albums you`ll hear this year. So don`t delay pick it up soon & let chuch take you on a sonic journey quite unlike anything you`ve heard before. To find out more, hear samples check into twilight luggage site here