Cory Strand — The Shining: Tarriance
The two disc set finds Mr Strand morphing/ stretching out five of Carlos original compositions, and really the feel/vibe through-out the release is fittingly ghostly, slow moving, and eerier. With Strand creating the feeling of slowly drifting through the Overlook Hotels vast spread, and communing with the sites many ghost and faded memories.
The two disc CDR set comes in a clear DVD case, with the front cover taking in a bleak looking oil painting picture of Jack Torrence(Jack Nicholson) stuck in the freezing maze at the end of the movie. The reverse sleeve takes in a map of the hotels maze, and each of the two discs taking in color stills from the movie. All in all it’s another nice bit of packaging from Altar Of waste, who really produce some of the most impressive & well thought-out packaging of any underground/ small press label.
Disc one takes in three tracks in all, with each track falling between the sixteen & thirty minute mark. First up we have “A Ghost Piano”, which comes in at the 27.16 mark- the track finds Strand creating a haunting & hypnotic drift of hazed & blurred harmonic yet sad piano cords. The further the track progresses, the more the piano elements seem to blur & haze into melancholic drone fog. The atmosphere he creates here is akin to looking at some old black & white picture of a childs or young adults funeral from 100 years ago, and trying to make out the details/ expression of the attendees faces through the mists of time & age . It’s a beautiful, enchanting & haunting start to the release, and one of the high points here.
Next up on disc one we have “A Haunted Waltz”, and this comes in at the 16.26 mark. The track opens with a line of quite clear sounding 1980’s piano/synth working weaving out a melody line, but in under a minute we’re back to stretched out & haunted drone territory. The track finds Strand creating this slurred & dragged-out mixture of thin & spectral low end drone which is mixed with hovering/ slowly vibrating bell or vibe like tonalities. And as the track progresses Strand thins & stretchers out the tones more & more, until it becomes difficult to define one from another.
Lastly on disc one we have “Colorado”, and this is the longest track on this first disc at the 30.15 mark. The tracks built around a slowly shifting ‘n’ swirling mix of sustained hovering drone, and slow motion orchestral/ chiming tonalities that have a vast /regal yet morose harmonic feel to them- as the track progresses you seem to get pulled deeper & deeper into it’s rich yet deeply sad sonic landscape. This track has a great timeless feel to it, and really suggests that the site where the Overlook Hotel stood has always been a troubled & haunted place from the beginning of time- way, way before the building was there.
Moving onto disc two, and we have two tracks on offer here- “Postlude” which comes in at 38.45 mark, and “The Overlook” which comes in at 33.36 mark. The first track opens with a slow fading in haze of drone- with Strand creating this mesh of two maybe three thin ambient tones- these take in sustained billows, length drones, and slow rumbles- from time to time you get hints of haunted melody trails, but these fairly soon dissipate. I guess you’d say this track is very sparse & ghostly in it’s feel, and as stripped & faint ambient goes this track is ok, through I’ve heard Mr Strand do more successful version of this type of thing on his other releases.
So last of all on disc two we have the track ““The Overlook”. This track starts off been built around a mixture hovering low end brooding drone sustain, which is mixed with a backwards sounding chiming or vibe based pattern- these two elements are lock into a repetitive & firm sonic mesh. As the track moves on you get more pronounced & firm drone reputation appearing, and these elements nicely added to the slowly revolving intensity of the track
“The Shining: Tarriance” offers up five mostly lengthy submersion in ghostly & haunted themed drone territory. So if you enjoy often sparse yet atmospheric drone matter, or are a big fan of the movie this is worth a look.