Frailty Of Angels — Restless, Hopeless

This is a release that looks like pure gold before you even play it. Beautifully packaged in a thick cloth bag -which has the Frailty Of Angels symbol screen-printed onto it - the cassette also comes with a sticker (of said symbol) and insert. On top of this, the insert tells us that the tape has one track on each side, both of which are around the ten minute mark. So, before you’ve even pressed “Play”, the ingredients are there for a truly accomplished, concise release.

Unfortunately, its when that button is pressed that the potential becomes diminished. This is not at all due to the quality of Frailty Of Angels’ tracks, though; rather it is down to the quality of the dubbing: or, to be precise, its volume. Put simply, the tape is incredibly quiet; this might be deliberate on the part of Frailty Of Angels, but I have no way of knowing. So my words have to be read in the light of this…

The first side has an eerie track called “Brother Who Once Was”; it’s not eerie through lack of volume though - its just plain eerie. Over an unsettling crawl of feedback and synth tones, a guttural voice bellows harsh declamations concerning a former ally. These vocals are very loud in the mix, confirming to me that the track is indeed meant to be a construction of space and tension (as opposed to a noise assault). These are two things which are created, and used, very well by Frailty Of Angels: in the latter stages of the piece, the sound is essentially stripped back to the vocals alone, and the quiet between the outbursts is quite entrancing. The gruff vocals don’t always work for me, though this is very much a personal thing; but with the emotional power of the lyrics, those sparser sections are often spine-chilling.

The second side, “I Have Nothing Left”, is built around an echoing rhythm; with a shifting series of textures overlaid. Initially the track features scratchy squalls, akin to slowed breathing; but, after a couple of minutes, a scathing wall of fuzz enters and builds into more trebly gusts and abrasive sections. There are some nice HNW-esque crackles after this, following the rhythm of the murky echoing; and the track returns to this territory at its end - with microscopic textural sounds over the bare rhythm.

Both sides of this cassette are very engaging indeed; “Brother…”, in particular, sucks the listener in and commands attention for its entire duration. Its genuinely a great release. However, the quietness of my copy doesn’t really add to my enjoyment. The second side is noticeably louder then the first, but in many respects this doesn’t help; since “I Have…” is a more overtly noisy track, which would truly benefit from volume (whereas the quieter atmospherics of “Brother…” are less hampered). In both pieces, though, the raw, lo-tech quality of the electronic sounds are only further distressed by the necessary playback volume - something welcomed by these ears. The quiet dubbing does make a change, though, from over-saturated noise tapes; recorded way into the red. This can often hide a multitude of sins, whereas Frailty of Angels clearly have the ability and skills to survive the most unforgiving of crystal clear productions.