Half Makeshift — Aphotic Leech

Deep rumblings open Aphotic Leech, Nathan Michael's debut cd. It's a preparation for a trip through dark spaces.

Half Makeshift offers us a suite for soft but sonorous pianochords slowly evolving into thundering drones. The process to come to the result may be different, but the processed piano sounds bring to mind William Basinski's recordings of decay. Here this melancholic feeling is countered by soft noises that, over the course of the piece, grow into thundering riffs that would do Sunn0))) proud. There's a keen ear for detail, with sounds from various sources being processed into sounds of a more textural nature. All in service of the great atmosphere that is being laid out during the 36 minutes of the piece.

The interplay between disturbing dissonance of the huge drones, and more delicate screechings and the harmonious piano and ambient elements make Half Makeshift's strong debut is a dark trip, but at the same time manages to offer a lot of variation. That makes this a very listenable drone-album that you don't necessarily have to feel like some other projects in this area of music.