Mark Bradley — A History of Silence
Starting A History of Silence off like a craft breaching the horizon on an alien shore, "Momentary Interruption" allows medium length drones to unfold and play off of each other, allowing their breadth to be experienced and the scope of the song to be expanded. There are a lot of textures slipped into a rather short run time, but this song never feels congested or rushed. Taking a different approach both tonally and compositionally, "There's Something More Reminiscent" has more of a traditional electronic music feel. Soft synths float by while lightly noised up lines add the much needed crunch. Percussion finds its way into the mix, and one feels like this could be on the soundtrack to a great day on the ocean, pulling into shore as the sun sets and the sky is ablaze with colors. Keeping on with the brighter sounds, "Segue Into Nothingness" combines drones and arpeggios to make a texture rich soundscape. Vertical sounds decay and flatten out to expand the swath allowing lower, heavy synth hits to come in and close out the track. Zoning out and hitting more hypnotic patters, "Aural Hypnox Realm" uses lightly shimmering oscillations to draw the listener in. Like a deep sea fish using bio-luminescence to lure in prey, this delicate, but lumbering track is low and stealthy. Spaced out and reverberating, "Be Here Now" drifts and drones as if clouds left sonic impressions. Having been short to medium length up until this point, the drones really get comfortable and stretch out on "The Culling to Come." Decidedly more subterranean than the preceding tracks, "Culling" is far more cavernous and dark. Increases in oscillation envelop the listener and pull him toward the crashing drums. Hearkening back to similar sounds presented earlier in the album, "Derivative Manipulation" drastically veers of from the previous track. A bit more pulse driven and fluttery, one can picture a panicking moth caught in a spider's web. "Premonitions" softens History back up, and brings the element of airiness back to the listener. This is short lived, though, as the longest and final track bring about some rough, industrial drones and an interestingly creepy air. Ending on a high note, A History of Silence works its way through a number of airy textures before reminding the listener that all is not safe and there's gloom around every corner.
My first experience with Mark Bradley, I was impressed with the drones and restraint shown with his synthesis. There's a definite lack of bleeps and bloops, and the focus is more on building textural soundscapes by aggregation. All his songs work well together, and I look forward to hearing more of his output in the future.