Nowa Ziemia / Echoes of Yul — Holter / Fuse
The CD comes in a mini double gatefold-which takes in two different covers on each side- the release came in an edition of 350 copies, and as of this review the label still have copies available.
The CD begins with the Nowa Ziemia side of the split- this takes in four tracks, which run between just nearing two minutes & just over fifteen. The first track "MW" is field recording based offering a few minutes of lonesome & sad bird calls, and this nicely sets a stark & barren mood. Next we have “Zagiew”- this is one of the more lengthy tracks here, and it consists of stretched & slurred guitar harmonics & bass buzz which are fed out to create a wonderful feeling barren & dark bleak-ness…akin to staring out into monochrome seascape, as the light slowly fades & a chilled wind builds. At times the track brought to mind a blend of a more gloomy variation NWW's Soliloquy for Lilith, with an undercarriage of early Slomo ambient doom. The third track “MT” really follows on from the last track but finds a more sustained & throbbing drone surrounded by the sinister guitar harmonics, and this weird sort constantly skittering sound- which sounds like either a bird or a bat stuck- this addition adds a nice feeling to build tension & uneasy to proceedings. The fourth & final track from Nowa Ziemia is another lengthy one entitled “Holter”- it opens with shifting layers of growing ambient sub-tone- all creating a haunted & uneasy feeling. Then at just before the second minute, a muffled & stark beat is introduced- this has an almost simplistic tribal feel to it, and around this, we get a receded buzzing hum and these random creaking textures which are added so by slightly ringing feedback darts. To start with it seems a little bit too hopeful, but by around the 6th minute more bleak swipes & swoops of barren drone matter appear, and these are slightly later joined by more sustain spins & eerier grinds. I enjoyed this track as much as the other three tracks, but it very much paints a different vibe/ picture…so really you could see the first three tracks as one piece, and this fourth track as one piece.
Moving onto the Echoes of Yul side of the split, and we have just a single track in the shape of "Fuse(Version II)"- this comes in at just over the thirty-nine-minute mark. The track opens with a deep & slow churning feedback buzz, which is joined by slight rattling/ scarping sub-tone. Again there’s quite a feeling of doomed ambience about this track to start with, having an almost early/ stripped Sun 0))) feel- but fairly soon you get a shift map of haunting guitar scaping added to the central brooding mass- these take in eerier ringing drifts, spacey swirls, brooding simmers, from time-to-time the deep feedback buzz dies back, but as it does another one rises fairly soon, and this creates a nicely effective circulating feel to the composition. Later on, there’s almost an eastern quality to the track in the simmering guitar harmonics, and added to this we get a tolling texture- all bringing to my mind the slow downing of a blood-red sunset. I enjoyed this for what it was, though I can’t say it had the same impact on me as the first three Nowa Ziemia track’s- though it does make for a satisfying partner to the first half of the split.
So, in conclusion, this is a worthy enough drone split- as mentioned above the Nowa Ziemia tracks did stand out to me, but the Echoes of Yul side of things is none too shabby. So if guitar drone is your thing…then give this a try.