Between Scylla And Charybdis is the fifth studio album from British experimental noise rock collective Splintered, and it’s also their first release of new material in thirty or so years.  I’d best describe what we have here as a blend of the lo-fi and the expansive- bringing together elements of jam rock, moody-punk-edged psych, and droned-out/ murky art rock/ post-punk. Imagine if Pink Floyd appeared in the early 80’s, and had more sinister/ murky intentions.

Splintered appeared in the early 1990s in Hern Bay Kent- formed by Richard  Johnson (Grim Humour 'zine, Fourth Dimension Records, Lumberton Trading Company, Adverse Effect).  Over its on & off tenure, it’s had around six or seven members in its make-up, with the sound being focused on the sonically dense, murky, and often hypnotic.

This recent album appears on Fourth Dimension Records- with the CD coming presented in a four-panel digipak- which features a basic black background/ minimal white text with photos of what looks like water pouring over parts of stone statues/ art…and we get a fair use of water field recordings appearing though-out the six tracks.

After the rather intro like “Permutation 1: Furta Sacra” which is around three minutes of water field recordings,  murky production, and wailing to searing guitar work. We have “Scylla” which is the second longest track at just over fourteen minutes. It opens with a mid-paced bound & cymbal smarting drum line, churning & locked malevolent tolling guitar riffing, and buried forlorn male vocals. As the track progresses we get the addition of tabular-like percussive lines, more layers of tolling ‘n’ droning guitar tone, and subtle detail build/ shift- be it percussive alterations, buried vocal chants, or general moody-if-murky soundcraft detail. 

There's “The Horrors Of Linden” which is around seven minutes of murkily tolling guitar tone layers, subtle psych effects simmer, steady & faint percussion lines, and muffled male vocal wondering. Sounding as if early Throbbing Gristle had gotten heavily stoned, instead of wired. Track four is “Charybdis”, and here we find a blend of swirling 'n' churning feedback-engulfed keys, endless muffled chants, hazed washes of cascading guitar tone, and what sounds like a locked-down/ slighty warping synth drum pattern. 

Next is “Bell Harry's Lament”  is the longest track here at nearly sixteen minutes. It opens a mix of foreboding/ tight bass line, low-purring guitar tone, striking 'n' ringing percussion, and a sense of constricted airlessness. As things progress we get a procession of subtle/ uneasy hisses, eerier gong tolls, stumbling-never- form percussive line moodiness, and guitar bay ‘n’ scrub. We play out with “Permutation 2: Pillars Of Salt” which is very much of an outro, with two or so minutes of spinning ‘n’ baying guitar tone over restless seashore wave knocking.

If you enjoy where the hazy 'n' lo-fi meets the atmospheric 'n' often uneasy then Between Scylla And Charybdis will most certainly appeal. Very much an album to find more depth & detail with each new play through.