Shift — Have No Fury

This 7” comes on such thick vinyl that my needle keeps touching it, even if it’s up. Along with artwork by every printer’s nightmare Stephen O’Malley (Sunn0))) a.o.) that has extra varnish and a metallic ink on top of full-colour and one must come to the conclusion that there’s a lot of love in this project.

Ironically, according to the bio, the music didn’t come in happy or loving times. A confusing and emotional period inspired the dark electronics captured in the grooves. The first track Have No Fury still has a sense of rhythm and melody, with piano-like chords and a slow-paced rhythm. Jag Var I Kulverten consists of heavy slowed down sounds, huge reverberating plates of sound shove over eachother, sounding like you’re trapped with some depressive giant in a deep echoing tunnel (hence the title, if I understand the Swedish title correctly).

Where the a-side still a few last chords that serve as a small light in the darkness, the b-side takes away even that little bit of hope. The dark soundscapes, particularly the second track, remind me of Mick Harris’ project Lull, and to a lesser extend the Collapse album, he did with James Plotkin. Not music for every minute of the day, only if it’s a grey one and night would be more apt, as well as big volume. To let myself be sucked into this dense musical nightmare that Martin Willford created takes good timing for me personally, although I’m sure it might go down easier with dark ambient and industrial noise fans, who can see this as a recommendation.