The Ebony Tower — Lost Illusions

Here’s a four CDR release from this Greeley Colorado based project- it's work focuses in on creating  often dense yet  texturally rewarding walled noise that is themed around works of literature.  And this release is based around  Honoré de Balzac's Lost Illusions- an 18th century  three part literary realism novel that charted the path of impoverished & impatient man making his way in upper class French society.

The set comes in a slim line four disc DVD case- with the cover taking  black & white illustrations  from the book by Adrien-Moreau. Each of the four discs also takes in other illustrations relating to the part of the book they are covering. All told it’s a simple yet effective bit of packaging which fits the releases theme.

On disc one we have the track “Part I: The Two Poets”, and this track comes in at just over the seventy two minute mark. The tracks built around a slightly distant rumble/ deep rushing texture- this has an almost pleasing & constant aquatic agency about it.  Around this is a thinner layer of tautly wound jittering semi hissing patterning- this seems to move through a few subtle adjustments along the tracks length.  The mix of the almost soothing rumble and the more spiteful jittering is most entrancing.

Moving onto disc two, and we another single track that comes in at the seventy two minute mark. This track has two titles on the box, and they are “Part II: A Great Man In Embryo” & “Part II: An Inventors Tribulations”- though to my ears it seems like the same track all the way through, so I’m not sure the reason for the two titles…. Anyway this track brings together a thick mid-range crisp galloping loop, with locked down & distant honking tone- the galloping takes up most of the sonic picture, and the honking just sort of keeps bouncing back up in the foreground.  Once again it’s a most appealing bit of walled noise, and bizarrely there is almost a groove to the whole thing- sure it’s not obvious or pronounced in anyway, but I can just make it out in the overloaded sound mesh.

On disc three we have the track “History Of A Law-Suit”- and this is the shortest track of the set at fifty five minutes. This ‘wall’ finds a roaring/battering fairly rapid locked tonal pattern, which is weaved with this jittering yet crisp snaking element. To my ears there is almost overloaded, speed-up & muffled tribal drum quality to roaring/ battering element, while the jittering element of the ‘wall’ has quite a crisp loop ski-on-snow quality about it. And once again it’s a most appealing bit of  dense wall-making.

Last up on disc four we have “The Fatal Member of The Family”, and this comes in at the seventy three minute mark. This track has a taut & almost three dimensional quality about it, and it brings togeather a rushing rumble, a jittering & juddering thiner static pattern, and a few other rumbling & galloping textures- all these of elements are seemingly moving at a slightly different speed, and there does seem a subtle shift in the layers make-up along the tracks length.  I’m not quite sure how the 3d feel is created here, but it’s most satisfying, bringing a excellent layered feel to the track, and you almost seems like you could reach into it. Again this is another very rewarding & clever bit of wall craft.

All told this is a most masterful & rewarding release- with each of the four lengthy ‘walls’ been equally clever & captivating in their own right. I must say I’ve been very impressed with pretty much every thing I’ve heard from this project thus far, and I look forward to hearing more in the future.