The Fields Of Hay — A Circle Of Skin

A Circle Of Skin is the third album from The Fields Of Hay, which is the solo project of Stuart Carter (Splintered, Theme, Sarcasm). What we have here is a three-track instrumental affair- mixing guitars, electronics, found sound, etc. The feel throughout is decidedly glumly moody- blending building dark folk/ drone rock, atmospheric noise elements, psycho ambience, and uneasy electronica.

Each of the three tracks featured on the CD release lasts between ten and seventeen minutes. Each stands on its own, but they also run well together to create a flowing/ rewarding album as a whole.

We open with “This Is Just The Beginning”; here we find constant clean/ yet grim-hued guitar strums mixed with touches of moodily baying feedback, second layers of guitar, hauntingly warbling & wailing female vocals, and jarring electro tone detail. The track rather brought to mind the kind of thing Michael Gira’s did on his Bodylovers/ Bodyhaters project- with the pace keeping nicely keen/ unease throughout it’s seventeen minutes runtime.

Next is “Unheilige Magie”; it opens with a mix of distant/ near by field recordings of barking dogs, before dropping into a blend of gloomily purring, grainy chugging, and a broodingly simmering sound craft. It mixes electronics, effects-fed guitar tones, and buried/ uneasy field recordings- taking in water tones, eerie scratchings, etc.

Finally, we have “Vamachara” which begins with a blend of bleak bird calls and what sounds like backwards/ wonkily wavering guitar tones. As the track progresses, the very uneasy blend of backward tones, bird calls, and general wavering ambient unease builds- with skittering ‘n’ tumbling beats, ritual bell chimes, etc. And at points you can almost imagine something shapeless, animalistic & hellish suddenly bashing on your speakers from the other side, keen to be let out to roam in our world.

I’ve always enjoyed Mr Carter’s contributions to both Splintered and Theme- so it’s great to hear this solo project from him. If you enjoy uneasy to tensely brooding instrumental music/ sound scaping/ atmospheric noise, then A Circle Of Skin will most certainly appeal.