The Human Quena Orchestra — A Natural History of Failure
Nine untitled tracks make up the release, the first of which lulls you into a more susceptible waking state, with its ritual one hit drum beats and entrancing down-tuned guitar drones, evolving ever so slightly, with swathes of noise that slowly build and build, before bottoming out entirely leaving you adrift in the void. The second piece kicks in, carefully maintaining the flow, only feeding you slight titbits every now again, as if you were slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.
The third track really brings you back down to earth, after the false sense of security the opening tracks provided, all of the individual parts come together to create a grim opus of noised out guitars and distant guttural screams, sounding as if you were just offered a small audio snapshot from somewhere within the earths molten core. A deep feeling of unease pervades each piece; subtle atmospheres combine to create greater impact and depth, there are no gaps in between each track, each one melds into the next seamlessly, taking you on an almost transcendental journey.
Despite the heavy use of electronics throughout the album, ‘ANHOF’ still manages to maintain a very organic feel, probably due to the ritualistic nature which almost borders on the psychedelic, easily dropping from trance like ambience into some truly disturbing pieces without sounding like they are trying too hard to stick to the ‘drone by numbers’ formula of similar works. Fans of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Gnaw Their Tongues and Locrian will lap this up, especially with the black metal elements that are entrenched within the walls of sound, as will anyone else looking for something just that little bit beyond the pale. The only problem I can really find with this album is the fact that it is only 38 minutes long…the journey ends far too briefly for my liking, but serves it purpose, in that it leaves you wanting more…great stuff.