Thin Mountain — Thin Mountain V
The Thin Mountain began last year- releasing four releases to date. Once again the theme/ influence is the work of Jon Padgett- a New Orleans based horror writer & ex ventriloquist, who writes disquieting & foreboding short stories- with his most know & respected book been his 2017 short story collection The Secret of Ventriloquism. And these two tracks, with their creepy spoken word intros & chillingly moody-yet-seared walled matter work well in the theme.
So first up we have “and it makes her mad when we don't understand or like her songs. And it makes us upset...” this opens with a woman talking about someone called little Evie, and how she gets mad- then we’re into the ‘wall’. This is built around a mixture of grimly rolling drone, cluttering buffing noise, and aged/ worn juddering- which has a neat jumpy/ stop-start feeling running through it. The drone has a rewarding murky & muffled quilty, and this works well with the two topping elements- which also have a feeling worn unease. Right at the root of the whole thing we get this effectively eerier feel, which speaks of abandoned, dust & spider web licked factories- where strange shadowy figures crawl.
Next, we have "...those are the worst times for us. We can't reach her or hear her voice...", and once again it opens with a sample of the same female voice talking about Evie, though it’s shorter. Then we’re into the ‘wall’ which is a lot more ragging- though still damn creepy & unsettling at the edges. It’s built around a spinning & grimly billowing background texture- this is topped by a net of rattling jittering ‘n’ skitter- together these create a nicely intense attack, that’s edged with tired uneasy & decay. It feels like it's taking place in the same factory from the first track, but this time a strange rotting & wonky eyed doll has come to jerking life.
Thin Mountain V is the second release I’ve heard from this project- and I must say I was once again most impressed. It’s just a pity it went out of print so soon in its physical form, maybe Matzus will consider reissuing the projects releases together down the line. If you dig chilling-yet-searing wall-matter, this is for you!.