Tunnels of Ah — Lost Corridors

Tunnels of Ah is the new dark industrial project of Stephen Ah Burroughs, former vocalist of Head of David. I've never heard of Stephen nor Head of David, but I've never let that keep me down in the past. Cold Spring gives me an idea by writing that it's "a mandatory release for those who worship at the altars of Coil, Psychic TV, Arktau Eos, [&] Z'EV." I expect a little record label bombast, sure, but mandatory? Luckily, I don't worship at any of those altars because Lost Corridors is pretty dull.

Lost Corridors is comprised of seven over-long tracks. They're tolerable and at times cool, but overall, it's too repetitive and a tad goofy. The opener, "From A Cracked Hive (Black Insect Laughter)," is built on a series of loops. Stretched out chants and crystalline bell drones mix together in a thick, swirling soup broken up by spoken lyrics. The lyrics are basically the song title repeated and you'd better get used to it, because this is the M.O. of most of the album. While somewhat entertaining, the point of the song is reached three minutes in and then continues for another six. Get used to this, too, because it happens on the other tracks as well. For example, the beginning of the next song, "The Nightjar Sang A Kalpa Blaze," carries over much of the oscillating bell-like tones from the first song along with some nice reverb, and a little bit of crunch. It's totally cool...for a minute or two, not SEVEN. Oh well. All is not lost, though. Three minutes into "Shattering The Black Crone," the growing noise wall picks up and we're treated to an oscillating mass of static with distant horn-like wails popping through the fuzz. This is a quality track. Well, other than the vocals, that is.

The spoken vocals on Lost Corridors are almost as big of a detractor as the repetition. I'm not sure if it's due to their simplicity (the song title repeated over and over again) or their attempt to sound tough, but they really bother me. Note that my above review of "Shattering The Black Crone" starts at the three minute mark. This song is the worst offender on the album. The title is looped and played over itself in an almost round like fashion. This same vocal (sans round) is haphazardly dropped into the track at random spots and at a level that makes no sense. Why have vocals so deep in the mix? Is it an accident? Feels like it.

Lost Corridors would be a decent album if it were half the length. If the vocals were gone and the tracks had a bit of separation to their sound, it'd be great. However, that'd be quite a change and obviously not the same album. I didn't mind listening to it when it was on, but I was kinda bummed each time I was going to play it to check it out. This may be a recommended release if you like the whole Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth thing, but it's definitely not mandatory.