Tunnels of Ah — Surgical Fires
Starting right up with bubbling, metallic action, "Demonic Forms" has more of a concrete/field recording feel than material on Tunnels' first two albums. Surgical Fires sees Tunnels of Ah break from their more standard, looped industrial sounds and branch into drifting, consuming layers. Loops are still the driving sound on hand, but their slightly obscured crunch allows them to appear as part of a gruff, rumbling whole instead of being highlighted on their own. Shrinking larger loops into crispy oscillations, "Purging Process" furthers Tunnels' new sonic approach and relies more on stretched out feedback for atmosphere. Open, free-form screeches play in stark contrast to the low, rumbling circles below. With the first two releases being fairly heavy on vocal samples, it would be surprising for Surgical Fires to be devoid of any. "One Hundred Gates + Eight" tucks hushed, whispered vocals behind swirling winds and other fright filled sounds. The opening three tracks on Surgical Fires capture the breadth of the album quite nicely. Whether crunchy and vile like "Mind as Corpse Bearer" and "Black Air (Exhale)," or grim, stark, and evocative like "Release of the Burning Mouths" and "Emission Through a Hole in the Head," Tunnels of Ah's latest wraps itself up nicely within the creepy sonic confines defined by the first three tracks, and allows the listener a chance to experience the full scope of what Tunnels has to offer.
Surgical Fires is Tunnels of Ah's third release, and the third on Cold Spring. Seeing the growth from Lost Corridors to Surgical Fires is really inspiring, and done in a relatively short period of time. Scaling back on the over the top vocals and letting the sonic activity move to the forefront has really helped Tunnels of Ah craft a solid, creepy, well done album.