a r t i s t : The Goslings
t i t l e : Between The Dead
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : n/a
g e n r e : Avantgarde
r l s. d a t e : Apr/2006
t r a c k s : 08
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 88,6 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
self-released by the band in 2005.
"One of the most enduring, entertaining, and belittled
pleasures available to the music critic is the wild
comparison. For every one that hits just right there are a
hundred tired 'x meets y' or 'z on acid' phrases, often thrown
into shorter reviews to preserve desperately needed space
while trying to convey some meaning to the reader. But the
reason everyone (writers and reader alike) seem unable to
avoid them is mostly because they're just so much fun,
especially when you get a good one.
The fine debut full-length from the refreshingly context-free
(as opposed to annoyingly obscurantist) Goslings, for example,
provides all sorts of angles of approach. We can work from the
rock side and describe a track like the monolithic opening
dirge "Crow for Day" as sounding like Bardo Pond or Comets On
Fire being dragged down into hell by angry demons. Or you can
switch and go for comparing the ferocious "Blood A Necklace"
to Earth gone (relatively) pop, complete with female singer
and something that might be a chorus beneath all the muck.
"Brindle" is Jesu minus Broadrick's voice and a proper studio,
plus parts of Branca's The Ascension and an eight-track.
"Dehlilahia" is anti-Low, as well as starting with an uncanny
mockery of the guitars on "Y Control." And so on. Stylus' own
Michael F. Gill described Between the Dead to me as 'haunting,
ethereal sludge noise... like reverberating mud' before
passing it on.
But as enjoyable a way to pass the time as that is, we go
scrambling in all different directions because ultimately
these comparisons are useless as anything other than
shorthand. Max ('Guitars, Other'), Leslie ('Vocals, Other')
and Steve ('Drums, Other') have managed to strike a fine,
difficult, and satisfying balance between structure and noise,
ugliness and beauty. They've created a record that possesses
both stunning power and a kind of elementally thrilling
quality that means that even if Between the Dead didn't rock
harder than most metal records, it would still be enthralling
just in terms of sheer sound. The production (or lack thereof)
is uncredited, but the music bleeds all over the track without
ever actually devolving into too much sludge or mess; it's one
of the best sounding records of its type you're likely to
hear, which means it sounds immaculately scuzzy. The guitar
and drums never drown each other out, and even Leslie is
always audible, despite the fact that each is throwing off
enough distortion to shred a building (check out the
white-knuckle, ten minute long "Seed"). Even on the lower-key
"Yellow Sky" the sound is surprisingly full and richùmost
noise records of this sort fall on their faces when they
attempt to quiet things down a little, but ôYellow Skyö works
perfectly as a stormcloud-like intermission before "Blood A
Necklace" blasts in. Even the bite-sized "Morning Jewel," a
mere minute between two ten-minute behemoths composed of the
predictable birdsong, feels perfectly placed.
When I was much younger I remember being struck by a line in
an unsigned NME review of Shellac's 1000 Hurts: "not once do
the principals lock in and merely admire the pornographic
beauty of the noise they make." It's meant as a compliment,
and it applies to the Goslings as well. There are some bands
that just sound so good that it's practically a miracle when
they make good songs as well, and as ragingly abstract as
parts of Between The Dead's 54 minutes can get, you never have
any doubts that it will remain as volcanically, batteringly
powerful as it is from the very start of "Crow The Day." They
never resort to merely admiring their own work - that's left
to the rest of us." (Ian Mathers)
_______________________________________________________________________
01-Crow For Day [09:27]
02-Brindle [07:29]
03-Dehlilahia [05:19]
04-Seed [10:27]
05-Morning Jewel [01:11]
06-Yellow Sky [10:03]
07-Blood A Necklace [06:18]
08-Flowerpot [03:53]
-------
54:07 min