| Reviews for Black Boned Angel (Nzl)'s Eternal Love / Eternal Hunger |
| Void and bliss separable - 75% |
| Written by Bertilak
on December 18th, 2007
|
| Naming a band after a Godflesh song is obviously an encouraging sign for would-be listeners who want to hear massive, overwhelming sound, and those whose first exposure to Black Boned Angel came with 2006’s superb ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ CD are unlikely to have been disappointed by the powerful drone epic which that single-track release represented. ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ catapulted Black Boned Angel right up there with SunnO))) and Nadja in the stratosphere of contemporary drone-metal acts - intelligent, precise, inventive and, above all, hugely loud and heavy, the album seemed to have it all. Now, Riot Season records have collected two obscure Black Boned Angel EPs into one (slightly) more easily obtainable LP, allowing a further assessment of the band: was ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ a stunning fluke or are Black Boned Angel really as flawlessly good as it suggested? ‘Eternal Love/Eternal Hunger’ actually spans almost a 2-year period of development for the band, with ‘Eternal Love’ originally only their second release, while ‘Eternal Hunger’ came a couple of months after ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’. Whether the shared thematics of the titles indicate they were always intended as companion pieces to be coupled is uncertain, but the extent to which the trio of Jules Desmond, James Kirk and Campbell Kneale progressed in the gap between the recordings is clearly evident by simply flipping over the vinyl. Not many minutes will have elapsed before it becomes clear to any metalhead that ‘Eternal Love’ is more an example of ‘avant-garde drone’ than ‘drone metal’. Beginning gradually with quiet, slowly strummed chords and intermittent sonar noises, the track then introduces its central motif - a loose bass line with seven slow notes, unequally spaced, and a bass drum thump on the final note. After a pause containing only sporadic guitar effects far in the background, these lumbering bass notes are then repeated exactly the same. These notes are not really cohesive enough to masquerade as a tune, the sense is more of somebody sat in their bedroom with a brand new bass guitar, aimlessly noodling. It’s like an eternal practice session where the person never figures out what it is they want to play and so just sticks with their initial random selection of notes. Space, slowness and repetition are, of course, key components of drone but the opening of ‘Eternal Love’ shows how something so apparently simple can easily go awry. Instead of the atmospheric space and tension of jesu or (lest we forget) ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ itself, in ‘Eternal Love’ the space is just empty. It sounds almost improvised and not in a good way, especially as this frustratingly underwhelming bass line continues for a full 7 minutes of the track. Mercifully, at this point, guitar feedback rises up to fill in the yawning gaps, although it is just one reedy note rather than a truly satisfying wall of sound. That comes only after 11 minutes, when a mighty drum thump finally signals the end of the irritating bass meander and the beginning of a feedback roar that will take the track to its close. Occasional, spaced-out snare contrasts with the previous dull bass drum and the bass guitar itself is now strummed below the white noise. Although harsher and more powerful, this phase comes too late in the track to provide any real coherence and it soon fades out to end with the regular, cyclical sound of low-level static, reminiscent of distant rain. Being charitable, the tentative quasi-drone of ‘Eternal Love’ clearly shows a band finding its feet with an early release. Although its sparse, jazz-drone opening half is a let-down for anybody listening to it after the monstrous ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ and eager for more of the same, it is probably no worse than the similar style releases of Stephen O’Malley’s KTL project (though that itself is damning with faint praise somewhat, KTL being SunnO)))’s most runty sibling). As a stand-alone EP, ‘Eternal Love’ would probably falter but Riot Season’s decision to pair it with ‘Eternal Hunger’ salvages the release. The heavily feedbacked ending of ‘Eternal Love’ promised better things to come and, in the time between the two recordings, Black Boned Angel mutated into a far different and more fearsome beast. ‘Eternal Hunger’ immediately grabs the listener’s throat with power and conviction only sketchily hinted at on the opening side of the record. Surging, high-toned feedback fades up the track, underpinned by a gritty bass drone, full of depth and strength. This wash of multi-level sound is confidently held and sustained until massive, slow chords enter the mix, almost vibrating the whole room with their resonance. These muscular chords are then expertly counterpointed by high, delicately plucked notes that create a simple but effective contrast that the chords then echo and elaborate. This to-and-fro between the huge low-end of the feedbacking chords and the slight but arresting arpeggio, like a hardcore-drone call and response, provides the momentum of the track, and this intelligent interplay creates a real sense of tension and power that was so lacking in the earlier track. In the background there is an occasional bass drum, very low in the mix, which too is counterpointed by sharp cracks of snare, as the bass drone prowls around restlessly, surmounted by the crystalline notes. Although certainly as simple as ‘Eternal Love’, ‘Eternal Hunger’ effortlessly takes things to another level. The boiling bass and see-sawing top notes do not really vary but the simplicity here is compelling and overwhelming, a claustrophobic morass of heavy sound that is becoming the trademark of contemporary Black Boned Angel. Gradually, the tension is built further as the high notes begin to repeat faster, the chords dropping away into the depths of the mix to finally leave just the feedback. Then the notes also stop and the track masterfully peaks with a genuine rhythm, the drum crashing out a funeral march pace beneath a hail of chiming feedback that rips from the speakers before the crushing noise shudders to an end. Though not quite the end, in fact, as a deep, sombre, slowly tolling bell replaces the previous roar. This timeless funeral knell is immensely powerful and effective, especially in contrast to the suffocating blizzard that preceded it, although the fact that it continues to toll for a good 7 minutes before the track finally ends suggests that perhaps the band realised it was not only fitting but also a slyly labour-saving way of getting the song to a respectable drone-type length. No matter, it still sounds great. The structure and cohesion of ‘Eternal Hunger’ is devastating and demonstrates emphatically the power of drone that ‘Eternal Love’ never managed to bring together. Assured rather than tentative, it suggests that Black Boned Angel are indeed capable of building on ‘Bliss and Void Inseparable’ to become a band of real power and originality. ‘Eternal Love/Eternal Hunger’ represents a vivid snapshot of a two clear stages in the band’s development but as an overall release it is very much the archetypal game of two halves. Completists will probably like to have ‘Eternal Love’, if only to experience the more self-consciously avant-garde beginnings of Black Boned Angel, but ‘Eternal Hunger’ is the real meat of the album. Drone rarely attains such power and, if Black Boned Angel replicate the same rate of destructive progress in the next 2 years as they did here, then we will all, indeed, be boned. |