Swords Forward as Falcons Soar

On this long single, Alpha Drone indeed sounds like a drone project. At first, anyway. A deep, cavernous guitar drone opens the song backed by clashing machinery, putting me in mind of nightmare black/industrial/noise project Cryostasium due to the sinister quality of the ambience, especially when the regular rhythm ceases and echoing voices haunt the space behind the feedback. Vocals also enter, rather tunelessly, which clears away a portion of the menace, though not the spacey quality of the sonic world we have entered. Suddenly, a switch occurs and we transition into a folky march with really shitty guitars and drums incredibly far from the action, drawling, repetitive vocals chanting some message from which I discern the words ‘everyone’ and possibly ‘metal’, though I’m not sure. The former seems likely, the latter perhaps just my own subliminal suggestion. Regardless, a sort of distorted shout mostly cuts across that section, which leads to the conclusion of the 13 minute song, the final moments of which are filled with misty after-effects of noise.

The magnificence of the title ‘Swords Forward as Falcons Soar’ had me thinking this would be something else, but I suppose the vague symbolism of swords and birds of prey makes sense in a political context, depending how one interprets the shout of “Comrades!” that bridges sections of the composition. As pure music, however, such ruminations don’t make the piece appeal any more strongly, since the fact remains that more than half of this is abstract drone with atmosphere but not quite enough to hold attention. Curious and momentarily arresting it may be, but I’m probably not going to revisit ‘Swords Forward as Falcons Soar’ again.