IPSOS

Not much out of the ordinary for these guys, this EP is CoO at their low-key dark ambient black metal / post-punk typical with a theme of dark loneliness and melancholy. First track "The Visitor" begins with a brooding guitar fuzz ambience suggestive of a dark storm forming on the far horizon but this doesn't last long and the band settles into a fairly plodding and unremarkable track with Klemi's out-of-tune singing and disoriented guitar melody. The bass line is quite interesting and there are moments when the song threatens to derail into chaos which would have been good; on the whole though the track is steady as the proverbial ship goes. Next track "There, the Mirror World" perks up with a good unsettling instrumental intro but again the song settles into a groove that it rarely deviates from.

"Your Air Becomes My Water" is the best track with a long menacing introduction of found sound drone and post-industrial ambience building into a song of dark melodic urban blues rock sorrow. The music can be heavy and strong on bass, and the drums get a major work-out. Instrumental sections can be energetic though not very much so. Often the singing is a distraction from the music as the most interesting melodies and riffs are over-ridden by the vocals. Overall though the best parts are the ambient introduction and coda that mix music with brooding found sound recordings.

This EP probably could have been released as a single with "Your Air ..." as the A-side and the other two songs forming the B-side. As CoO releases go, this is not very even with one good song and two others that are average filler by CoO standards. A release that is strictly for collectors.