Reflection

Despite arriving with a fairly fresh sound on 2016’s debut album, Ivan shifted off slowly from their droney sludgy doom roots and began to head towards more ordinary doom death. Even on the following year’s EP Reflection, the Aussie group (now a duo) play something more akin to funeral doom than anything I would slap a drone label on. For the uninitiated, it’s difficult to spot the difference, both styles being uniformly slow and bleak affairs, the low rumble of guitar and bass co-mingling below eventual cymbal strikes and eerie ambience. Certainly the case with ‘One’, the backing effects (a tremulous windy noise and uncanny synths that could be cellos) take up more attention than the traditional rock instruments, which are handled in an extremely non-committal, lo-fi rumble. That flat funereal sound extends to the low vocal gurgles and brings to mind other Australian groups like Mournful Congregation and Disembowelment.

Though Reflection cannot be called an exciting release by any means, Ivan mastered the potential of their sound better here than on Aeons Collapse. No sudden changes occur, nor any awkward blank points, the entirely of the 21 minutes rolling forwards with all the haste of a continental plate. That means that I can ignore the 2 songs almost entirely if I want, but also that careful listening feels more akin to a complete slow journey than a boring road trip with occasional stops at some attractions. Some sections, such as the minimalist clean guitar line that opens ‘Observes’ and returns later on, have a powerful spiritual pull, the spareness of the musical landscape achieving the same entrancing values that Earth made their own around the time of Hex. Apart from anything, that gives me the notion that Reflection has some purpose, while even the understated doom death riffs carry their own measure of significance. I’d happily put this on when getting into a weird headspace or trying to clear my mind before slipping into exhausted sleep.