Boris - Dronevil
Drone rock is a very situation dependent genre for me. Generally I'm a fairly active music listener, I like to engage with it consciously while I'm listening. If I'm trying to get to know an album I might throw it on in the background, but that's more a means to an end. And for me, drone rock is something you don't really try to follow, you just have to let it wash over you.So I don't have too much of this in my collection, in fact the only thing similar is the excellent Les Rallizes Denudes.
But sometimes, generally late at night when your brain is numbed, having a sound envelope and wash over you is all you really want. And Dronevil does this really well. The opener
Loose/Red is probably the weakest track, despite conjuring the sense of massive scale that pervades the whole album and being quite atmospheric, it was overall just a little too ambient and airy for it's running time. The reason I appreciate Denudes so much is because you feel surrounded and even crushed by this colossal sound, with this lovely warm bass plodding along underneath.
The next two tracks (forty minutes) really deliver a big payoff on the promise of the first.
Giddiness Throne/Evil Waveform churns slowly into a cacophonous crescendo before plunging into a still void, and finally returning in an even more magnificently heavy sound.
Overall I'm really pleased Fasho sent me this, and sorry for taking so long about reviewing it.