This time of year finds me catching up on all the music that passed me by under the radar. Often they are albums like the third release from this solo project that passes under my radar. "Strega Beata" came out back in March. I was looking for industrial albums I might have missed, and this name keeps coming up. Though highly experimental and based on electronics, I am not sure I would define this project as industrial even given the role the percussion plays in the second song. Drone and ambiance seem to be the driving factors when capturing the mood of these songs. This is her third album under this moniker so, three albums in you can assume she has fully realized where she wants this project to go. The sound is draped in such a sonic quality it threatens to smother everything in its haze.
Where are the industrial beats when you need them,? This is the question I find myself asking when it comes to the song "Master". Song also begins to become an objective term, as these pieces take on the form of ambient art rather than songs. "Mother" does not do much to really shift my perspective, though the dynamics do take a turn into a more intense noise-ridden pound. With things not getting there until after the four-minute mark. It is the first thing that sounds industrial to me. The rest of the song finds it ebbing back down into a more opaque ambiance. "Grace the Teacher" also wallows in the incorporeal for longer than it feels it needs to. However the payoff is minimal, as it hovers over a stagnant cello line.
"Mourning" works better in terms of the electronics used to paint a swathe of electronic noise. Her vocals gain more substance, and her lyrics are articulated with purpose. Does the song warrant being nine minutes long when it wanders out into a bleak nothingness? Not really, I think the impact of where it does go into a more intense refrain could have worked with more economy in the arrangement just as well. The is more of a backbone to "Hallowed is the Earth" as the beat is at least there to provide movement. Though the vocal narrative sounds like a spoken word sampled bite. So it lingers about but does not progress.
What I do like about this project is the darkness it tends to reflect in. Things delve deeper into this with "Reckoning". Her chanted vocals are more effective in the context of this song, which holds a more cinematic quality. At times it reminds me of Diamanda Galas. Her screaming on "Apocalypse Fatigue" works really well to contrast the otherwise languid simmer of the mood. She also delivers some impressive vocals on the last song, I just wish, they were given a more structured environment with which to thrive. This factors into the reason that has inspired me to give this album a 7. More than fair considering droning music is not always my thing, but I like the dark places she emotes from here.
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