It can be hard to keep up with all of Gaahl's varied project's over the years, despite him being one of my favorite Black Metal vocalists. This project is more diverse than Gorgoroth, and I think makes excellent use of his voice. The members of this band have also played in God Seed, with the drummer Kenneth Kapstad having covered the most ground. I am not sure I would even call this band black metal, though they are dark, but a flowing progressive sense flows through them. The shadowy drone they sweep you away in is very cool. This is the perfect mood for me.
"Return the Distance' finds the saxophone taking a more prominent and chaotic role in creating a dissonance backdrop to the song's pulse. It's almost an interlude but enough of a complete thought for me to count it as a song. The more Swans-like "Between the World" is a darker heavier sonic monument. Though "I Drink Out of My Head" it is not metal the drumming leans on their past in the genre. It is the song most Gorgoroth fans are most likely to connect with. Gaahl sings with a Jello Biafra-like vibrato to his voice.
"Hiding Invisible" is more like a simmering cauldron of free jazz for Halloween. Interesting sounds not so much on songwriting. There is more of a Swans-like jangle for the more driving uptempo closing song. It's a big sonic swell and more punk than what Swans typically do in the pace with which it hammers at your ears. While it does drift off into some chaotic sounds at times when they do lock into the songs it's dark and powerful, so I will give this album a 9.
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