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CD Feature/ Vestigial: "Aeon"

  Tobias

There are not many releases which have me saying „wow“ after unpacking them from their postal parcel, but this one certainly hit a spot: A 3'' Mini CD packaged inside a pitchblack envelope, which in turn comes attached to a smooth, almost silken and glossy heavy foto paper pack which perfectly brings out the intensively glowing colours on the front and the rune-like scribbles on the inside. Limited to just under 100 copies and brought to life with all the dark love in the world, this is one of those precious little gems some people will soon kill for to obtain a copy. For now, it is an insider tip that will have Dark Ambient fans thirsty for more.

The very fact that Vestigial has managed to secure distribution deals with about every big mail order on the scene speaks for itself. And it becomes even more impressive, if one considers that his style is not an easy copy of the output of some of his personal favourites, which can be vaguely positioned in the corner of the Canadian Cyclic Law label (which has acted as a catalyst of the genre in the recent past). Certainly, this EP is more upfront, direct and in-your-facen then anything his colleagues have produced of lately and even though the typical distant strings turn up for an autumnly requiem, they are not burried under piles of reverb-laden rubble-layers. Deep analog tones, oscillating and pulsating like black blood inside a gnome's juggular form the backbone of the pieces, above which deformed spoken word contributions, tortured animal screetchings or extremely sparsely dosed machinal noises reside. In stark contrast, there is always a texture of harmonics floating disembodied and like a dead angel's voice in a space of its own, rubbing against the darker textures and exacerbating the uneasy ambiance. For entire minutes, the atmospheres' loose ends are left hanging in the air like broken cables touching an infinite sea, throwing sparks in random patterns, before a sudden assault of delayed metal poundings comes crashing in, waking you from your fever dreams.

These rough transitions lend a certain live feeling to the music, which is noticeably absent from other compositions and which makes Vestigial stand out from the fold – his vision of Dark Ambient is certainly more futuristic and filled with weird and frightening beasts, instead of hallow pathways and empty landscapes. It will be interesting to see how this vision translates to a full-length CD, as the trap of this turning tedious is certainly there. But for now, the perfectly measured length of this EP matches the beauty of its packaging.

By Tobias Fischer

Homepage: Vestigial
Homepage: Vestigial at MySpace