That hyperactive creators
Jenks Miller and Andre Foisy should eventually bring their particular gifts together via their main projects seems anything but surprising in retrospect -- if black metal is not the whole of what they do, their gripping individual takes on it share both an appreciation of experimentation and a desire to work with whoever can best extend their particular visions in multiple contexts. The later reissue of
New Dominions underscores this with the appearance of a
James Plotkin remix, almost a benediction from a slightly older and equally prolific and wide-ranging musician, and his take on "The Gift" loads on the reverb, corrupted beats, and stretched-out tones in a great way. But the core of the album is the key, and the original version of the "The Gift" sets the immediate tone from the beginning, with deep howls, drones, and echo. Screeching and screaming vocals start peeking through the murk, and irregular deep beats do too, while steady drumming with a distant feedback wash sustains the overall atmosphere. "Our Epitaph" starts with bass tones and what is almost the return of the previous song's guitar sound, plus buried chanting that -- in a strange but strong way -- suggests the kind of tension that
Low borrowed from
Joy Division. The slow, stretched lope that everything turns into is beautifully and minimally momentous, a steady rise up and up even as everything feels swirling, dank, and doomy, a dark march to the top of the cliff. "Oblivion Eaters" stutters and shimmers into being, an attractively angry blend of drone and shoegaze with whiplash noises and bursts of sound. "In the Absence of Light" rumbles to a start, with almost grungy slabs of feedback, and focused soloing and vocals swooping in and out, all building toward the end of this strong release. ~ Ned Raggett