Instrumental rock bands from Australia are not such an unusual phenomenon. sleepmakeswaves and We Lost the Sea are the two who come first to my mind. While Black Aleph draw inspiration from post-metal, which is common for instrumental bands, the range of instruments here is the guitar, cello and Iranian daf drum, thus bringing a Middle Eastern element to the music.
Sombre is the opening passage, but so too it is powerful with the hypnotic beat and array of obscure sounds making up the dark scene of noise. “Descent”, which this is, is the warm-up. If “Descent” is sombre, “Ambit I (Ascension)” is tragic in its sound. The cello and guitar mix into a misty air. This leads into the eerie “Ambit II (Ascension)”. Progress is slow and deliberate. A haunting voice conjures up images of Arabian nights. The sound intensifies and fades. “Separation” is the fourth piece. The cello once again draws out the melancholy in this Middle Eastern dream. This is all about mood, and moody it is. “Precession”, one imagines a play on procession, is a dark, Neurosis-style march, switching to a mysterious and troubling rhythm, and an intricate and quietly dramatic build-up. Stylistically, it’s a kind of experimental post-rock. A flute-like sound embeds itself in the slow and sad progress of “Return”. The guitar and beating drum dominate but the expansive sound creates what the publicity for album describes as a “borderline spiritual quality” The cello supplies the majesty. Finally “Occultation” shuffles along. It is dark and deep. The tune has a whiff of the Middle East about it. The drum rhythm speeds up, suggesting imminent danger, and in a post-metal style. Indistinct sounds are all around it. Eventually it fades out.
As an album “Apsides” is obscure. It is arguably more dark than light. I understand that it is centred around orbital mechanics. I can’t say I felt that but I would say that its pitch comes from a higher plan. It’s certainly not everyday or humdrum. Musically the Middle Eastern and post-metal elements blend well. Black Alleph surround these elements with a range of sounds, which result in fraught and melancholic atmospheres. It’s an interesting album, experimental and different but I can’t say it really hooked me into a vision of something special, nor did it inspire me.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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