While listening to this cassette (by the way, Hum of the Druid tried this format for the first time. In my opinion it was really successful) one thought stays in my head - fullness. This is, in fact, remarkable for most releases from this USA musician and this cassette is yet another proof of that. It is such powerful and concentrated explosive of sound that after hearing it you'll either spin it again and again, or put it to some dark corner of the shelf never to touch or remember it. The sounds of this release - records of acoustic and analog. There are places that the layered sound gets so thick that it starts to sound like wall of noise. But the release is not static - it constantly moves and evolves. Feedbacks, clanks of metal, voice, even melody sticks out episodically. While listening to this cassette, especially the A side, I think the similar experience would be to roll down from the hill with the avalanche of stones. You cannot stop, you don't know where you are, you have no time even to listen to surroundings. Everything what exists at that moment is eternal motion. One moment you see the sky, moment later your mouth is full of dirt, get struck by a stone, loose consciousness and wake up still rolling down with unmanageable flood. Foot of the hill is reached only when the side ends. But everytime you listen to this release, you grope different detail of the record. The sound guides your ears in-between layers and everytime it brings you to different feeling and understanding than the time before. Feedback, distant melody, short and fragile fragment of sound, feeble clink and that changes the picture completely. Everytime you discover this album anew and everytime you are surprised that you've had missed something. To give up to your ears and sensations - these are the requirements of this album. B side is more sombre and not that active. Even melody and moments of ambient calmness appears, but they are constantly teared up by field recordings. Anyways, the result in sound is the same - full, diverse and dense. Of course Eric's wonderful painting must be mentioned here too. All albums of Hum of the Druid with artwork made by Eric himself is like separate work of art that raises yet additional questions. Slippery and almost non-comprehendable album. I should say it is a must to try it yourself.

Format: CS
Released: 2009
Label: Abisko
Edition: 200