AUN - Black Pyramid

Cyclic Law, 2010

AUN is the experimental drone/ambient project of one Montreal-based Martin Dumais. The project has covered a lot of territory in the associated genres since its initiation in 2007, eventually catching the notice of big-deal labels like Montreal experimental/noise mainstay Alien8 and American mega-label Important. Here Dumais deletes the ambling doom-aping drums which marred the previous Important release VII, and augments his familiar guitar drones (inspired by all the right sources) with a gloriously resonant, dynamic, and downright numinous synthetic drone that feels just in place, but also a wonderful advancement, for the traditional dark ambient label Cyclic Law. Through a black sky laden with emerald stars stream echoing acoustic sigils of electronic crackle and full-range dissonance; melodic form at its center but the tendrils of vast abstraction reverberating out beyond into the stereo space. The album tracks may strike some as samey, but after my initial qualms I realized this was just a byproduct of its succinct focus; AUN has proven to lose the listener by moving too far sideways in previous recordings. A gloriously transcendent album of astral drone.

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Tukaaria/ Odz Manouk - Split CS

Rhinocervs, 2011

Powerful split of black native war metal between two Crepúsculo Negro-associated acts, out in totally kvlt underground limited quantities on Yagian's (Odz Manouk, var. Untitled) 100% solid Rhinocervs sister label. Material on both sides exceeds the quality of other releases under these names, with the Tukaaria (Yacqui/Yoeme language "the night") side's production improved well above that seen on Raw To The Rapine, with the usual orthodox war metal riffs tearing out into new levels of chaos, grounded by a chthonic undercurrent of cavernous atmosphere bringing the honor of the ancient's calling to the ceremony. Odz Manouk's side particularly exceeds the self-titled on Crepúsculo Negro, breaking free of LLN-cloned raw orthodoxy off into higher realms of the black metal hierarchy adding bottom-heavy drum, almost death metal-ish, production to the ancestral frostbitten tape quality. This side, alongside Yagian's work with the diverse slew of Untitled releases on Rhinocervs, are cementing his role as one of contemporary black metal's most creative underground shapers. The best of the whole Black Twilight Cult outside of Arizmenda and Glossolalia's soon to be classic sides.

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