Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Order Of The Light - Ancestral Knowledge

Order Of The Light have created an interesting sound scape on their "Ancestral Knowledge" tape. Somewhere between spacey and earthy, the six tracks on this cassette simply exude imagery of deserted cavern walls meeting the starry sky at sunset. You can get a similar sense of this atmosphere by listening to Earth's "Hex: Or Printing The Infernal Method" though Order Of The Light attack the imagery from a lo-fi, more distant direction than Earth. Really, the only thing this release is missing are a few well-placed wolf howls. What Order Of The Light have done so well is create six tracks that are similar and maintain an original style yet also offer something that the previous tracks may not have been able to offer. They are parts of the whole and able to hold ground on their own however there really aren't songs on this album that would stand out. They do work better when listened as an album and falling asleep to them is quite an awesome experience.

There are few things to compare "Ancestral Knowledge" with. Clock's "On The Threshold" is one worthy mention. Something (slightly) less obscure worth noting would be Bosque's less black metal moments. A clean guitar is the culprit for the majority of the release performed by the mysterious "N". If the tone of the album was cake and the icing was the reverb, the cake would be tiny and the frosting would be all over the place. Every note lasts forever and drips into the background like echoes dying off in the dark emptiness of a cave. The strings have a metallic ring to them and a distinctive clang, even when paired with the myriad number of reverb and echo effects which are used throughout the album. Percussion is provided in a slow, steady manner with the drums distant in the background by "S," another enigmatic character. The drums actually sound very close to the distinctive timbre of those kits that kids play in grade-school to accompany a piano for a Christmas Show however in this setting, with this accompaniment, they are anything but childish. What I find very interesting about the drums, is you can hear the room ambience and create a visual image of the room in which the drums are recorded. A rare experience in music. A constant windiness graces the release, subtle but real. Mere haunting movements in the foreground almost too close to see. Interesting release from Order Of The Light and a great gateway listen for those looking to get into ambient music.

____________RELEASE INFO________________
ORDER OF THE LIGHT - ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE

Year: 2008
Origin: Portugal
Label: Perpetuam Productions
Serial: PER004
Lineup:
N - Strings
S - Drums

Track List:
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI

_______________LINKS________________
Perpetuam Productions

_____________EXTRA INFO_____________
REVIEWS:

INTERVIEWS:

PRESSINGS:
Perpetuam Records: PER004 Cassette Limited to 200 Copies

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