Here's another full-length (the first on a proper CD) from this interesting and fairly unique experimental ambient artist. Like most releases on Ad Noiseam there's definitely a musical sort of thread to the compositions here, but Magwheels definitely handles things quite differently, and I would say that the songs herein are an enormous step in the right direction for the project. It's interesting because, aside from a few moments of tangible guitars, it's sort of hard to tell how some of these sounds were generated. It's conceivable that most of this music could have come from manipulated guitars, though I would have to assume that at the very least synths were employed as well, but at the same time... you never can be too sure. "Forthesunrise" is a beautiful piece, using thick layers of lush clean guitars and flowing distorted guitar swells. It almost has a strange sort of prog rock vibe. The epic title track is noisier and darker, not harsh, but there is some light crunch in there with all of the menacing bass drones and hums. At more than double the length of most of the other tracks, the song travels through numerous phases and levels of intensity, finally settling on a calm, somewhat musical blanket of synths towards the final moments. One of the shorter pieces, "Liveunderneathlonelymountain", is also one of the most intense, with suffocating layers of twisted guitar feedback creating a wall of distorted, but tangible and oddly melodic noise. The recording is very well done. I'm not sure if some of the more lo-fi means used for some of Magwheels' earlier releases are still employed here, but the sound is great to me. There's a certain rawness to portions of the disc, but all tones are represented in full, resonant form. The packaging is simple yet effective. The CD comes in a glossy digipack with a vibrantly colored photo of a young girl carrying a doll through a wheat field as she looks up at a butterfly, and inside a photo of clouds and power lines spans across, with a pocket in the right side to hold the CD in place. The typefaces and everything are consistent, so it looks fine. This is certainly a great release that points towards even greater things to come from Magwheels. I've love to hear more work in the vein of tracks like "Forthesunrise" or "Evebuildingbomb", which seem to be the most diverse, but all in all things are moving forward, and that's a good sign.
[Ad Noiseam]
Running time - 58:53, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Forthesunrise, Evebuildingbomb, Liveunderneathlonelymountain]
Ad Noiseam - http://www.adnoiseam.net
