FEAR FALLS BURNING
(CD, tonefloat)
For anybody interested in that
part of fringe music lately more often regarded as “the long form” (for
whatever that is supposed to mean…) Fear Falls Burning aka Dirk Serries aka Vidna
Obmana is essential listening. If not for his consequent focus on his main
instrument (electric guitar plus amplifier) and the interest in the most
minute details of the sounds it shapes, then for the breath and endurance he
takes on the epic drone. And also for the originality and variety he is able
to bring into the rather restrictively defined genre. Each new release –
and also each re-release in a sense – is another gem to be added to an
evergrowing collection of droning, unique jewels.
“The carnival of
ourselves” is the second re-release of earlier, sold out and sought after
records by Fear Falls Burning on Tonefloat after “I’m one of
those monsters numb with grace” (reviewed some weeks ago) on
which a single track took over one full album side each, and which now has
been adorned on CD with a bonus third track. The cover photography on this
re-release shows details and parts of an abandoned, doomed house, which,
especially in contrast to his regular focus on details of his instrument (as
shown on “I’m one of those monsters…”), gives away a little bit
about the music. The two original tracks on here are more atmospheric and
gently put layer upon layer of softly droning sounds. Scratching amplified
guitar strings never has glistened so finely in the sun. The beginning of
track two almost like the echoey noodling of spaghetti western themes.
The newly presented and added
track “and the land torn down” heads off in one direction, only to find
itself going through unchartered territory with eerie landscapes of sound
and the wailing echoes of long gone hopes and dreams. At almost half an hour
length this expects a lot from its listener regarding concentration and
endurance, but it gives back a freedom at heart rarely found otherwise.
Whereas Fear Falls Burning has
added drums and percussion elements to its arrangement lately, these
“old” releases still are solely concentrated on the guitar and how its
sounds change and mix when doubled, tripled, manipulated and layered. The
untited track two on here presents this obsession in intricate detail for
quite some time. The main matter of dynamic is to let the ingredients
dissolve more and more. New parts are introduced very subtly and
protectively, but these at times also melt into the background without
having come to the fore earlier. If there is a structured and executed plan
behind these tracks it is cleverly cloaked in the disguise of organic,
evolutionary change.
