Title: Nothing Lasts
Artist: Opposite Exhale
Genre: Classical / Noise / Electronic
Release Date: 8th December 2009
Label: Tympanik Audio
Album Review
Eelco Jellema already had musical activities under the guise of OPPOSITE EXHALE four years ago but apparently put the project to rest for the time being. In early 2008 the decision was made to reform the project and through a series of lucky events we now have the debut ‘Nothing Lasts’ on our hands.
With ‘Hic Finis Fandi’ the album’s being opened with a composition of epic boundaries following a loud/soft scheme for dynamics by using in turns melancholic piano movements or mighty orchestral walls to create varying moods. ‘Clear Green’, for those who call the latest part of the “Emerging Organisms” series their own, is already familiar. Here, for the first time on this album, the fusion of classical beauty and devastating noises fully unfolds to leave behind a baffled listener who, regardless of the contrast program he’s just gone through, must come to the conclusion that this is really huge. ‘The Downfall of Beliefs’ brings on noisy oscillations, putting your mind at unease instantly, because they’re stirring up buried fears from the childhood of a monster lurking in the darkness, which are being reinforced by disturbing frequencies from afar that could just as well be screams. ’Vixerunt’ emphasizes on wonderful piano lines and field recordings to turn up with an entire symphonic orchestra all of a sudden.
Though I think that it is one of the most intriguing tracks on this album I am convinced its effect would have been bigger with the piano and the field recordings being the only means of choice. The way that lullaby in the beginnings of ‘Born with Bruises’ makes you feel forecasts nothing good, and indeed the atmosphere building up eventually has nothing bright in it and if that’s the melody playing to the birth of a new life it can’t be a good sign, can it? Apart from rousing comparisons to “Lord of the Rings” with its title, ‘Moortgat’ is aural prose, describing with its graceful melodic meanderings landscapes that might not exist like that, beautiful and bleak landscapes. Considering the uneven poles OPPOSITE EXHALE is operating between he’s managed to craft something that has never been there before as far as I know, and as adverse as these elements may seem they’re working in harmony on ‘Nothing Lasts’. Will be interesting to see how the next stage will sound like.
Tracklist
01. Hic Finis Fandi - 3:22
02. Clear Green - 5:19
03. The Downfall of Beliefs - 5:21
04. You're the Least of my Concerns - 3:31
05. Vixerunt - 3:53
06. Born with Bruises - 4:02
07. A Subtle Truth (My Paradise) - 3:57
08. The Felling's Vile - 4:31
09. Nomen est Omen - 3:48
10. I Trusted every Word you Spoke - 3:29
11. A White Heat That Scours Rational Thought - 4:31
12. Lucid Dreaming - 4:47
13. Resentment - 4:30
14. Deceitful Snares - 3:56
15. Moortgat - 4:41
16. Sand - 3:25
Line-Up
Eelco Jellema
Website
http://www.oppositeexhale.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Extras: -
Total: 8 / 10
{jos_sb_discuss:19}
Comments powered by CComment