Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux
In Ferneaux is the fifth album from Blanck Mass, the solo project of Benjamin John Power, half of F*ck Buttons.
The press release says that this “explores pain in motion, building audio-spatial chambers of experience and memory”. I dunno about that but, using field recordings created whilst travelling the globe along with his usual electronic instrumentation, Power has created something the veers from deeply disturbing to utterly euphoric to complete calm.
Consisting of just two tracks each hitting roughly twenty minutes, this mixes ecstatic keyboard riffs, amorphous drones, thunderous percussion, animal calls, ethereal voices, horrific screaming, heavenly synthstrings, pounding industrial machinery, a children’s choir, apocalyptic squall, defective plumbing and more. At times, this brings to mind the varied likes of Jean-Michel Jarre, Max Richter, Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, John Cale and Mogwai. There is also a strange resemblance - in concept if not in instrumentation and style – to Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Luciferian Towers. It is not an easy listen. It is, however, a rewarding one and it will be revealing little treats for years to come.
8/10
