Fleshpress - Pillars (2007)

Genre : Sludge Metal \ Dark Ambient

Minimalism is the watchword of this release, as demonstrated right from the start. Opener “I am your Sacrifice” begins with rumbling, creepy, atmospheric noise and a very slow, loose and abstract figure on guitar which focuses on discord rather than melody. It reminds me strongly of the techniques used by bands such as Khanate, and should be of interest to fans of this style. This is sustained for some three or four minutes before the song proper explodes into form.
This opening section, with its cloying and oppressive atmosphere is returned to in spirit with the title track, which is not based on the same sound, but rather the same atmosphere. This time around, the main sound is more sustained and consistent, but with many half-heard noises buried in it: odd pattering noises, something akin to dropping water, and rumbling bass-created groaning noises that nearly sound like distorted whale song. It’s a chilling, but also sonically very interesting layer over which the focus of the piece is layered—a rather repetitive acoustic figure which is again based around discords. Overall it’s a very bleak soundscape which will draw in fans of dark ambient and perhaps some of the more droning forms of doom, since the “background” noise is actually far more absorbing than the guitar line!
Perhaps the strongest example of this kind of thing, however, is the final track, “Ave Nihil”. This is a pretty minimal dark ambient piece. It’s clearly influenced by several black/ambient works, but the flanging effect on the guitars reminds of Electric Wizard’s “Weird Tales”. It’s multi-layered and thus never boring, which is a blessing as it lasts almost ten minutes, making it the second-shortest piece on this album! I’d like to see Fleshpress develop this aspect of their sound, as it’s something that they’ve never really explored in depth before, but that they seem to be very skilled at. The strange percussion and strange tape manipulation noises near the end, in particular, make this a very strong piece.

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