High Aura'd - Mooncusser mp3 album

John Kolodij returns as High Aura’d with Mooncusser, a thirty-minute burn of glacial (both in pacing and sheer density) guitar drones that mixes Leif Inge’s immensely blurred melancholy and Belong’s static sheen. Several solo guitar projects have excelled in the celestial pedal-processed guitar drone category in recent years, namely Brainworlds and Expo ’70 to highlight a just couple, but Kolodij’s Mooncusser will surely stand as a testament to the genre’s finer points. Even Terence Hannum’s (of Locrian fame) artwork adds to the grim vastness of the Deeeeeeeeeep-Space drones evoked by the music within. Adding to the pitch blackness of the sounds is the fine mastering work by Ken Linehan and Type head honcho John Twells, who records equally vast, haunting drones as Xela.The tape’s A-side gradually builds it’s distant rumblings with a chorus of looped, distorted feedback. As the amplifier seems to kick in and out as Kolodij charts his course, giving the electric vibe of an improvised live recording. The rise of cavernous tones gradually swells into a sheer howl of maxed-out drone. Eerie passages and shifting chords pass alongside one another evoking Windy & Carl at their deepest and coldest moments, but Kolodij’s tones never quite sound as though they’re produced by a guitar. As the first half of Mooncusser plays out, the piece seems to weight itself down and slow to a crawl. It’s the audio equivalent of one of Eno’s 14 Video Paintings. Kolodij reveals his hand a bit on the second side when he strips back the noise for a few moments. Following an extended melancholic loop, the piece makes room for a spacious yet clean melody of plucked guitar before breaking open into complete, symphonic drone. In the end, all your left with is a frail, Basinski-like loop that decays into nothing.YDLMIER9/10