Agnivolok - Sculptor FLAC download

The first thing that struck me upon first hearing this record was the way it is mixed. Thickly layered metal sounds, string- and guitarlike sounds drowning in reverb, abstract loops slowly coming and going and then these strange, vulnerable and at the same time provocative vocals mixed totally up front and sounding very dry. This was unlike anything I heard before eventhough a lot of the sounds they make and use have clear references to industrial and dark ambient. The A-side contains four tracks. The first track is very simple but apt opening, a dominant loop of buzzing crackles is opposed to a sombre piano that sounds as if it's being played in a big, empty hall, meanwhile the loop slowly fades out. The other three track are quite similar in construct and are more folky. Flutes, bells, rattles, woodblocks and harmonium build up together with the vocals growing into something that sounds like a funeral march until, after a minute or so, some muffled drums kick in giving the whole a dark carnival twist. At the same time on the background you hear loops and sounds that remind of 'Village of Savoonga'. Over to the third track, my personal favourite and also the title track of the album. Here there's somewhat more emphasis on the industrial sounds at first. Again there's a slow build-up of the melodic part with a hypnotic guitar strumming in the absolute distance. The guitar is the dark omen of what's to come vocally. That voice that sounds like an old women chanting yokels equally brings to mind an innocent little girl in distress. The last track of this side start with a slow striding cello. On the background we hear sounds that resemble the bells of cattle and again that guitar drowning in reverb. And again a great folk tune is sung with that unstable and direct voice. The B-side of this album consists of one long instrumental track that is obviously more focussed on the dark and industrial ambient side of the band due to the absence of the voice. It is very dense at times and adds to the consistency of the album. Great, yet unfortunately unknown and thus unloved.