[reviews] afe052cd
true colour of blood: (absence)

True Colour of Blood creates spacious, drifting ambient soundscapes, entirely on guitar. There are eight tracks here, all but three of which breach the eight minute mark, a couple considerably so.

Lingering drifts create the atmosphere for distant hidden melodies to waft quietly by. There is a hazy stillness and guarded passivity to the tracks, as if staring out into a grey landscape waiting for something to appear on the horizon.

A chilled, lonely tension that is realized gradually. The first couple times I listened to this it didn't make much of an impression on me because it is so much about tone, and not about details or obvious movement on the surface. It's subtle and minimal and easy to let disappear into the background.

Now listening to it on headphones, it's presence is more obvious to me. It is a record that needs your full attention to truly appreciate, and because of that is probably not for everyone. It his however extremely well crafted and stitches together delicately some very finite elements to create a moving whole.

It is perhaps not that surprising that this is a co-release with Afe, the italian label of the man behind Amon, as it embraces some of that tonal desolation and isolation found in his own project.

"(Absence)" is a record that truly must be listened to to be appreciated, but when the proper mood strikes you I'm sure would be a fulfilling soundtrack.

[Scott Candey]