Beware there are ghosts in the air!
Michael A. Ventarola | New Jersey | 08/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The first release from A Murder Of Angels had quite a number of visitors leaving my home simply because the music created such a dark and troublesome atmosphere, that they were easily unnerved by it all. I will make no apology for delighting in that fact and admit to creating a private game of sorts to see who could hold out the longest. Few made it to the midway mark by any means. With the follow up of In The Air, it was anticipated that the same type of morose ambience would once again have these unwitting people flee just as easily, and to my delight it did in fact work its charms on the unsuspecting. However, aside from the fact that Bryin Dall and Derek Rush are able to create more sounds than we have words to describe it, this entire work isn't as frightening as the first release. The graphics that are included on this digi-pack show hand tinted old photographs of young cherubic children as well as the delightful black and white cover photo of an angelic child. The back cover depicts someone standing near an ancient grave. "Crossing the Threshold" starts off with whispers from disembodied children and someone calls out, "who's there?" From that point forward, we are rushed into a chasm between the light and dark, vaguely peering at the corporeal images of the distressed souls from the departed realm. Each time one listens to this track, it seems as though voices can be slightly discerned through the layers of sound, however, they are never in the same place twice! "Submerged Beginning" reminds one of the death of a fetus in the embryonic stage. The muffled voices that are heard and the machine like sounds seem to be echoes from within the confines of a hospital emergency room. Gentle strains of funereal music provide a rather distressing accompaniment to a defenseless life on the verge of being terminated. Although I am all for a woman's right to choose about her own body, this track would definitely have many other's rethinking their choices a bit more cautiously. "Momentary Vision" reverbs with what sounds like the distant cry of a child but it is blended and molded in such a way as to simply behave as sonic paint. Electronic pulses seem to echo the sound of a heart monitor as it would be heard from the inside. The strains of funeral music picks up again, as if the quiet minstrels from the other side have come to carry the departed away."Decaying Among The Hopeful" provides us with the rushing wind and prerequisite church gongs, along with whispered voices as they emanate from the various graves. Backward masking of sound assists with added the levels of macabre in a skewered panoramic world. "Nothing Is Written In Stone" enters rather oddly with mechanized sounds which could be anything from a night bird taking flight to something being drilled during the twilight hours. This forlorn epic piece seems to be an homage to that life laying in the ground without any identity and without so much as a loving memorial to mark their place. "Tomorrow In A Heartbeat" opens with mechanized voices from the deepest bass to the highest soprano. Are these the disembodied restless souls looking for a means of returning to their Earthly life? There are many bits and pieces of dialogue suffused between the musical notes, but they are just out of our reach to be deciphered comprehensively. "Excavation Of The Words" reminded me of the dredging of the rivers that so often happens in order to keep the channels passable for the boats passing by. Those living on or near water would understand this sentiment. However, in addition to this dredge effect, there is an innate anxiety, as though there is a body laying just beneath the dredging fork, waiting to be discovered."A Trail Of Gossamer" provides us with the darkest of dark nights, fraught with every imaginable element meant to unnerve us in our reverie. While the spider weaves her web, there seems to be some knocking in the graveyard. Is it someone being buried alive or someone banging to be let out? "To Find The Lost Place" comes full circle where we feel as though we are riding on the back of a disembodied entity, seeking for a place to land during their midnight excursion. In The Air takes A Murder of Angels to another dimension. Whereas the last CD was fraught with frightening sound images, this CD seems to be the embodiment of the souls of the innocent who have departed before their time. There is no lacking for scary elements within the confines of this CD, however the added innocence seems to make it more doleful and bittersweet in addition to having the effect of being simply frightening. Dall and Rush manage to constantly create sounds, effects and moods that defy description. Calling the work frightening doesn't seem to do it nearly enough justice as there are so many woven elements into the work as well. Taking the tracks apart one by one is a daunting task, yet one is compelled to do so simply because the work triggers all the right memory references for the listener to do so. Middle Pillar once again scores by releasing work that no one else seems to be able to release. Despite the beauty of the digi-pack, I will admit to the frustrating fact that they have to be placed in a safe place to deter them from becoming marred. This can be a bit troublesome if you happen to have a rather expansive music library and need to have everything alphabetically ordered. Since this reviewer also has the double edged sword of enjoying the beauty of these types of packaging, it has become essential to create a special place for these odd packages from the various music companies just to keep some semblance of order for finding the work again at a future date. However, packaging aside, this is yet another incredible piece of morbid and dreary music to create just the right atmosphere for the macabre at heart. If you are looking for that instrumental work that will give you that haunted house feel, A Murder of Angels is just what the Grim Reaper ordered!"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1