NOIR NOIR – Black Curtain / Divine Swelling (Deathwave)
I tend to avoid releases like this, but I so rarely receive anything of the industrial or out of the various wave genres that I need to be less picky. Not picky about the music, because this kills, but about the details. In this case, to begin, the work is incredible, my only hesitation was that both of these titles, Black Curtain and Divine Swelling, are previous releases from Fallow Field and Hedonic Reversal, respectively, the latter release as technically part of a split. So, rarity is key there, and, further, we have in this combo package a remastered version of both, in new formats as well. So, yes, onward we must go! Into this abandoned power station at midnight!
The easiest path is to consider both works as a single whole. NOIR NOIR certainly wears the concept of “black” quite well. Relying on sub-bass, mechanistic throbs and metallic scrapes across the sound-field, Black Curtain / Divine Swelling prioritizes texture over melody, though within the granular distortion swallowing every remaining frequency are splotches of darkwave. This is primarily noticeable in some of the repetitive, churning electronics that create stability among what is primarily negative space. You’ll find cavernous, low-end menace, but also higher registers with cracked harmonics that keep everything collapsing into ruin. A strong point of both is that they work so well together, to the point that it’s unintelligible that they’re actually separate creations. The beautiful, ritualistic pacing assists in this regard, and the vocals lead to a resounding YES from anyone familiar with dark industrial, death industrial, or darkwave. They hover at the edge of intelligibility, working as a disembodied presence instead of a guide narrating emotion, providing a much needed cathartic experience that is hard-earned but deep. Sealed in a chamber or tossed into a barren landscape, Black Curtain / Divine Swelling is a grim diptych that rewards only those of us interested in droning immersion.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
NOIR NOIR – Black Curtain / Divine Swelling
Fallow Field, Hedonic Reversal, Sentient Ruin Laboratories
Cover Art: Band
4.6 / 5
