Silence the phone, draw the blinds and zone out to some experimental rock delights.
For an artist whose prior work featured the vocal stylings of wolves, Ben Frost has delivered something far from the natural world, although more approachable than its snarling predecessors.
Enlisting the help of musical wunderkinds like Swans’ Thor Harris, ex-Liturgy drummer Greg Fox and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, Frost has birthed an incredibly varied album that shows strains of experimental and electronic dance music in its DNA. A multi-layered work of constant ebb and flow.
‘Nolan’ entraps amongst walls of sabotaged synthesizer and booming drums, a firm declaration of Frost’s mission statement: to combine harsh noise and melodic sensibility with aplomb. The track enters into an eye of the storm as drums take on the smothered sounds one would associate with the build-up of a dance track. The bells chime in the background amongst flickers of deranged static, all while the tension builds forebodingly. The song pushes further towards a danceable melody, then back again, as the noise threatens to burst its banks until Frost arrives at his intended destination: a full-blown catharsis of strobe-lit, industrial-tinged melody, the sort of moment that would make even the most stoic listener tap their feet.
A U R O R A is as much a ruthless example of percussive heft as it is an exploration of harsh sounds. Take for example moments on ‘Venter’, a track which is primarily led by an enclave of at least three different drum tracks; some analogue, others digital, all combining with electronic counterparts to lead listeners into a sea of whitewashed rave.
