Kev Rowland

Oh. My. God. I just have no idea to where or how to write about this album, which is one of the most incredible releases I have ever come across. My Silent Wake have been around for quite a few years now, making quite a reputation for themselves in the doom field, although I have managed somehow to totally bypass all their other albums, so I have no idea if this how they normally sound. What I do know, is that from the very first song to the very last twenty-one-minute epic I was entranced. It’s not doom as such, or dark ambient, or atmospheric black metal, but somehow brings all those influences and many more into something that is completely engaging and essential.

“Volta” starts life with a harpsichord, then turns into a dance were the black masses congregate: it certainly doesn’t sound how a Volta normally does (which as you all know originated in either Italy or the medieval Provençal courts, was introduced in Paris in around 1556 by Catherine de Medici, and required highly intimate contact between two partners of the opposite sex.). Then there are others where the music is far about creating an atmosphere than creating melody. I firmly believe that the only way to play this album is as a solitary adventure, either played when there is no-one else around to interfere with its enjoyment, or on headphones when the rest of the world can be shut out. To my ears, it is an incredible achievement, and one of the most perplexing and entrancing albums I have ever come across.