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Boris with Merzbow, "Sun Baked Snow Cave"
For their latest collaboration, Boris and Merzbow have produced an elemental and tempestuous album. It sounds like a year’s worth of weather condensed into the space of a CD.Hydra Head
Sun Baked Snow Cave surprised me greatly. I am familiar with both artists, although this is the first of their collaborations I’ve heard, and was expecting an hour long sludgy, noise marathon. Instead this is an hour of varying moods and sonic textures. It starts with some very sparse acoustic guitar which evokes a peaceful and slightly tense atmosphere. This continues for about fifteen minutes and over this time I began to feel relaxed and cozy. Then Akita plugs himself in and the atmosphere changes significantly. He slowly layers in icy blasts of noise that sounds like a gale in the middle of Alaska. Boris then start turning on their amps and build up some droning low frequency feedback and a haunting and piercing guitar line. With the volume turned up this is a cleansing experience and if it went on any longer than it did I’m sure icicles would have started forming in the room.
For the last quarter of an hour, the roar dies down and some elegant, clean electric guitar with Akita’s glitchy crackles and static ushers in a feeling of summery warmth. I’d never thought I’d hear myself say that about either artist. The previous drama of Sun Baked Snow Cave is erased and then I realized how drained I felt from listening to it. Sun Baked Snow Cave closes in a way that mirrors the beginning of the album and the weather metaphor is strengthened by this cyclical structure.
I wouldn’t say that Sun Baked Snow Cave is the best work that Boris or Merzbow have done but it is certainly one of the most interesting albums that either of them have put out. It’s given me the kick to go track down their other collaborations to see what I’m missing.
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