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Shalabi Effect, "The Trial Of St-Orange"
Possibly one of the most anticipated follow-ups is finally available. If you thought the eponymous debut double CD was mindblowing, you ain't heard nothin' yet. 'The Trial' once again sees the four core members playing songs together with strong improvisational origins, but this time it seems the emphasis has gone from astral exploration to an almost surrealistic horrific earthly adventure.
The same instrumental lineup forms the sounds (bozouki, guitar, tablas, electronics) but everything builds from an opening with field recordings into a maniac frenzy of electronic low bass rumbles, mad tablas and post drum-n-bass electronic whackery by the third track, "Mr. Titz (The Revelator)" (picture a call back to "First Dark Ride" with bozouki and tablas). With the accompanying visuals, the mental imagery I'm faced with is one of a surrealistic futuristic chase scene through a haunted rainforest.
Things calm down immediately after and the quartet return to more organic sounds with outdoor rain sounds, scraped violins and sparse guitars. Long, delayed guitars, electronic and acoustic noises follow in the beat-absent subsequent tracks. A crackling fire, guitar loops, bozouki and whispers through what's most likely a guitar pickup permeate the disc's last song, the colossal "A Glow in the Dark". After a miniature half-lullaby motif, some drone and bozouki interplays and about 17 minutes, silence falls. A minute later a brief but sweet guitar melody closes the disc. I still don't understand why bands choose to do "hidden" songs like this separated by a silence, but whatever.The rest of this incredible second album more than makes up for that.
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