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The Inward Circles, "I have heard a music and it is delirious"
At this point, it is quite clear that The Inward Circles project is the home for Richard Skelton’s darker impulses, dealing primarily in brooding ambiance, churning violence, and grinding horror.  The big difference between Skelton and similar artists, however, lies in his scope and intensity.  This latest EP, a soundtrack to Skelton’s short film Beyond the Fell Wall, does not disappoint in those regards, as Skelton essentially creates an melancholy and spectral world, then ferociously rips it apart.  Unfortunately, it does not quite scale the heights of either The Inward Circles' debut or Skelton's amazing previous soundtrack (Memorious Earth), being a bit too short, bombastic, and single-minded to offer much more than a satisfyingly heavy catharsis.  It is still a solid and worthy release, but it is not quite "Richard Skelton" good.
The film Beyond the Fell Wall is haunting series of black and white images of desolate landscapes, stones, and trees accompanying a portentous naturalist fable that describes how rivers built the world and how the power of the rivers and their successors was eventually usurped by men (who are now, of course, dismantling the world).  In that context, I suppose I have heard a music works fairly well, providing the voice of Don McCorkindale with an eerie backdrop of deep, menacing drones and ghostly, melancholy snatches of melody.  Essentially, the film is an elegy and a tour of desolation and ruin, despite its reminiscences of singing rivers and happy birds, so the unrelentingly dark tone is appropriate (if laid on a bit too thick).  Taken by itself, however, I have heard a music is a bit too heavy-handed, back-loaded, and monochromatic to stand with Skelton's better work.
The main problem is just that there is not any real beauty to be found, as it is essentially built upon little more than a hollow and ominous loop that gradually snowballs from "dark ambient" territory into a fearsome apocalypse.  To borrow the grammar of film criticism, the stakes are simply not high at all here, so the gathering storm does not elicit any emotion from me nor does it feel all that threatening.  Skelton just quickly transitions from melancholy brooding to an eruption of demonic fury.  While I certainly appreciated the eruption, I did not miss the brooding at all.  The least bit of beauty, tenderness, or fragility could have made that climax considerably more meaningful.  Thankfully, there is a consolation prize: it is still quite a spectacular show of nightmarish force, as well as an impressive bit of sound design.  When I have heard a music breaks open, it sounds like hell itself has opened up to consume the world with infernal entropy.  The 8-minute mark is especially horrific, evoking nothing less than the creeping approach of giant, grinding rusty blades.
To its credit, the few issues that I have with I have heard a music are somewhat unusual and relative ones.  For one, it feels weirdly condensed and rushed at only 19 minutes.  I like what it ultimately becomes, but it feels like it gets there too quickly to amass the necessary tension.  Also, it feels curiously undecided about whether it wants to be a soundtrack or not.  The first third is very minimal and all atmosphere, serving as a very effective backdrop for a film, but not quite compelling enough to be satisfying on its own.  The rest of the piece, however, would easily overpower any film (and consequently is mostly omitted from said film).  It feels like Skelton reworked the musical component of a more ambitious multimedia statement (there is also a "Beyond the Fell Wall" book) in hopes of creating something that could stand on its own and only succeeded partially.  I have heard a music is also the victim of its timing: had it come out five years ago, I probably would have loved it.  Instead, however, it is released in the wake of several career-defining triumphs, so my expectations have been considerably jacked-up by this point and I am quite a bit harder to impress.  Skelton fans will still undoubtedly enjoy this EP, as it showcases his rarely surfacing "grinding cosmic horror" side and offers some rewarding headphone listening, but it is ultimately a fairly minor release within his discography.
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