Bleep

François J. Bonnet — aka Kassel Jaeger — and Sunn O))) co-founder Stephen O’Malley further prove their industriousness with a first time collaborative outing. Cylene fits the bill perfectly for these two heavyweights, flexing each composer’s spatial awareness and superhuman sense for intensity, all emitted from left of ambient’s centre. O’Malley’s beautifully measured guitar tones flutter about tunes like ‘Deuxia Me Noire’ and ‘Dernia Res Tents Noires’ — as a quietly minimal counterpoint to his maximalist main output — while Bonnet’s abyssal textures douse the air in atmospheres between terror and comfort. The volume may not be decibel crushing, but its steady melancholy rings in the ears for a spell after the runtime.