Bleep

Fresh off the back of the staggering Death Of Rave reissue, Manchester-born, Krakow-based artist James Leyland Kirby presents a debut vinyl reissue of his 2008 intense drone classic Bleaklow under his The Stranger alias. Definitely not for the faint hearted, Bleaklow is an exercise is dark tones, formidable sonics and fearsome drones, leading off with the scowling feedback of ‘Something To Do With Death’ before moving through ambient laced drum rolls on ‘Exposure’ and the all-consuming ‘Exhumation’. On ‘Solemn Dedication’ and ‘Indefinite Ridge’ Kirby hints at a rhythm, with the former easily placed alongside the likes of Cut Hands’ voodoo terror and the later closer to Vatican Shadow’s pummelling industrial grit. The piece rounds off with ‘Ominous Sunset’ where a seemingly innocent sample has been mistreated into a feedback riddled, multilayered mass that finalises the general feeling of unease throughout this challenging epic.