Jet Black Sea: Absorption Lines

I somehow missed out on Jet Black Sea's The Path Of Least Resistance, a project led by Adrian Jones (Nine Stones Close) and Dutch electronic master Michel Simons. Well, the duo is back with a new disc titled Absorption Lines. Love the title by the way.

All I can say is wow, this album blows me away. It's progressive, electronic, trippy, hypnotic, heavy and in a word fantastic. While there is some similarity to Nine Stones Close, this album is a much trippier production beginning with "Wrong Turn", a combination of progressive, dark electronic, trip hop and ambient genres. Wild bursts of electronics, sometimes having an edgy almost creepy tone gives way to waves of keys and an industrial-like beat. Manipulated guitar riffs made all the more impressive with an echo effect infiltrate the unsettling ambient soundscape. "Jumping To A Conclusion (Part 1)" is a very trippy and moody piece with twisting electronics and slightly distorted arpeggio guitar. The title track is the longest on offer at almost eleven minutes starting with spacey effects overlaid with radio samples from the Apollo 13 Mission. Distorted stabs of guitar and rumbling bursts of sound shatter and reverberate through the soundscape, a stark reminder of the troubles that laid ahead for the crew. What I love about this music is how effortlessly it is to let your imagination run with it, almost like you are in the dark cold depths of space. The title track brings to mind Floyd or Cosmograf at times. Gentle passages flow beautifully and the rumbling guitar effects are as equally effective. On the more pastoral "Hours Slip Into Days" stark piano and atmospherics are complemented with Patterson's compelling yet distant lead vocals. The moody "133 Hours" ends the disc in suitably intriguing fashion blending cool electronics and keyboard washes.

Absorption Lines is really something of a revelation, at least to these ears. A real treat to be sure and highly recommended.

The players:
Adrian Jones (guitars, bass, effects)
Michel Simons (sounds, effects, engineering)

Guest artists:
Pieter van Hoorn (Knight Area, Nine Stones Close) – drums on tracks 1, 2 and 5
Brendan Eyre (Nine Stones Close, Riversea) – Keyboards on tracks 2 and 5
Adrian 'Aio' O'Shaughnessy (Nine Stones Close) - Vocals on track 5
Tony Patterson (ReGenesis) – vocals on track 6
Paul van Zeeland – bass guitar on track 5

Track Listing:
1. Wrong Turn
2. The Sixth Wheel
3. Jumping To A Conclusion (part 1)
4. Absorption Lines
5. Cathedral
6. Hours Slip Into Days
7. 133 Hours

Added: September 20th 2017
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Bandcamp Page
Hits: 1521
Language: english

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