Every once in a while, there are albums that are born from such gut wrenching emotional outpouring as a form of personal therapy or personal journey of recovery for the artist or artists responsible for the work. It is a rare opportunity to glimpse such pain and catharsis, and G. Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch, Goatsnake) and a cast of co-conspirators (including fellow Burning Witch alum B.R.A.D. as well as former Faith No More and Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance) give listeners just such a peak. What You Don't Know is Frontier is the second album from Asva and is the result of Dahlquist's musing over the grief of his brother's demise. In his words, "What You Don't Know is Frontier is about rebirth
about that light at the end of the tunnel. Amen."
Droning guitars and keyboards (that sound like a church organ) dominate the title-track and create swirling atmospheric sounds with the distortion and reverb emanations; the eventual inclusion of the thundering drums further adds to the dark nature of the song's mood. The strange bass sounds obviously evident in the beginning moments of "Christopher Columbus" set an immensely creepy vibe which the guitars only reinforce and continue to lend an ominous feeling of dread that continuously seems to build towards a climax by layering other instrumentation to build the tension to great effect. The calming guitar strumming and ambient noise of "A Game in Hell, Hard Work in Heaven" is an amazing contrast in context to the album making this track stand out even more than it maybe would have, and the female vocals sound religiously otherworldly as a feeling of intense catharsis and release comes across; the emotional release can be quite astounding, if not downright triumphant as the guitars blare. The mood or feeling of triumph continues with "A Trap for Judges" and its bombastic percussion and grand keyboard movements. I can easily hear this or excerpts of the song in use during pivotal moments of some movie because it certainly has a cinematic quality.
Understanding that Asva is a direct descendant of Burning Witch will give listeners a good reference point when trying to place the sounds that initially rush from the stereo, and while Asva does not resemble its predecessor completely, the comparison is not unwarranted. What You Don't Know is Frontier certainly is enough of its own animal for listeners to quickly get over the comparison and realize the merit of Asva on its own, and through the album's progression, any comparison to Burning Witch is mostly left behind as the music undergoes a gradual transformation. An immensely dense affair, this album contains a fair share of awesome moments that, given the right circumstances, might be breathtaking and emotionally arresting, so much so that I am surprised that this album is not talked about more by people. Hopefully, more people will venture toward this gem of an album and check it out.
