Sometimes, curiosity completely gets the best of me, as is the case with my musical listening habits. And because of that I do hear quite a bit music that takes a while to process, like Black Boned Angel. Admittedly, the first exposure of Black Boned Angel to which I was privy, can be attributed to the collaboration with Nadja, Christ Send Light. But seeing as that record is an excellent slab of music, my interest in Black Boned Angel led me here. The Endless Coming to Life is a mammoth hour plus long track of droning noise care of Campbell Neale, the individual responsible for Birchville Cat Motel.
A downright ominous rumble ringing out across a bleak and barely audible drone sets one hell of a creepy tone for The Endless Coming to Life, but as the oscillating sounds dot the emanations from the speakers. There is a very real sense of space that Black Boned Angel convey with the composition, and it brings to mind visions of a dark and desolate landscape with flashes of light from the sky as the only means of light. Surely, this record could be the soundtrack to some post apocalyptic nightmare; you know the type when you wake up in a sweat and cannot quite remember anything that you saw but know it was terrible. At some point, I realize that guitars are strumming and feel like I lost some time somewhere, and in truth the guitars provide a different mood altogether while still leaving the possibility of some unknown menace just beyond their earshot. The deceiving calm that intones with guitars and what sounds like faint whispers always make me wonder when Black Boned Angel is going to really just crush me with either harsh noise or some wicked sound; when that finally does take place, I find myself thinking that I knew that was going to happen. The heavy part of the record seems as though the music is going to cave in on itself somehow, and the collapsing of a star into a black hole springs into my mind's eye The bottom end of the aural spectrum just sounds like it is coming at listeners in waves as the ambient sounds from the reverb and distortion mingle with each other to create a weird sonic background to the guitars and drums.
Even though this beast is over an hour long, The Endless Coming to Life is completely mesmerizing in its simplicity and the palpable mood which ebbs and flows at an absolutely glacial pace. With the lack of any real offensive sounds, the record is surprisingly soothing at times; but still there are moments when there is quite a bit of tension developing, and that is one aspect of this record which makes it worth hearing. If you have the stomach or endurance for long musical pieces, then check this record out because Black Boned Angel do quite an excellent job on this.
