Genre: Drone/Experimental
Label: All Day
Date of release: December 2012
THE HIDDEN EXPERIMENTS
Horseback: One of the greatest icons of the experimental
music genre. Established in 2006 from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, musical
mastermind Jenks Miller, with the help of multiple other musicians, sought out
to create some of the most euphoric yet bizarre tracks that ever set foot on
the music scene. In albums such as 2006’s “Impale Golden Horn,” lush and
beauteous soundscapes invoked transcendent melodies and euphoria. On the other
hand, records such as “Forbidden Planet” and “On the Eclipse,” fusions of black
metal, prog rock, jazz, and drone created bizarrely dark atmospheres that are
both hypnotic and distorted. Despite the band’s music being categorized easily,
there is always something new and intriguing that it puts out for its audience.
However, behind all of this, there is a sleuth of unreleased material that has been
collaborated in 2012 to create a cassette tape entitled “Stolen Fire.” At first
glance, considering how experimental Horseback is with their sound, there is no
telling how this rare tape would sound to even the most loyal of fans.
Side A of the tape is partially composed of electronic beat
tracks, which is rather unexpected for a band that focuses mostly on the darkened
drone spectrum. They are simple synthesizer beats with other electronic effects
that somewhat calls back to the 80’s style of the synth-prog genre. There is
also some singing that overlaps this music as it goes, although the title song
contains some monologue that engulfs the entire song. The vocals here are quite
monotonous and low-tuned, but while this causes the tracks to sound rather
bizarre, they actually give it a unique and intriguing vibe to it as well. The
electronic music becomes even more hypnotic thanks to these uniformly styled
vocals, with its simplicity and its unique fusion. However, for the most part,
the tracks serve in giving their listeners a relaxed and chilled vibe that massages
the senses, and they are rather stimulating and soothing. Even though this type
of dub-beat music is far from the sound that Horseback often showcases, it is
nonetheless a great and unique characteristic of this record.
Along with the electronic beat tracks, “Stolen Fire’s” side
A also contains tracks that venture even further into the sinister black metal
territory than Horseback normally ever did. They are primarily tracks composed
of distorted guitar noise and static with other effects thrown in the mix. However,
even as simple compositions, they invoke horror, obscurity, and eeriness with
every second they last. Miller’s black metal snarls roam like ghosts in the
background, making the soundscapes even more haunting. The synthesizer-noise
effects that are infused within the tracks even manage to fit into the band’s
hypnotic category, especially in “Luciferian Theme,” which certainly pertains
to the stoner-soundscape genre more than anything else. Sadly, what prevents some
of these tracks from being any more powerful is that they are too short and
succinct, lasting barely more than two minutes. Nonetheless, these are not the type
of tracks that you want to listen to when you go to bed at night.
Within side B of this rare cassette tape lies one of the
genre mixes that Horseback has always done best: Mixes of black metal, prog
rock, drone, jazz, country, shoegaze, and other genres to conjure up soothing
yet outlandish-sounding tracks. They certainly relate to the material that is
found in albums such as “The Invisible Mountain” and “Half Blood,” with their
bizarre and hypnotizing nature. Electric guitar jams, spacey synthesizer
effects, distorted background noise, simple drums, and raw high-pitch vocals
construct the atmospheric music and form somewhat dark yet mitigating tracks. As
the songs continue their march, they build up in order to retain interest and
development so nothing is boring and tedious. Lasting for almost twenty
minutes, the tracks perform their surreal sounds without overstaying their
welcome, calling back to the usual territory that Horseback had always
specialized in creating.
“Stolen Fire” has proven to be a great release that fans of
experimental music that reaches out to different genres will want to add to their
collection. From old-fashioned and simple synthesizer beats to chilling and unearthly
black metal soundscapes to the band’s usual grind of metallic prog-jazz
fusions, this cassette is a diversely intriguing and highly intriguing listen. Even
as bonus material that was initially never let out to the sun, and despite the
fact that a few of the tracks are too curt and brief, all of the tracks are
great and enriching in their own ways and manners. However, the best listen
that this collaboration has to set on the table would be “Retribution.” It is
dark and transcending, with cultural instrumentation to increase the enthralling
factor, and it builds up extremely well. Overall, while it is obviously not for
everyone, fans of Horseback and other experimental projects will want to get
their hands on this rare little gem.
Score: 8/10 (Great)
