Annapurna Illusion / Hellvision split (Winged Sun, 2012)

Annapurna Illusion / Hellvision split
Winged Sun 2012

The A side of this tape was recorded in 2009, and the B side was recorded one night in Belgium between Annapurna Illusion and Helvette (Glen Steenkiste of Sylvester Anfang II). "Argos" is composed of spooky, haunting, echo-y atmospheres with a persistently bass-y synth thumping. A more mid-ranged synth oscillates throughout the song. "Undecision" has quite a suspenseful and ghostly quality, filled with more slow, bass-y thumping and scary ambient textures that sound like a haunted house is breathing. Unlike the first song, this track includes some melodically repetitive and droning guitar drenched in reverb and buried deep in the atmospherics. They’re hard to hear but there are also (feminine?) chanting vocals buried deep as well. Towards the end of the song, the vocals, guitar, and thumping fade out as layers of very dark, distorted noise and screeching enter. There are also bells playing but they are hard to hear amongst the thick, dense beds of noise wash.

Hellvision’s side is made up of low, breathy, rumbling, blown out tides of synth wash. A real slow wave coming and going, but it is beastly, thick, and dense. Even so, for about the first seven minutes of the eighteen total, the overall sound is quite minimalist and sparse in the sense that there is really only one source of sound. Later on, a percussive, staccato rhythm enters, slowly playing in a very straightforward, 4/4 beat. Perhaps it’s cliché to make cinematic comparisons, but because of the song’s gradual, suspenseful manner and gloomy vibe, this song would fit well in a horror flick.

Cassette for purchase: http://wingedsun.bigcartel.com/product/wsr19-annapurna-illusion-hellvision-split-cs