Dark Music Review - Creator, You Destroy Me
Written By Casey Douglass
Over the weekend I
finally had some time and mental focus to listen to self-taught
musician Miguel Gomes’ newest album Creator, You Destroy Me.
Going under the pseudonym of Be My Friend in Exile, Miguel makes
ethereal ambient drone music that makes use of amplifier distortion
and drones of varying strengths to create a mood and effect. On to
the tracks:
The Tracks
Archon of the
Demiurge
A dark area opens up,
filled with distortion and guitar strings viciously plucked, their
clanging merging with a background drone. It conjured images to mind
of hurtling down an abandoned subway line, the loud noises the
well-lit stations, the drone the pure inky blackness of the tunnels
proper.
Ultima Linea Rerum
This track starts with
the same rhythm as the previous one, but things are lighter and
higher. If track one was plunging into the bowels of the tube system,
this part is in the open air, maybe fog laden section, cracked and
desolate buildings looking down like giant tombstones.
Fever Dream
A faint tinkling
mechanical whine underpins a light drone with a gently plucked string
melody behind it all. A softer track that might create images of
being alone in thick fog with only the milky impression of a distant
city’s lights ahead of you.
Control Heartbeat
Delete
A clever track that use
looping sounds to create a feeling of motion and ‘stuckness’ at
the same time. Light drones dance around the main sounds, airy and
bursting with energy. It all gets higher and higher, like someones
spirit leaving their body and passing up, up through the ceiling and
away.
Memories of
Childhood, Feelings for the Future
This track starts with
some recognisable ambient sounds: distant church-bells, footsteps and
birdsong, conjuring images of sunny afternoons bathed in golden light
in a city park. Plucked guitar strings join vocal phrases that sound
like they are from a PA system. The music is lulling and relaxing,
yet the bassy plunges and voice effects hint at something not quite
right. It builds into a strong bass rhythm and the pace increases.
More sounds of voices and children playing emerge along with traffic
and church-bells. Guitar reverberates, jarring the listener amongst
knocking echoes and distortion before mellowing a little and becoming
clearer once more. A tone that sounds like a church organ toys with
the ear before a steady drone begins to grow. A catchy guitar rhythm
sounds before things go quiet with just bass notes and tinkling left.
This track conjures to mind the possible experience of a happy child
playing in the sunlight before stumbling across the view to the
churchyard beyond, catching sight and mind of their first real
thoughts of death and what lays before them.
Foundation Pit
A gentle track that
sounds like cymbals or a gong being gently hit, with a drone along
for the ride. Guitar strings echo and clang as everything builds into
another “high” track that elevates rather than pushes you down.
High-pitched sounds floating in a sea of reverb.
Floating Weightless
Back to the Surface, I Imagine Becoming Someone Else
A swelling noise that
sounds like a swarm of purple (why purple?) bees filling the air with
industry and vibration. Maybe the neurons firing in a brain, a crisis
point reached and breached with grit and fury. A harsher drone meets
it before strings of guitar battle against the points of motion, a
manifestation of desire in distortion.
Dzhan
Distortion and a bass
drone plucks at the ear as a swelling undulation pushes through
everything, like a face emerging in the static of a detuned TV
screen. It quietens to a distorted rhythm and quiet guitar.
Thoughts
I
am quite a fan of the guitar/string led side of the dark ambient
genre. Any track using amplifier distortion and plucked melodies
seems to grab my attention far more than some of the more subtle dark
ambient tracks which rely more on ambient noise samples. In Creator,
You Destroy Me, Miguel has created an album that is full of
tracks that share a sound but all sound suitably different. I must
admit that my favourite track by far was Memories
of Childhood, Feelings for the Future. Ironically, it featured the
most recognisable ambient sounds but I just felt it was a great
multi-layered track that was both peaceful and sinister at the same
time.
I
give Creator, You
Destroy Me 4/5, a
riveting listening experience but also something that gives your mind
free-reign to infer what it wants from the sounds you are hearing.
You
can visit Be My Friend in Exile’s Bandcamp page here.
I was given a free
copy of the album to review.
Album Title: Creator,
You Destroy Me
Artist: Be My Friend In
Exile, Additional keys, synths and samples on Track 5 by Tomas
Amoretti
Label: Already Dead
Tapes & Records
Released: 20th
January 2015
