Campbell Kneale’s one man doom project is a work of immense force. Taking some influence from his other project, Birchville Cat Motel, Bliss and Void Inseparable is an intense and atmospheric journey through the dark. I must point out that the title does not capture the mood of the album, I can identify the void components but the bliss is well hidden. This album is desolate and soul destroying, I love it.
20 Buck Spin
Starting with what sounds like a gargantuan Lovecraftian nightmare slowly plodding in the distance along a black chasm, this hour long piece immediately sets me on edge. The ambience that Kneale builds up recreates that paranoia that is only present at 2am when there is no one to turn to. When that Lovecraftian nightmare finally arrives there is an abundance of high pitched howling which sounds absolutely terrifying. A buzzing, didgeridoo-sounding chant further brings the mood down. As the packaging suggests, at high volumes this racket is transcendental (but not in the blissful way as I think Kneale may have intended).
After 17 minutes of this amazing dirge, the guitars and drums rip into the mix. At first it felt like a bit of a letdown after such an incredible introduction. However once I got over the shellshock and got into Kneale’s treacle-like riffing I was captured again. The tone on the guitar is filthy. It sounds like the guitar was dragged through the gutter and the amp was cursed before it was recorded in a tomb. The drumming is basic, just a primal beat harking back to the plodding nightmare sounds of the section of the piece.
What strikes me as being one of the most powerful parts about Bliss and Void Inseparable is the lack of "proper" vocals. Some of the new wave of doom bands try and vomit their lungs up in an attempt to be grim. Kneale dispenses with lyrics and his vocals are used sparingly to form something more like an ill wind blowing through a crevice on a bleak mountainside. The grinding riffs mutate into a more tolerable but equally crushing feedback and piano refrain. Like pretty much everything else used to make this album, it is chilling to listen to.
By the end of the disc I am exhausted and feel like I need a shower to get the grime off me. Actually, even halfway through I feel like stopping because it is so heavy but perseverance pays off because I feel like I have done a marathon by the time it is over. Maybe this listening equivalent of the runner’s high is the bliss that Kneale refers to in the title. I feel like I have earned the privilege of putting the CD back in its sleeve, I would not be able to listen to this all day every day but Bliss and Void Inseparable is the sort of heaviness that I need from time to time to clear the cobwebs (and annoy the neighbours).
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