Guapo have a reputation as instrumental prog artists that evoke avariety of influences to produce ambient structures that are known tocross the ten-minute mark. Cerberus Shoal are no stranger to longpieces with myriad styles themselves, and their collaborations of latewith a wide array of artists have done more for their palette than canbe measured. For the third in the Shoal's split-EP series, both ofthese left-of-center bands contribute tracks over sixteen minutes andthen a third of the same stature is created from their tracks. It isthe longest, most freeform and ethereal release in the series, and inplaces the most impressive and frightening. Guapo's solo piece, "IdiosKosmos," is a wall of sound dirge of guitar, cello, and electronicsthat swells and expands like a lung: taking in air and using it, thenpausing before taking in the air again. There seems to be nothing thatwill distinguish it for the first ten minutes, and the quality changesto a crashing plane's whine. Then, the lung springs a leak, and theinner processes and air spill out in a whirlwind of poundingpercussion. It takes a while to get where it's going, but the track isultimately fulfilling. Ceberus Shoal's track, "A Man Who Loved Holes,"is a chilling piece with no rhythm or structure, with scatteredpassages of singing and a ghostly voice that passses from one speakerto the next and back again. Prose and poetry are recited, eerie soundeffects escape and intertwine, and everything maintains an evil calm.The Shoal have approached this kind of strangeness in the past, butnever this extended madness with little music to speak of. It'sconfusing while fascinating, and worth a listen even though it isclearly not for everyone. The third track, billed as Guaperus Shoalo,is an appropriate puree of both tracks, with ambient and eerie vocalsconverging before mighty percussion and electronic whines. It is themost collaborative song on these EPs so far, and eclipses both previoustracks in its atmosphere and bizarre melody. As they continue with thisseries, the material from both artists gets stranger and stranger, butalso more collaborative, as each artist seems to feed more off of whatthe Shoal is putting out and vice versa. samples:
- Guapo - Idios Kosmos
- Cerberus Shoal - A Man Who Loved Holes
- Guaperus Shoalo - Kdios Iiosmos, He Loved Two Holes
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