An enigmatic project out of the wilds of Madison, Wisconsin, this duo, with connections to the likes of Kinit Her, Burial Hex, and many more projects, weave together an unlikely combination of medieval folk, post-rock, and electronic sounds into two side-long pieces that channel a variety of moods, though most of them are cast with some level of darkness.
The A side of this vinyl, "Helix I," is where the medieval vibe comes through most.Through twisted strings, deep cello and trumpet fanfares, there is a sense of time long past emanating throughout, but devoid of any renaissance fair type clichés.Attention is eventually drawn towards passages of guitar, with the strings sinking back into a droning, bleak backing track.The individual instruments meld together into a cold wall of sonic abstraction, becoming more and more pensive as the piece concludes.
The flip side, "Helix II," picks up with unidentifiable sound sources creating a ghostly fog of sound.The occasional higher register note occasionally pierces through the mostly bass heavy drone, but only to be pulled in again.With the appearance of distant, marching rhythms a dramatic flair definitely can be heard, reaching a restrained peak of bombast before pulling back.
Mostly naked, strummed guitar chords fill up this space, with field recordings of thunderstorms and distant trumpets keeping everything rather bleak.Surprisingly, what sounds like an electric guitar kicks in, giving a distinctly modern feel to the song, especially when compared to the other side.The addition of a repeating, percussive pulse is where things start to feel more conventional, but in a good way.
With one half feeling like a bizarre take on medieval folk sounds, and the other bringing up bits of new wave rhythm and synth, Yesodic Helices could be a directionless mess, but the end product is anything but.Drastically different sounds and moods abound, but they all come together in a beautiful, if dark and murky, pair of ghostly long-form pieces that transcend genre labels.
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