Imbogodom
The Metallic Year
(Thrill Jockey)

A great distance exists between England and New Zealand, but for Alexander Tucker and Daniel Beban, the sounds captured on The Metallic Year bring the men closer together. A churning, rumbling piece of darkness, the album is a progressive arch of noise. The waves have a way of building up feedback and hum, sweeping over you before relaxing back down into the background to instill another false sense of security.

As the longest track on the record, “Bvsh Hovse Ghost” is the most fascinating with its a spooky quality drawn in no small part from the barely tangible, moaning voices and chiming guitar strings. The other song that snakes its way past the six-minute mark, “Calibos,” is another moment of artistry, with the strings that come together sounding just off enough to put you on the edge of your seat.

There’s something beautiful in The Metallic Year’s quiet, unassuming instrumentation, like watching an intellectual film and not quite understanding the plot after the fact. It’s something to come back to again and again, seeking out meaning and adding your own purpose.