Spektr - The Near Death Experience
Since sleep is the theme this week, I thought I’d revisit one of my favorite bedtime lullabies, The Near Death Experience (Candlelight, 2006). People have already written on it, but it was such a soundtrack to my subconscious last year that I’d have nightmares not mentioning it. Basically, it’s a dark ambient record with grimy, bloody black metal spliced in seemingly randomly.
Dimhymn is the only other act I’ve heard do this, though others probably do it also. This post-production aesthetic fascinates me – record the band rocking the fuck out, then toss it into the computer and mutilate it some more. Throw in movie soundbites and white noise, slather scary whooshing noises on top, and serve on a platter of dripping font goodness.
The CD has an awesome 12-minute video that syncs hallucinogenic, grainy footage of alternately mundane and horrific images with utter precision to the audio – in glorious black and white (this is a French film, after all). It alone is worth the price of the disc. You can find it at Candlelight. Me, I’m going to have sweet dreams tonight.
