An album unlike any other this year, even within the borderless wilds of dark experimental music. Layers and layers of sounds pile on top of one another to make for a bleak and enthralling whole during this collaboration between Horseback's Jenks Miller and Pyramids. It's like Thuja playing with Tim Hecker playing with Kevin Drumm. Some moments are bone-rattlingly noisy, while others are relatively calm. No matter where the volume is, though, this record is always menacing. There is a dread that runs throughout "A Throne Without a King" that recalls Philip Glass' opening theme to "Koyaanisqatsi," or the finale, when literally everything falls apart, which is more than fitting. What is most compelling about the record is the pitch perfect mixture of organic instrumentation with electronics. Organ, percussion and electronics comprise the record's backbone, and each contribution is as compelling as the next. Certainly the quality of this record isn't too surprising given the caliber of talent involved, but at the same time, it sort of is. Collaborations, more often than not, miss their mark, but in the case of "A Throne Without a King," both Horseback and Pyramids have turned in a work that is just as good, if not in some ways better, than their work apart.
Pyramids and Horseback - "A Throne Without A King"
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