23 Treads - The Ornaments( The Ghost Of Miranda) [Zoharum - 2017]23 Treads last album 2015’s Conspicuous Unobstructed Path was somewhat of a revelation, with its angular & darkly psychedelic brand repetitive & sonically locked down neo- folk. Really giving this often cliché ridden genre a different twist & unbalancing flavour. The Ornaments( The Ghost Of Miranda) deepens their experimental & atmospherically unsettling tendencies, to create another extremely worthy trip to the outer limits of Neo-Folk. This late 2017 CD release on Poland’s premier experimental label Zoharum offers up nine new tracks from the project. These tracks take in the band's trademark sound of stripped-back ‘n’ repetitive guitar & theatrical creepy spoken female vocals, and adds in more subtle angular & unsettling edges- all to create an album that squarely grabs your attention with it’s wordy & darkly wonky unfold.
On the whole I’d say this album feels slightly more nightmarish, and wonky psychedelic than Conspicuous Unobstructed Path did - as the three-piece have managed(for the most part) to create song-craft that is both barrenly tolling, more subtle detailed with experimental touches, with the use of often layered & subtle effect ribbed vocals from the bands singer Ingrid Swen. I’d say that the first three quarters of the album kept me total fixed in its wonderful angular & atmospherically unbalancing charm- it’s just the last few tracks that broke the spell & my interest somewhat, with their slightly brighter & buoyant indie folk-rock leanings & more bland electro beat touches.
The album opens with “On The Darkest Night”- this finds a hypnotic & unsettling blend of locked churning- yet barrenly angular guitar hits. Wondering & wonky ambient horn ebbs, and Swen’s voice eerily bouncing & circling its self in dizzying & labyrinth manner. Later on “Embrace The Stone” finds a taut mix of chiming & taut guitar motifs, drifting with sour washes of beat-less electronica, and watery robotic vocals. Or we have the off-angular strum & wail of “An Abyss” with Swen’s ranting & talking in a unbalance showy manner- over barebones acoustic strum & un-well spacey ambiance.
For much of its runtime, The Ornaments( The Ghost Of Miranda) is both unbalancing & unsettling in it unfold- it’s just a pity the last few tracks broken the spell somewhat for me. But don’t let that put you off- if you miss the days when Neo-Folk was more daring, edgy & creative this is certainly an album you’ll get joy from. Roger Batty
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