Review Summary: Droning ambient for the final days of winter.
Wrekmeister Harmonies’ music is all about patience, meditation and the occasional relief through heavy passages that lie within the post-rock/doom metal realm. Over the years, some of their best works consisted of one long piece that made up an entire album. The point was to capture a certain atmosphere, like trying to paint a picture through music. Along the way, they used drone with minimal shifts in sound or added layers, as well as poignant, distorted passages and most recently, a more avant-garde folk approach. Classical music influences can be found too, whereas vocals have been most prevalent in recent efforts, such as 2020’s
We Love to Look at the Carnage.
This latest work,
Flowers in the Spring sees J.R. Robinson and Esther Shaw retreating into a droning ambient setting with imposed limitations. Only four channels were used per song in the mixer, so there was less room for instrumental diversity. Instead, the focus is once more on slight variations of the elements that form the basis of each tune. The opening title track features a buzzing synth on top of which another unfolds an uncanny melody, while toying with arpeggios and oscillators. What seem to be distorted bass notes are heard in the background throughout, augmenting the low end. Meanwhile, “*** the Pigs” takes a William Basinski-esque route, playing a rather glacial drone with very little effects on top of it. Then, a bit of light is finally shed on us through the 20-minute epic, “A Shepherd Stares into the Sun”. The atmosphere turns warmer, almost orchestral in sound and even the noise washes feel less somber than usual for them. However, we are soon thrown back into a bleaker scenario with the closing “Flowers Variation”, sharing haunting synthesizers and cold, windy sound scapes around them.
Flowers in the Spring ends up as an interesting experiment overall, trying to make the most of a self-restricted situation. As a droning ambient record, Wrekmeister Harmonies did a great job capturing specific vibes and offering an entrancing experience in the process. Nevertheless, following their output over the years, you can’t help but think the LP might have benefitted from a more expansive approach. Had they gone all in during the recording sessions, this could have become one of the most complete, immersive entry in their catalog.
