Substak - Fades & Shadows
Released: June 29 The latest from drone artist Substak gives us a bit of deviation from previous works while keeping true to form. Compared to his previous release earlier this year on Histamine Tapes, Fades & Shadows is something that feels more present and truly tangible. Granted, it still maintains that rather ethereal quality to it, feeling as though it drifts in and out of reality on a whim. This is much of the case with the first track “Breath Stuck in a Buffer.” It begins with droning pads that put forward a rather bleak landscape to be joined later by clanging bells that echo in an unidentifiable space. The whole album gives off a vibe of something like Cormack McCarthy’s The Road. There’s a decidedly dark and despondent atmosphere about it which is solidified by the mixture of variably heavy or light drones and clanging, clunking, naturally distorted industrial adjacent recordings. And it’s the second thing that really creates the tactile feeling, like we ...
