Gardenia - The Constant of Drift

glass, radios, trains

#25 Gardenia - The Constant of Drift (2009)

 1. Senna
 2. Turquoise
 3. Wind Belt

another day, another project from Gates creator BW. this project finds him collaborating with Bron Halpin . BW describes the album as such:

Based on various recordings taken from Gardenia sessions over the course of the past two years and put through an intense process of manipulating, mixing, re-mixing and processing.

and the instruments used: guitars, voice, synths, glass, radios, trains, pedals & reverb


i actually had no idea this project existed. BW included this with my Gates records because he took a little extra time shipping my order (thanks man!)
this is a lot different than Gates. this is more like weird experimetal ambient. it still has it's droney moments, but whereas Gates drones are crushing and oppressive, the drones found here are more vast and open sounding. in fact the album as a whole sounds more open. there is still a sort of dark feel but it's not a bleak, claustrophobic darkness. i definitely dug all the experimentation going on and i'm glad this has a different feel. looking forward to checking out more of this project.

Gates - They Hide in the Shadows

Never Really There But Always, Always Watching...

#24) Gates - They Hide in the Shadows (2011)

 1. Outer Labyrinth
 2. Inner Labyrinth
 3. Dust of Absence

their 4th release is another live recording of the Moths (see Moths Have Eaten the Core
) album, recorded at the Music Gallery in Toronto on 11-3-11 and featuring the same line-up (BW, Pau Torres, Chris Worden, James McDonough) from the Winter album (see A Precessional Winter) and once again they've tinkered with the song lengths. Outer Labyrinths is now 12:57, which is down from Winter's 13:32 but still up from Moths 9:36. Inner Labyrinths is now 10:19, down from Winter's 14:17 but up from Moths 7:59. Dust of Absence is now 10:00, down from Winter's 14:18 and significantly down from Moths 21:10. i bring this up because even though they've shortened all the tracks, this is still a brutally oppressive album. i actually think the condensed lengths work in their favor, bringing all the power to the forefront. as much as i enjoyed Winter i think this is the superior album. the sound quality seems better, bringing the screaming and electronic noise into the mix better and as i mentioned before, the more streamlined track lengths really seemed to work out for them. the noise seems noisier which really compliments the mellower, nice (? i can't think of a better descriptive term at the moment...serene maybe?) parts. i'm sure by the next album they'll have changed things again but so far their experimenting has been paying off. definitely looking forward to the next one from these guys.

Gates - A Precessional Winter

A Void In The Murk

#23) Gates - A Precessional Winter (2011)

 1. Outer Labyrinth
 2. Inner Labyrinth
 3. Dust of Absence

recorded live on 10/26/10, Gates 3rd release finds Gates mastermind Bryan W Bray (or BW) joined by 3 other musicians to play Moths Have Eaten the Core (go here for my thoughts on that record) in it's entirety. well, sort of. the versions of Outer and Inner Labyrinth have been lengthened by about 4 and 6 minutes respectively, while Dust of Absence was cut by about 7 minutes. regardless this album is fucking rad. the addition of 3 musicians has added a whole new level of crushing bleakness to the already mega dark Gates sound. as much as i dug Moths, this live album is better. it's heavier, nosier and even more suffocating. i really hope BW keeps the 4 member thing going for the next Gates studio album. if you're a fan a dark drone check this band out.

Gates - Moths Have Eaten the Core

Through The Howling Infinite

#22) Gates - Moths Have Eaten the Core (2010)

 1. Outer Labyrinth
 2. Inner Labyrinth
 3. Dust of Absence  

i stumbled across Gates one night while perusing bandcamp, streamed a song, got hooked and bought some records. this is a one man project that combines field recordings with a kind of blackened drone. as near as i can tell there are 4 gates records out. this version of Moths is a 2nd pressing of 100 copies (i have #42), the first pressing was also limited to 100. Moths is the debut and it's dark and bleak as all hell. Bryan W Bray is the mastermind behind this project and he's done a great job combining the samples with his dronescapes.
here's how he describes the album/project:

"Gates began as a sonic experiment turned into a ritualistic cathartic process. As a way to further cleanse the mental palette in a continuing ritual that took place after practices and shows with ORCA and always initially beginning with simple multi-tracked ideas. The music spans the worlds of doom, psychedelic drone, ambient, experimental field recordings & intense audio processing all filtered through the bleak aesthetics and sonic darkness of black metal. Recording began in the fall of 2008 and finished January 2009 in the depths of winter. The music ventures into themes of claustrophobia, nothingness, the unconscious passageways of the mind and the transcendence of the self."


you can definitely sense those themes throughout the album's 38 minutes. especially claustrophobia. i'm looking forward to checking out Bray's other albums/projects.