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Most Cold Meat Industry bands are big on apocalyptic atmosphere, Vestigial are no exception. "Anthropic Uncreation" starts with the listener awakening in the mouth of a snoring dragon, surrounded by a desolate wasteland where mushroom clouds explode on the horizon. There's an occasional zombie-crewed jet plane that screams across the sky. This is not a happy place to be, though if you are in the market for a horror soundtrack for your artistic creation, be it film, dance or mime, then Vestigial are the band for you. Things remain static – and yet also intensify – towards the song's climax. "The Coming" starts more quietly, with a generic dark ambient sound. I'd love to see the sort of New Age shop that would play this music in the background. Or meet the person who used this as their seduction music when they were looking to 'seal the deal' with their intended. On the other hand, maybe I wouldn't.
My mind starts wandering and I start reading about sonic and ultrasonic weapons on Wikipedia. It's amazing what they can do these days. Amazing, yet horrifying. I'm not saying Vestigial could be used to injure, incapacitate, or kill an opponent, but it is easy to take for granted the effect music can have on someone. "The Geometry" is unsurprisingly ominous. I imagine I've made my way to an underground bunker that offers me potential respite, but what skeletal horrors await me in the depths? Seven minutes of exploring later, the dust clears and I'm am faced by a deep abyss deep below the surface. The angelic music lures me to end it all by jumping in. It's difficult to tell where one piece of music ends and another begins, though there are shifting moods they are mainly the same grey colour. "The Void" offers more of the same. Nine minutes worth of the stuff. Occasional clanks break the monotony, but otherwise it sounds like you are standing near some really loud air conditioning. In the last minute we are assaulted by distorted voices from intercoms – or maybe they are on the phone. They're distorted so it's hard to tell. "Primordial Communication" draw from the same palette as the previous soundscapes. It is a palette consisting of any colour you like as long as it is grey. OK, there might be some black and brown if you look hard enough. Six minutes in there are thunderous drums, which give the song power and direction. I know that foreplay is important, but it's not much fun if you're bored while waiting for the main event. "Anthropic Resonance" has an even greater horror movie aesthetic than the other tracks. It seems that the monster – ghostly or otherwise – that has been tracking the listener for the duration of the album is now attacking. What defence do we have? If this is a nightmare then we might seek to wake up, but what if the nightmare is real? If you're already familiar with the Cold Meat Industry 'dark ambient' sound and want more of the same then Vestigial are good news. If you want to dip your toe in, here is also as good a place to start as any. |
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