CD, Some Place Else, 2007
www.someplaceelse.net
Mockingwyrd is a project that from, what I’ve been able to gather, a Finnish individual who wishes to remain as anonymous as possible. With the release of “Cracks in the Void” this mysterious project brings us its assumed debut, in the form of a 3″ CD-R.
Both tracks are made entirely from bass guitar, so obviously a lot of effects and processing was used in the creation of this music. The first track, titled “Primordial Soup” Starts with a droning bass riff that is subtly processed as it stretches across the spectrum. Soft, almost silent static drifts in and out at various points in the track. The ominous droning of the bass in certain parts makes me think of Sunn O))) although the resembles ends there. Once it gets into the three minute range, although the droning continues, there is some actual strumming of several notes (or maybe just a few with a lot of delay, I’m not completely sure here) which prevents the track from seeming like its doing the same thing over and over.
The album’s second track, “Stirrings of Life” starts out more intense than the first with a distorted bass rumbling away at you. Once the minute mark comes, heavy droning sets in and I was beginning to fear that the track was going to slip into a repetitive state. However at almost 3 minutes in a blast of noise assaulted my ears then as suddenly as it came, it leaves but not without trailing back every so often for another attack on our ears.
Overall, I think that both these pieces are well done and would hit home with fans of darker ambient music and the so-called “drone doom” scene. I enjoyed both pieces but in certain parts they seemed to drag on for me.
[7/10]
— Charlie Martineau