There’s something to be said about northern European winter; dark, isolated, and cold as hell, it’s a far cry from the sunny dispositions of more equatorial climes. Scandinavian gents BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa seem fittingly and acutely aware of this, and appear to neatly bottle it on Big Shadow Montana, an edition full of deathly synth clouds, shifting darkness, and brooding animosity.
Enormous clouds of gaseous atmospheres prevail throughout “Part one”. They blanket everything in a claustrophobic film of ominous uncertainty, almost to the point of suffocation. Gradually, notes and melodies make their way through beneath dangling chains, holding the tension in a vice grip. This could be the soundtrack to a European horror, or dark thriller noir, such is the emotion and mood. Gradually, stacks of synths return, but the threat has been scaled back slightly towards a more ambient tone. More ominous basslines return before a delayed arpeggio jabs through towards the back end of the track, spinning out in an almost psychedelic haze before cutting out abruptly. After 20 seconds or so of silence, “Part two” growls around the speakers shifting from side to side like a predator hunting its prey. Woozy pads dominate as reversed moans float like ghosts from the ether. Suddenly around the ten minute mark, a moment of quiet introspection and melody is introduced, almost like glimpsing the sun in the middle of the harsh darkness. Stepping away from the dark which sprouted it, it moves gently along for a good five minutes, before returning to the haze which birthed it. Yet as the melody sinks beneath the fog, so too the fog lightens, as discernible chords begin to surface. Yet they are fleeting, and in the final minutes we are left with an icy fade into ambient silence.
There are many different stanzas explored here, and I think this album would have benefited from an extended track count; instead of simply part one and two, it could have been separated into nine or ten different tracks, which would have made each mood more easily distinguished. I felt cold and detached upon the completion of this; not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. However, this edition feels removed, to the point of exclusion, almost like it’s trying to ignore you as it revels in its icy tones. Overall, a bit of a head-scratcher.
Nick Giles
