Snowthorn (CD)

Das langerwartete Debutalbum von Mike Connelly und seiner Frau Tara als Clay Rendering liegt musikalisch zwischen Gothic, Ambient, Black Metal und Dream Pop. Perhaps the most compelling of all the many projects started by one-time members of Wolf Eyes, Clay Rendering came to life in 2013 and have since released a trio of singles for Hospital Productions that have gained them the admiration of followers spanning both electronic and metal communities. Their material occupies unique terrain, recalling The Cure's widescreen Disintegration-era instrumentals meets Cocteau Twins/Xmal Deutschland, cut through with a Black Metal palette and an appreciation of electronic music that imbues their production (notably assisted by Dominick Fernow) with an end-of-world quality that's impossible to pin down. Evoking Nine Inch Nails one moment, you find yourself in a smoke- filled, strobe-lit Road House the next; bleary-eyed, head spinning, coming down. Guitar, Accordion, Piano and electronics underpin these songs, opening with the whirling death march of 'Maps on The Floor' and the funereal trudge of "Swallow The Century" before the grinding fuzz of "Sight From Up There" changes pace with the addition of a forlorn piano melody and Becka Diamond's distant vocal zooming in on half-remembered songs, rendered here with hazy definition.