Tarentel
Big Black Square EP
(Temporary Residence)
This is the second in a series of three EPs that Tarentel will be releasing in the near future (released at the same time as their Paper White EP and preceeding yet another to-be-released on Acuarela Discos). It comes during a period of renewed vigor in terms of the group and their output. After a couple years in which they seemed to go on hiatus, they've now reformed with a different lineup and gone in a completely new direction in terms of their sound, along with producing a rather large body of work in a short period of time.
This Big Black Square EP is one long (nearly forty-five minutes) track that falls directly after their last full length We Move Through Weather, in terms of a timeline. As one could probably guess from the running length of the track alone, this one unfolds very slowly, mixing field recordings, ambience, and finally drones and drums and guitars and all kinds of interesting frequencies into a track that definitely takes some time in getting anywhere. In essence, it's an extreme version of the new sound that the group introduced on We Move Through Weather, pushing all the new ideas that the group brought forth into an epic-length track that listeners will either love or hate.
Love or hate is probably a bit extreme, but based on the above information and your following of the group so far, it's probably fairly easy to know whether or not you'll find interest in this EP. Personally, I find the release to be more than a little unfocused. I'm all for ambience and building tension, but there's nothing even resembling a rhythm until over one-third of the way into the running length, and when it is introduced, it locks into one of those tribal pounding things that the group seemed to get stuck in a rut with during the longer tracks on their last full-length. There are certainly some interesting pieces of the track, but as a whole it could have easily been whittled down a bit and still retained the foreboding moments, the hypnotic moments, and the downright squealing ones without sacrificing much of anything. Who knows where the group will go from here, but with these two recent EPs and their last full length, it seems like they've mined this territory for nearly about as long as they can without it getting really redundant.
Rating: 5
