The Haxan Cloak

To say Excavation is a dark record would be an understatement. The sophomore record from multi-instrumentalist Bobby Kric as the Haxan Cloak takes the listener beyond death into a realm of the unknowable, in which he creates an oddly comforting experience — a sonic experiment analogous to the absurd horror that is non-existence. Kric's explorations in sound are outright hallucinogenic, blending extreme aggression with vastly spacious atmospheres. While so much blackened experimental music is fatiguing and off-putting, Excavation is a terror that invites the listener to embrace fear and uncertainty, putting the hurried anxiety of life and money far from consciousness and allowing the listener to become fully submerged in an alternate reality. The ego-loss that results from this intimate experience is not unlike the bliss achieved in deep meditation — a wide array of intense positive and negative emotions summoned by a lax focus on the linearity of time. Excavation is a brilliant piece of work, one best enjoyed actively with a premium set of headphones, in solitude.