KTL

KTL are the duo of guitarist Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) and computer musician Peter Rehberg (aka Pita). While the results of this pairing could be highly exotic and intriguing, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of either members' back-catalogue could take a pretty accurate guess as to the style of electronics-chafed doom metal heard here. Rather predictably, a dense cloud of distorted guitar, marred by parched digital detritus, opens the album. The 21-minute "Paratrooper" perversely invites comparisons to Ravel's "Bolero," in its insistent, pulse-driven incremental assent to fortissimo, anchored by Boris's drummer Atsuo. "Wicked Way" rips half a page out of the Reader's Digest version of the book penned by Fennesz and Tim Hecker. All of the caressingly fuzzy electro nuances are left by the wayside, leaving only dull, stacked fuzz. The obvious highlight is the 15-minute "Benbbet," which fulfils the foreboding promise of this pairing. Rusted electronic stabs penetrate a lambent glow of feedback, evolving towards a prickly rhythmic pattern. O'Malley eventually ups the ante with churning, sustained chords and bloody howls. It's unfortunate they were unable to conjure this dark magic on the remainder of the record.