Kwaidan

The debut record from atmospheric experiment Kwaidan is a jangling, lurching creature reaching painfully towards moments of the sublime. Make All the Hell of Dark Metal Bright features the combined efforts of Neil Jendon on synthesizers, André Foisy (Locrian) on guitars and keys, and Mike Weis (Zelienople) on percussion, together groping towards a bleak, alienating and occasionally lovely musical landscape. Metallic elements grind against one another while electronic chirps echo the voices of birds. The first three tracks, each title beginning with the words "Three Empty Rooms of Light and Space," form the main compositional suite of the record, gradually twisting themselves into urgent, sometimes sinister shapes. The last three numbers have more structure and substance — greater shivering beauty amidst the chill and strangeness — especially album closer "The Sound of This Bell," which recalls the bleak brightness of a city in the rain.