Over 20 years, Dominick Fernow's work as Prurient has manifested as scathing blasts of masochistic audio torment, as he utilizes the esoteric nature of technology to conceive pure and terrible emotion. 2016's Frozen Niagara Falls was an awe-inspiring epic of dismal agony that only further cemented Fernow as one of the best in the genre.
With Rainbow Mirror, Fernow seems to have taken a different approach, substituting the immediate attack of harsh noise for a much larger, more atmospheric sound that envelopes rather than assaults the listener. This is nothing new for Prurient's sound, but it's never been done to this extent or with this magnitude.
You don't listen to any one track on Rainbow Mirror; you live in it. Nearly every track sports a hefty runtime, presenting a fresh soundscape of relentless dread where shadows lurk and watch with sadistic intent, stalking the listener through subterranean corridors. "Walking on Dehydrated Coral" is but one highlight amongst many on this monolith to anxiety, even bringing to mind the iconic Goblin soundtrack to classic film Suspiria.
Fernow's compositions are often spontaneous and improvised-sounding, as with "Naturecum" and the deliberately intricate "Blue Kimono Over Corpse." And at times throughout the yawning void, Fernow delves back into his noisier tendencies that might cause some to grit their teeth and bite their lip.
At times, the length of tracks can become exhausting, and as immaculate as it is, "Buddha Strangled in Vines" is split into two parts for no apparent reason. However, despite occasionally overlong runtimes, Rainbow Mirror is an album that encourages introspection and submerging oneself in their unconscious. It's a monument that both inspires and terrifies.
(Hospital Productions/Profound Lore)With Rainbow Mirror, Fernow seems to have taken a different approach, substituting the immediate attack of harsh noise for a much larger, more atmospheric sound that envelopes rather than assaults the listener. This is nothing new for Prurient's sound, but it's never been done to this extent or with this magnitude.
You don't listen to any one track on Rainbow Mirror; you live in it. Nearly every track sports a hefty runtime, presenting a fresh soundscape of relentless dread where shadows lurk and watch with sadistic intent, stalking the listener through subterranean corridors. "Walking on Dehydrated Coral" is but one highlight amongst many on this monolith to anxiety, even bringing to mind the iconic Goblin soundtrack to classic film Suspiria.
Fernow's compositions are often spontaneous and improvised-sounding, as with "Naturecum" and the deliberately intricate "Blue Kimono Over Corpse." And at times throughout the yawning void, Fernow delves back into his noisier tendencies that might cause some to grit their teeth and bite their lip.
At times, the length of tracks can become exhausting, and as immaculate as it is, "Buddha Strangled in Vines" is split into two parts for no apparent reason. However, despite occasionally overlong runtimes, Rainbow Mirror is an album that encourages introspection and submerging oneself in their unconscious. It's a monument that both inspires and terrifies.