Repetition and texture combine to bludgeon the listener into a state of sublime ecstasy. Guitars spew out waves of feedback- like a less studied Fennesz, and strident vocals power ever onwards.
Bloodcurdlingly loud, there’s a real temptation to call Elapse-O a noise band- but that would miss a lot of what they’re about. Noise is a factor, for sure, but there’s just as much in common with more restrained artists. Like Swans at their prime, they use pummelling noise as a means to an end rather than as an end in itself.
You know that painting- The Wanderer- by Caspar David Friedrich? Listening to Elapse-O taps into those same emotions: feeling alive in the face of the eternal.
