Hinsidan, Bleach Dye Yr Heart (Gears of Sand)

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"Hinsidan" is the Swedish word for "beyond", as in the great beyond, the hereafter, the other side. For Danes, it can also simply mean the other side of the sound separating the two Scandinavian nations. And since roughly 2003, it also refers to a two-man, Dano-Swedish operation consisting of Atish Pare (mainly guitars) and Superjus (wire and cable man), prolific enough to release two records in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

"God is in the Details", one half of an ambitious two-CD set released by Phistria, lurches into gear with a couple of very mechanical (in the good sense given the context) industrial tracks, which you know will continue ad infinitum in their clunky rotation, despite the brevity of the actual tracks. However, interest begins to rapidly dwindle by the third track, when the pseudo-psychedelic half-sung, half-spoken, half-treated and all-bad vocals enter the mix, serving only to distract from the intricate rhythmic notions being explored underneath. At this point the album morphs into a sort of space opera and spins out of control. Very long and very tedious.

The set´s better half is "Music for Ghosts" which seems to hail from a much brighter place - the first track is indeed called "We Glow" - featuring more distinct and elegantly simple beats, crisp, ringing, looped electronic melodies, and an altogether sunnier disposition - a vast improvement. The ghosts for whom this music has been made must be most benign. A cleaner, more streamlined approach, which is therefore more likely to leave a lasting impression on the listener and wear well over time. This more pristine and focused sound allows for more finely chiselled detailing and a more rewarding listening experience.

The prime object of this review is the recent "Bleach Dye Yr Heart" album released on the rapidly-evolving Gears of Sand label. While the title would seem extracted from a stockpile of typical noise band titles, the music is surprisingly low-key; minimalistic as "Ghosts" but with more emphasis on the drone. As the album proceeds, "Vivisection of the Soul" proves truly unsettling and discomfiting, like being stuck in an aluminium air vent with the dull whine of constantly-sucking air howling past your unprotectable ears. The following track takes on the theme, replacing the "wind" with distorted guitar before ebbing out into the low rumble of glorious monotone that reconnects with the uncomfortable feel of the album thus far. The duo temporarily swells to a trio on "Lights, Camera, Addiction" with the added electronics and sequencing of Martin Bryder, an album highpoint with its sombre, cello-like base offset by chipper beats and colourful electronics. In sum, an album hosting a variety of atmospheres and attractions, much like a museum of curios.

Finally, "Shapeshifter Blues" was commissioned by and released in an extremely limited run of only seventy-five CDRs. While described by the band as "wall-of-sound space-age blues", I hear a generally restrained and successful effort (especially the fourth track) patiently examining the timbres of guitar- and electronics-produced drones, quiet rumblings not unlike distant rolling thunder, and sundry small detonations. A bit of bombast slips in as track three evolves, but the album regains and maintains its equilibrium right up to the gorgeous, haunting coda "Lonely Peoples Parade".

http://www.hinsidan.net
http://www.gearsofsand.net
http://www.verato-project.de