Steven Hess makes a very welcome reappearance with Michael Vallera as Cleared, divining mystical, militarized, and ritualistic rhythms and noise Combining ultra-wide electro-acoustic sound design with guitars, samples and Hess' pointillist percussions, 'Breaking Day' is an uncompromising, evocative articulation of darkest intentions. Opening this perilous portal, 'Rogues' swims into an underground cave system of intensifying noise, gradually entering larger ante-chambers where the percussions ricochet against dank walls with an eerie, sepulchral quality. If The Haxan Cloak and Vatican Shadow made a record together, it may sound a lot like this. The A-side is completed with two shorter pieces, the mechanically reclaimed FX of 'Sighted', and the Swans-strength guitar and drums of the title track. Turn over and 'No Path To Claim' offers more meditative respite; sonorous, O'Malley-esque basses pulse beneath a gauze of hydrophonic movement - suspended in the mix with shivering metallic drums strongly recalling Mike Weis' incredible 'Loop Current' LP for Barge Recordings, while the droning 'Quartz' acts as palette cleanser for the peripheral convections of 'The Harvest', where richly-textured drums are fluidly diffused around a dank, groaning, and clangorous sound sphere. If you loved records by Cut Hands, The Haxan Cloak or Mike Weis as much as us, then this is night on unmissable.
