Brad Rose of Digitalis fame returns with a powerful album under The North Sea pseudonym and 'Bloodlines' is one of his noisiest and most engrossing works yet. Painting a ghoulish soundscape that's one part dense drone, one party spiralling kosmische and two parts sonic nihilism, Rose pays dues to the heavy electronic synthesis of Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle or Whitehouse but with an innately explorative vision and dynamic discipline that places this in 2010, as opposed to 1982. The sides run through continuously, bleeding tracks together into alternating streams of synth and guitar drone and more tender, stray Radiophonic blips with an untethered freedom to create abstract walls of sound. Drummer Mike Weis of Zelionople joins Brad for the majority of the record, although imperceptibly so at times, adding encroaching clanks and puncturing, tortuous hits to pit the surface of his dense drones with sore welts. The whole affair is brilliantly disorientating and troubling, liable to leave listeners naked and freezing in the middle of a gale force noise assault, or occasionally, offer some respite with near-pastoral moments of calm, but only occasionally. 'Bloodlines' is a cathartic expression of craftily structured terror, releasing daemons onto blood red wax for those of you fast enough to snap up one of the beautiful coloured editions. Highly Recommended.A1 Bloodlines A2 Missed Court Dates A3 Acquiesce A4 Reunion B1 Save Yourselves B2 Counting Down The Days B3 Revelation
