Marlon Wolterink – drums
Freek Philippi – guitar
Poine
Telchine
Megara
(28:42)
The opening of this second album suggests a diversion from the often harsh soundscapes of last year’s Soil. Poine is more openly electronic in its sound, more thoughtful perhaps, even ambient. But then Meglamancha is all about atmosphere and if Soil was the storm, this is the later calm; the high and the low. Which is not to say that there aren’t pleasingly dark currents – as ever, the art of Philippi and Wolterink lies in the intricacies and sonic subtleties.
Telchine serves up a strong pulse threaded with electricity and abstract guitar, perhaps to lull us into a trance state before expanding into a free and extended bludgeoning, the pounding heart of this triptych.
Finally, on the B-side Megara soars with howling drones, metronome rhythms, and electronic splashwork. Of the three tracks, it’s the clearest reference to the first album’s style, looping back to consolidate previous ground while continuing to expand into new territories.
Meglamancha continue down their unique drums’n’guitar, machine-mind route – a hard power duo for a technological world, the future-sound underscored by Greek myth nomenclature. Maybe one day the machines will catch up but in the meantime…
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Also available from Meglamancha’s Bandcamp page