Kevin Drumm - "Imperial Distortion" (2008)

Artist: Kevin Drumm

Album: Imperial Distortion
Label: Hospital Productions
Year: 2008
Genre: Dark Ambient/Drone

01 - Guillain-Barre
02 - More Blood and Guts

03 - Snow
04 - Snow
05 - Romantic Sores
06 - We All Get It In the End

Imperial Distortion may not signal a wholesale shift in aesthetic, but it's safe to say that it features a side of Drumm rarely heard before now (though, to be fair, "Snow," a two-parter, made an appearance on a limited edition cassette on Hospital last year). The album is heavy on drone, but the drone isn't always heavy. Much of "More Blood and Guts" drifts by in celestial bliss, and "Romantic Sores" even dispels with the drone to close with a beautiful mingling of bell-like synth tones. Drumm doesn't opt for the simple and overbearing, instead working in a more subtle integration of multiple voices, with careful listening revealing that there's often more at work in a track than the ear might initially notice. Each has a particular timbre that tends to dominate its trajectory, but Drumm isn't content to simply put his creations in motion and watch from afar. Climates shift, tones grow and ebb, and voices intermingle: Imperial Distortion might be minimalist, but like any good drone, that doesn't mean it's stagnant.

-- excerpt from Dusted review by Adam Strohm