From Worm Gear.
This 6 track CDR is probably the nicest and most professional looking CDR release I have seen. For starters it comes in an oversized gauze bag, the case is a DVD sized case, but the design is more like a jewelcase, thinner, harder and clear plastic with a tray. The artwork is full color inside and out, and nicely designed as well I may add. Very impressive before even putting the disc in the machine. "Embalmed In Purity" is made up of three parts, and each part of two tracks. So there's 6 tracks all together and only one of which is under the 10 minute mark and some well over. Xiphoid Dementia create a style of Dark Noise that is right in line with the way I love to hear it done. These are richly developed tracks that evolve through the elements of Death Industrial, Dark Ambient with some heavier levels of noise, elements of Power Electronics, as well as pieces of melody that emerge. I'm not going to dissect each track here because it works so well as a whole, and with the shifts in tone throughout the review would be an epic text. This is lush and dense music, with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and subtle detail. The mix of sounds is great, cavernous clangs and drones, dirty noise swells, more pure electronics, synths tones and melodies, environmental recordings, tactfully executed vocals, percussive rumbles and strikes, scientific pulses and chirps... I could go on. The tone is one of active dread, not anticipatory, but rather immersive in a flailing darkness where everything you see and hear is not to be trusted... and the moments where you don't see or hear anything are to be trusted even less. The flow instituted by XD on this release is impeccable really, everything grows and changes so fluidly, and yet dramatically and the length of the tracks, one of which just stretches the 17 minute mark, is a non issue because they are crafted so delicately. This project has been around for a few years now, and has very few releases because they have obviously invested themselves in going slow and getting it right. "Embalmed In Purity" is a testament to that philosophy and an incredible release. Xiphoid Dementia is now on my very short list of rising Dark Noise projects that qualify as essential listening.