On tracks "Template 237864" and "_0_", Monolith Zero explores the sounds of ambient noise (think refrigerators, AC units, etc), crackling fuzz, insect rumblings, and howling winds. Though these descriptions may make you think this is a calm, background type ambient record, this is not the case. Listening to this music is quite unnerving. With the audible equivalent of Godard's jump cuts, Monolith Zero break their serene bed of sound with loud, ear piercing injections of static noise. Whereas this sort of spontaneous explosion of sound works in many group contexts, here it just comes off as haphazard digital editing.
On their tracks "Searching for Heaven in the Face of Hell" and "Living With Regret Without Regretting to Live", Never Presence Forever sail in a sea of fuzz and noise, while backwards synth chords swim all around them. Though the titles of these two pieces may come off a bit heavy-handed, the music is much less emotionally specific.
Both Monolith Zero and Never Presence Forever are very interested in playing with the stereo spectrum and the headphones listening experience. The music drifts from the left channel to the right, then back, without being too self-aware. While listening on headphones, Monolith Zero had me jumping up too many times to adjust the volume, while Never Presence Forever were more dynamically predictable.
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