Thisquietarmy - Blackhaunter Noisynoise ( Regular Member ) 141 posts since 6/4/2008 Posted on 3/21/2009 at 6:45:47 PM Thisquietarmy - Blackhaunter Review by Nick DeMarino (StonerRock.com) Elevation Release Date: November 2008 I read a lot. This is often at odds with my other favorite pastime, listening to music. While not mutually exclusive, the two are often at odds. Unless the music is extremely ambient or noisy (think Sleep Research Facility, think Merzbow), I get distracted by amplifier tones and primal syncopations. However, this whole shoegaze/post metal/metalgaze thing has changed my listening habits. The slow progressions and intuitive changes of this pseudo-genre make it easier to digest sounds without getting too distracted from a primary task. What’s more, when I set aside time for art or to solely listen to music, it’s dynamic enough to merit thoughtful listens. I can put on a record by Jesu, To Blacken the Pages, Nadja, Aseethe, or Asbestoscape and pick up a good book or paint brush without distraction. I can also put on Thisquietarmy’s Blackhaunter. Quebec native Eric Quach is better known for his primary band, Destroyalldreamers, but has been working on his solo ambient songs as Thisquietarmy since 2005. Along the way he’s collaborated with Nadja’s Adian Baker, and released an album or two a year with both projects. Along with 2008’s Unconquered, Blackhaunter is Quach’s jump from moody E.P.s to moody full length records. Blackhaunter is forty minutes of gigantic amplifier tones, dizzy keyboards, and plodding tempos. The music is fluid, shifting from pensive, to not as pensive, to almost not pensive in rolling sections of sound as noises swell, ebb, and warble. “Blackhaunter” and “In the Breathing Forest” set the stage with light meanderings that neither threaten to advance nor recede. They are in limbo - musical purgatory if you will. Violins and other strings add thick, warm tones to the already thick textures. Halfway through the Castlevania-derived tune “Vampyr,” electro drums eek into the mix, the bass part settles into a half-groove, and a song solidifies. This trend repeats on “Taming the Beast,” although this time the grooves are fully formed. “Haunting Demons” is more ethereal (i.e. no drums or solid guitar lines) and includes some high end vibrato. Depending on your disposition it’s either soothing or annoying as hell. “Stranger Than the Sea” resolves things with a little bit of everything. Blackhaunter is neither daring nor boring; it simply is. Likewise, Thisquietarmy is not a band; it’s a perpetual (e)motion machine. URL: http://www.thisquietarmy.com Edited 0 Times Because there is a B in both and an N in neither     ( Post a Reply to This Thread ) ( Back to Album Reviews )