Review Summary: Venn Rain's swansong?
There’s something distinctly otherworldly about Venn Rain’s soundscapes to the extent that it’s difficult to contemplate the context of their creation. It’s as if the music is all but detached from its conception and the artist such is its seemingly inhuman nature. This mystical quality is perhaps one of the reasons that the music created under the Venn Rain moniker is so effective, standing out from that of Billingham’s other projects as some of the most alluring ambient of the last few years.
The beginning of the year marked the return of Venn Rain after a year spent lurking in the shadows of Billingham’s various other musical ventures. With the release of two excellent new tapes in the form of Questing and Twin Beaks, this return was a welcome one. Crepuscular Raze became the third in this string of new releases but was recorded back in 2011 and as a result is more akin to the project’s earlier material than the two aforementioned releases, which although distinctly Venn Rain moved away slightly from this otherworldly quality and feeling of simply
being, as though an inhuman creation.
Crepuscular Raze is comprised of two main pieces split by a much shorter piece which manages to act almost as a bridge linking the two pieces either side of it together, despite not sharing many similar qualities in terms of atmosphere or feel.
Ashes, the first of the three tracks, is exemplary of everything that makes Venn Rain’s soundscapes so hauntingly evocative. Throughout its twelve minute duration it appears to progress and move forward without ever really distancing itself from what’s heard in the opening few seconds, building a hypnotic atmosphere as it grows in depth with the increasing presence of a distorted drone which then seems to meld into the sounds behind it.
The aforementioned feeling of distance between the artistic creation and end result shouldn’t be misconstrued as something that takes away from the music’s emotional impact. Such is the intensely engaging and evocative atmosphere it’s easy for the listener to connect with the music in a way that brings their own emotions to the fore. Along with
Ashes, the ethereal ambience of
Wound is an excellent example of this, with its atmosphere every bit as emotive as it is otherworldly. The song’s gentle waves of sound drift along like a slow flowing stream as the slightly more abrasive drones provide contrast to this serene backdrop but without ever really threatening to overpower it. This not only adds musical depth but also manages to bring out different moods in an unvaried soundscape.
Throughout its brief but seemingly appropriate run time Crepuscular Raze displays the almost undefinable essence of Venn Rain’s music and, while it never quite reaches the same level of releases such as the gloriously transcendent Diamond Dust, the album’s emotive ambience offers up everything one would look for in a Venn Rain release and indeed an ambient album in general. It would appear that this is set to be the last tape release from Billingham under the Venn Rain name and it remains to be seen what plans he has for his other current projects or for future musical endeavours but one thing that can be said for certain is that this particular project has left a fairly big mark on the ambient scene over the last few years and left us with some of the most engaging albums of their kind, this one included.
