Review Summary: A dark, enveloping album full of unassuming oddities and perplexing sights and sounds.
Being a fresh faced newcomer to The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation/ The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble collective can be a pretty daunting experience, especially when an early taste of the bands’ sound is in the form of
Anthropomorphic. Set up as the more “experimental” arm of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation delves into the deeper, more unconventional parts of the band. Yet as monumentally dark, bizarre, and ultimately weird as
Anthropomorphic is, there’s something beautiful to be found.
That being said,
Anthropomorphic is fantastically and gloriously unfriendly, and will take more than one listen-through to unravel everything. Resulting from the mashing of dark ambient, drone, and jazz, and at sixty minutes in length, the album can be quite an off-putting experience. However, give a little time, and this gem will open itself up, revealing the ineffably odd and beautiful picture that it paints.
Anthropomorphic, oddly enough, was recorded from several live sessions and put into album form. Set up as one long form composition, the album is split into four equal fifteen minute segments. As ambitious as it sounds, the improvisational nature of the music is an attempt to make the album
itself anthropomorphic, that is, give it human qualities. And like humans, the album truly does feel
alive, as the shifts in mood, feeling, and expressivity are want to change, and the constantly evolving nature creates layers upon layers of complexities.
The first segment, “Space,” starts off as an incredibly airy, gloomy piece, filled with the reverberations of a solemn trombone, and textured with a dark timber. It’s in the vein of a macabre Stars of the Lid or Hammock, with the same feel of Black Swan’s 2010 debut self-titled. About 10 minutes through, spacey electronics enter in along with a piercing high pitch, and the songs glides into the second movement, “Dimension.” “Dimension,” much like “Space,” keeps the morose energy pulsating, but with a little more emphasis on the “jazziness” of it all. The trombone heard early begins to dissolve into insanity, with tempos and pitches splaying out in every direction, really displaying the improvisational nature of the music. Once more, the electronics fill in and the piece buckles, only to pick itself back up into a coherent ending, which gives way to the third part, “Form.” This segment sounds much in tune with some of Toby Driver’s more outlandish works, with unsettling sounds warping a hollow sounding violin. More strings enter, sounding anguished, which gives a truly saddening tone to the entire piece. “Function” follows suite, utilizing that which was found on the previous movement, and warping it even further, creating a dense and mangled sound. Of the four pieces, it’s perhaps the least impressive, but it still conveys everything that was found up until now.
Anthropomorphic, for all of it’s unwelcoming ugliness, manages to be one of the most captivating and beautiful musical experiences this year. It’s dark, unsettling, and morose, but wonderfully beguiling nonetheless. Not everyone will find the allure, however, as The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation haven’t crafted a masterful transcending piece of work that will cause people to come in droves, but instead, have created an album that takes its time to leave an impression. I urge you to take this time, as
Anthropomorphic is an engrossing, multifaceted work of art that is very much worth giving a listen.
