Kevin Drumm and Daniel Menche

Gauntlet

Editions Mego



Recently, both Menche and Drumm have released solo works of their own, but Editions Mego has offered up the first collaboration between these two as it’s latest release, one that definitely shines a new light on these two accomplished artists with a stunning improvised piece. Titled Gauntlet, the piece dabbles in the otherwise metal imagery the name suggests, but comes off more as a dark, heavy work that allows both to showcase their respective workings in musical noise. Starting off with a hypnotic guitar line that goes heavy on distorted tone, the track takes on a deep feel instantaneously with an otherwise traditional introduction. But before long, Gauntlet morphs and submerges into something quite different, with Menche’s sound fashioning bleeding into the work, diluting Drumm’s guitar with a hazy static element that changes the identity of the work into something far more drone-based and electric. It’s difficult to pin down what exactly Menche is working with (besides an Organ, which he is credited as using)—but that’s in his nature, forging sounds with an array of mechanisms—however, it does the track due diligence by forming an intense reverberation that one could definitely expect from these two. Seven or eight minutes in, the two of them come close to tapping into the brand of shimmering noise heard on the first KTL recording, but in a much more up-front fashion, as the guitar sounds have turned heavier on reverb and distortion, while Menche’s cloud-of-tone creeps slowly towards the forefront of the work. Close to the 10-minute mark, hisses of feedback scrape along before some noisy pulses sound off against a phased-out loop of static for yet another textural element to the piece. There is definitely a lot at play between these two masters as the track shifts seamlessly through various textures and depths. Almost 20 minutes in, listeners will find Gauntlet at it’s most subdued, stepping away from the volume, with the first inkling of some lonesome drone as some mild oscillations wave in the background before resigning to some high-pitched static for a few minutes. The work slowly grows back into layered experimentation towards the outset of the almost 29-minute piece, then fades out slowly but actively, before closing out in dead ringer fashion, leaving the listener hanging, in a sense. There would be no right or wrong way to end such an improvisation, and in the end, the track is fitting all the way though, effortlessly bridging the gap between intensity and calm for an otherwise cathartic piece. Similar to other such collaborations, Gauntlet continues to grow with each listen, and should definitely please fans of harsh noise and heavier drone alike. Highly recommended.


Editions Mego
Daniel Menche
Kevin Drumm (Wikipedia)