Belial Pelegrim Imitation Of Faith Bricolage Records | The Electro Review

Belial Pelegrim
Imitation Of Faith
Bricolage Records
Out: 15th November


Electro Review regulars Bricolage Records return to the abstract experimental electronic music scene with their 50th release. This time, California based electronic music producer Belial Pelegrim takes the wheel. Teetering on the boundary between dark and light, Belial's compositions sculpt atmosphere and tension with definitive quality. A distinctive mystical edge runs through this artist's music, invoking all manner of mental imagery and soundtracks to our epic stories.


A sloshy combo of percussive elements open the music before a steady rhythm cuts out of the chaos. Taps and metallic beats swirl across an uneven surface as distorted sonic layers swell and churn within. More rhythm pushes through, revolving beats fill various nooks with percussion as synthesiser tones splash and grow with varying colour. Euphoric elements shine through to raise the potency of the track. Scorpia carries an unruly ambience that spurts with inspired organic timings while maintaining a consistent throb of musical pressure.


Sin Eater starts with playful tones, they drip and splatter like rain outside the studio window. Percussive elements break free, manicured drums and extra sounds that snugly fit within them combine with a gradual rising of pressure. Melody unwraps itself like petals of a flower while vibrating tones spill layers of luminous sound. Odd angles and vocalisations bring a new dimension before the friendly chimes begin again to re-establish the sunshine.


Next, an atmospheric gong spans the silence before wistful strings begin to delicately lay their sonic fabric across the soundscape. Distant bells ring out while ghostly impressions formulate on misty hillsides. A steady pace in snare drum begins to peel the track, a repeating quality of melody keeps a hypnotic phrase in motion. It breaks down to ambience, wavery tones fill wide open spaces of reverb as instrumentalist additions seed the beginnings of a new sense of integrity. More phantasmagoric avenues reveal their twists and turns on the horizon. A Mirror Is Left Unattended sneaks around the principles of the unobserved quanta.


Alice is the next track. A dreary and sombre tone frames a crackling rhythm which fizzes and bites with each bar. Disharmonious clock chimes add a bass quality that gives a sharp feel to the broken pieces of track. New vocals splash in with explanatory randoms and it gives us a sense of hallucinogenic documentary. The continue chimes of a resonant clock maintain a physical presence of reality while disjointed percussion and abstract voice samples draw unique images in sound.


Ghostly horns span out across the silence in a slow and drudged melody. Vibrant sonics sparkle with mechanical energy in a rhythmic pace before a set of rock drums begin to throw their powerful beats. These stop soon after they start to allow the music to simmer on a low heat for a few moments. Computerised vocals ask a question before the pressure rises and lets the percussion out of the gate. Cyanide Tooth is filled with warped sonics and experimental effects while resilient and accessible beats craft a path through the tall grass.


Splinter Cell begins with drawn out strings which howl like hillside winds. Swirling around the topographic ocean of sounds, melody unfurls like delicate ribbons caught in momentary gusts. Spiralling currents whip across the open meadows in a ballet of intent and natural flow. Drums emerge like a butterfly from a chrysalis, each wingbeat a strike on the slow moving yet powerful percussive. Swaying melody with magical and elemental inflections pipe around the spinning central sphere of sound.


The next track begins gradually. A sonic pulse grows in fields of fertile ground which gives way spinning vines that grab for each new handhold. A small bell splashes its timbre in repeating jostles as a skyward synth casts cloud shapes and clarity in bipolar bursts of melody. Slow progression brings us to an orchestral flrry of notes which sparkle and then bow with a large burst of brass. Vocals then crawl from little spaces to gradually line the hall with intent and concentrating minds. Transport doesn't stop moving, it takes us from place to place with continual treacle like pace.


The final number is Guided. It starts with Gamelan style bells which reverberate across sting built harmonics. A deeper tone swells beneath as an ever growing melody fathoms from the blank. More disconcerting keys add flat notes to the rising dough of sound. As bubbles form and release their pressure in regulated containers, more exploratory melody hails from the sides to meet and dance in central corridors.


Belial Pelegrim is on Twitter


Soundcloud


and Bandcamp