the sound projector

for some reason i somehow missed this critique on my last album via the sound projector. not many copies were sent out for review.

"We last heard from the Isounderscore label in December 2009. Here’s a fine set of well-constructed electronic compositions by Brandon Nickell which “ring” and resonate like super-nova church bells from the eighth dimension, in a gold and black embossed package decorated by the artist with one of his Op-Art styled grids, and issued under the title And If You Set This Mind Of Mine Afire Then On My Bloodstream I Yet Will Carry You (ISO_09), to my mind one of the finest titles Keiji Haino never came up with. Come to that Nickell proves he is not unwilling to travel similar paths as those blazed by the quasi-mystical all-in-black Japanese guitarist, occasionally exhibiting a single-minded devotion to working fibrous mental growths out of his system patiently and relentlessly, using sound and foreign techniques to do it. Frottage, howling, grunting and chiming seem to form the basis for many of these unusual pieces, none of which are content to settle into a familiar or welcoming envelope. These five are also distinguished by mysterious occult titles, such as my favourite ‘Time Throne’. This is Nickell’s third record and is in fact “inspired by personal experiences and extensive research with auditory hallucinations”, the title derives from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, and the music was built out of multiple layers of synths and processed voices. A tremendous amount of conviction and gravity is evident in these unfamiliar yet stirring sounds."