Oliver White

"The Orient" CDR

Void of Ovals

Genre: experimental, film score, noise

October 2009

Eerie would be a good way to describe this soundtrack to an unfinished film. Oliver White employs a whole array of sound textures and effects to create an unmistakably haunting mood on The Orient. I'm envisaging a horror film set in the many rooms of a creepy old mansion. Despite being only twenty-two minutes long, this track boasts an impressive cycle of disparate sounds. As we move through The Orient, a few main themes emerge: tense death hammering, startling drill noise, dense abrasion, and weird, echoed fiddling. The piece can be hard to handle at times - especially at its louder, darker moments - but when played in the dark it makes for a fascinatingly visceral experience. My favourite moment comes midway through the track, when the noise cuts out and you can just vaguely hear a hallowed melody seeping through the emptiness - only to be completely obliterated by the heavy slam of a hammer. My advice? Board up the windows, kill the lights, and play this sucker loud.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 1 track, distributed by the label, released 2009]