Traversable Wormhole - Vol. 8

  • Share
  • It's been quite a while since Adam X revealed himself as the wizard operating the levers and pulleys behind the Traversable Wormhole project. Looking back, it should have been obvious: His output under his own name isn't radically different. That continues apace on Vol. 8, which returns to the abrasive and menacing sounds which have characterised his past work. "Four Dimensional Manifold" starts slow, and takes its sweet old time to hit the straps. It's built around a highly focal hammer-strike, one which sounds like a genuine sample rather than something synthesised. At first, the metallic clinks appear only sparingly, later doubling their time to impart a tangible sense of urgency. In concert with inexorably rising pads—like a tide of bubbling effluent—the build is subtle but effective. In keeping with the liquid mood, a gurgling bassline maintains momentum. Discarding the industrial hammers, "Negative Energy Density" takes up morse code style-blipping. Like much of X's work as ADMX-71 on Luminous Vapours, it uses vast, fuzzy sweeps and reverb to great effect. Where its sibling is claustrophobic, it imparts a greater sense of airiness, anchoring itself with a steady half-time beat.
  • Tracklist
      A Four Dimensional Manifold B Negative Energy Density
RA