Ensemble Pearl – Ensemble Pearl

Instead of mirroring the primitive drone of early Earth, Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley takes a more majestic approach to experimental music with this collaborative effort featuring Boris's Atsuo and ex-members of Ghost and White Heaven.

The first three pieces are relatively short; Ghost Parade combines simplistic guitar strums with harsh, high-pitched screeching, whereas Painting on a Corpse introduces tribal drums into the fold, paving the way to a clearer picture of the project's vision. Wray is the weak link in the chain; its scraping and scratching is far too sparse and uninteresting.

Thankfully, the album's lengthier second arc makes up for this in a big way, showing that Ensemble Pearl works best in larger doses: the dark exoticism of Island Epiphany makes it the set's most compelling composition, and the sleazy, sinister dirge of closer Sexy Angle plays out like a drawn out nightmare within a David Lynch film. Alongside KTL V, this is easily one of O'Malley's strongest pursuits.