Asva
Futurist's against the ocean

Very few of you will land at this port, probably... but whoever you are reading this now, you absolutely must get this record!
Especially if in this -freezing- summer of 2005 you feel closer to cemetery atmospheres rather than the 6:30 PM nu-lounge for aperitifs... well, keep reading eagerly here!

For a while now, I've been seeing the name ASVA around, often connected to SunnO)) and Burning Witch (the artwork is by Stephen O'Malley, and it's scary!!)... so I told myself: "cool... it must be another blow of apocalyptic drone/doom, for sure!". And of course, since the lineup of ASVA includes the former bassist of Goatsnake (Staurt Dahlquist), and the keyboardist of Mr Bungle (Trey Spruance).
It took me a while to find and win this disc on eBay, but all that effort was more than rewarded; in fact, for the past 6 days I've barricaded myself in the house with this music in the air... I'm staying here because, for an avid cannabis consumer like me, this stuff is, absolutely, DEFINITIVE, critically definitive...
It's affecting my mental health, my flair in interpersonal relationships... those few times I've gone out of the house these days, I always had this disc at hand... ASVA, guys, listen to this... and shortly after, guitar in hand, to simulate the monolithic nature of their compositions, alienated amidst others' skepticism, as if stunned by a new sonic drug...

Okay, I could go on -strange, huh!- endlessly, but enough with the nonsense... brief description:
Artist: ASVA
Album: Futurist's against the ocean
Label: Web of MiMiCry
Year: 2005
Tracklist:

- KILL THE DOG, TIE THEM UP, THEN TAKE THE MONEY: a piece reminiscent of Goatsnake + doom and less stoner... slowness, oppression, piercing bells and keyboards, distant voices mixed with the physicality of sound, and they just whisper who knows what grim curses, especially in the middle of the piece. At times it feels like a sacred march, as if a sinister procession were taking place in commemoration of some kind of Sick Shroud. Your head will inevitably nod up and down, or you'll get bored to death... in that case, you better turn it off and go back to listening to your Ramones records, or if you need reassurance, some 883 album... after 14 minutes ASVA is still there, hammering your brain.

- ZAUM, BEYONSENSE: now it's time to relax the muscles, and these few frequencies ASVolve that task... and Earth comes to mind, I wonder why!? Maybe because they were the ones who invented this sound after all, and I'm not even that surprised, especially when I think that even Dylan Carlson contributed to some of ASVA's early works...
This series of feedback and drones lasts a good 11 and a half minutes and is an excellent introduction to the second part of the album, where our [artists] make some changes...

- FORTUNE: ... incorporating a splendid female voice, crystalline and piercing.... RRRRRRREEEEEEEEEE, or RRRRRRRIIIIIIIII will resonate in your ears for days, proof that some are born to worship this kind of sound, others to completely reject it... and I don't know who is on the right side here.
The keyboard fills the atmosphere with pathos, a single bass string now and then, while Jessica invokes rivers of melancholy and urges a drowsiness, where one can reconcile with the vast lines of men already reduced to dust, who have preceded us through the centuries...

- BY THE WELL OF LIVING AND SEEING: finally, at this point, the timeless SWANS cannot help but come to mind, with their tombal chants bordered by the sensual yet gloomy voice of Jarboe... only that the pace of the piece is damnably doom, a Mass, a rejoicing of cathartic slowness.
Only those with the sacred patience to reach this point can enjoy these last 5 minutes of pure bliss, to be looped endlessly... because the final goal is exactly this: the search for infinity, for truth, and for salvation!
If I manage to contact them, I swear I will organize their concert in Italy!!!