Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat
The Nebulous Dreams

The screeching of infernal strings, an unbearable tension, the sense of impending impact: it is the orchestra of darkness that is warming up, it is the nightmare that is about to take shape. Then funereal bass tolls, then stentorian drum and cymbal beats: this is post-hardcore, this is sludge, this is doom stripping away electricity and donning apocalyptic folk attire. Yes, apocalyptic folk, because from the eighth minute the orchestra of darkness vanishes, the nightmare disperses, and the dream begins: Tibetan declamations, a celestial rise of strings in the finale, chills on our skin. This is "Between Skylla and Charybdis", a spiral of dreamlike beauty, a monument of infinite and desolate splendor: a quarter of an hour worth the purchase and perhaps an entire existence.

Everything else pales in comparison. "Dyptich" (another nine minutes) draws again from the repertoire of the Current, but this time from the parts of "Blood Dogs Rising": the piece is an esoteric exploration that in its first part does not shy away from a certain rhythmic exploration, before the menacing harmonium and mantra-like choirs break free and take over in a crescendo of piano chords and damned cries. The six minutes of "Miserere" put aside the more experimental urges to instead draw inspiration from the freak-songwriter nature of the latest David Tibet (always him): an acoustic ballad reminiscent of the more intimate and bucolic Current 93.

Throughout the album, the lessons of the unattainable Current 93 echo, as do the swansian obsessions, the metaphysics of the Angels of Light, yet without these presences becoming truly overwhelming, the comparison tedious. Because Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat do not copy, but adapt the suggestions of the masters with personality, blending them, confounding them, with a touch of post-rock, with a touch of dark-wave, with a touch of avant-garde, with a touch of songwriting. Because Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat have style, sing with passion, play with professionalism, and finally shine with a romantic momentum that makes them moving, and their music a unique experience.

Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat is a Belgian project with a truly curious name, about which little is definitely known. Only that Stef Irritant is the man (the restless soul) behind it. And that this is the third work of the five released so far: "If the Sky Falls, We Shall Catch Larks" (2005), "An Interlude to the Outermost" (2007), "The Nebulous Dreams" (2008), "Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water" (2010), "Weltuntergangsstimmung" (2012). I don't know what the others are like, but I know this one is very, very beautiful. And once it's over, you want to listen to it again.

Never before has it been possible to fly so close to the Current; too bad it all ends too soon. Truly a pity.