Howden-Wakeford
Three Nine

The umpteenth piece of Tony Wakeford's (not so) eclectic musical career, mind behind Sol Invictus and veteran of the "new" European folk scene (apocalyptic? as if it could really reveal anything unthought-of: better to dismiss labels to commerce), this duet with Matt Howden, then a recent addition to Sol (since 1999), fits into the lazy ambient/avant-garde production of the corpulent singer-songwriter.

No folk this time, then: the acoustic guitar is present but serves to punctuate and dry out the electronic and synthetic patterns woven by Howden as a backdrop for his sudden violinistic incursions; all orchestrated ponderously to honor two runes (the third and the not, indeed) depicted on the cover: the concept in fact, as often in Wakeford's instrumental work, is little more than a pretext. 

The execution is sometimes entropic ("Thurisaz II"), sometimes shows a more precise structure; usually—but not consistently—during the tracks, the name of the corresponding rune is repeated ad nauseam; the repetitive and tribal dress of much of these sound frescoes is always in contrast with their conceptual/symbolic value. One could never imagine music more anti-traditional than this, which does nothing but extol Tradition. 

At least the experiments hold a fair interest at the level of sonic/timbral intertwining, and the listener is compelled to maintain high concentration; it is not the sneaky boredom of Autumn Calls (1998) that disperses the contents, but rather the excessive concentration of musical tensions that nonetheless allows room for a fair variety of tone (episodes verging on ambient are not lacking, such as "Ginnungagap II"). 

Not essential.