Transitory Collection Vol II - AK'CHAMEL, The Ibex Entrails String Band
A1 - Seven Cigars
The opening track to Transitory Collection II is discordant and grating, accompanied by a heavy crashing bass drum. It almost sounds like every string on every instrument is fighting against its bow until with no warning, they are interrupted by heavily muffled screaming - incomprehensible due to its distortion and relatively low volume in the mix. once the vocalist has suitably emptied his lungs, the strings resume only to be shouted over once again. The song continues in this manner until the 3:15 mark, where it starts its outro, a mildly paced descent into controlled chaos. While it probably wouldn't be for everyone, I can honestly say that it's an enjoyable experience to listen to. If you know the Don't Starve soundtrack, I'd compare this track to that.
A2 - Their Limbs Were Sinuous And Snake-like
This song is 9 and a half minutes! I'm not doing a full play-by-play of how it unfolds because this section was written at 5am and i need sleep! what I will say is that this track starts off with a bouncy feel, and like its predecessor gradually over its duration has clips of vocalizations or other instruments layered on top. these include but are not limited to: something akin to a zurna, male and female vocals, either being pitched to incomprehensibility or not containing words in the first place. the resulting song comes to feel something like a brief and social respite from an oppressively sunny day. At around 5 minutes 50 seconds the beat changes and some (presumably) reed instruments and a tambourine come in to round things out into a close. This track is a solid 2nd installment to the album and establishes an interesting formula for The Ibex Entrails String Band.
B1 - One Must Lay Upon the Alter and Breathe in the Lust of the Jaguar
Keeping within the theme of a mild chaos, the first B side of the tape opens up with a soothing string line followed closely behind by horns and a similar beating kick to the first track of the album, itself accompanied by melodic percussion. at around the first-minute mark, we get some more of the vocalizations that have become familiar to us in our jaunt around this album's soundscape. after we get our first introduction to the voices of the track we're treated to the addition of a flute and triangle before the track subsides back to its vocals, which once again fade into the background, bringing way to new instruments and sounds - this time warbling and wobbling samples of what I presume to be the same flutes and horns we heard in the earlier 3 minutes of the track. just before the 4-minute mark, things are changed up again just slightly, moving into a more rhythmic feel with what seems to be a higher emphasis on instrumental unison and time signature adherence. This is quickly broken back into by the string and horn section we're now accustomed to, after which point we get a longer clip of the same vocals we've been hearing over the duration of this piece, now growing a bit distorted themselves. at 6 minutes in our focus switches to ethereal warbling woodwinds once again, this time to help close out the track. after our last visit by the woodwinds, we get one last taste of the horns before they wane out alongside every other instrument until all that's left are plucked and strummed strings. While this track is also long, sitting at 8:08, it carried itself in such a way that made it feel considerably shorter than the previous installment. While perceived length isn't directly good or bad in my opinion, I feel it's worth mentioning for those with short attention spans like myself. Another interesting sound, and one I'll likely return to
B2- Nightfires
the first second of this track opens you up to a field in which critters of the night sing, accompanied by a vinyl crackle. the first instrument heard is a deep and rich plucked string, soon layered on by groaning vocalizations, scraping sounds, and a general feeling of unease. The vocals give way to some kind of flute, almost trying to placate us against what we just heard, to no avail though, as the vocalizations remain in the background. at 2:30 we're introduced to another string instrument, meandering its way into the territory of another strange flute. at this point, we hear some verifiable speech. I won't claim to know what language it is nor will I try and decide what's being said. at around 5 minutes, after some harsh whispers, we get an almost droning woodwind to start closing out the track. for the final time of this track and this album, vocalizations return for just a moment, before a cessation similar to the last track occurs, closing the curtains on this tape.
This is an album entirely unique to anything I've heard previously, and knowing nothing about the artists, it has me excited to explore what their other works, such as The Totemist, and Transitory Tapes vol I, have to offer. In the end, while this certainly isn't your everyday background music, it has a certain resonance with me (if only because of the relative outlandishness compared to contemporary music), and I hope you find it to your liking.
My final score for this album is a solid 7/10. there's absolutely nothing truly wrong with it to take points away, but given the general strangeness of it, I feel like this is a more accurate representation of how to expect to receive the album, which is made up of some of the most well placed but strangest uses of vocals I've heard to date.
You can find this album on Bandcamp via https://akchamel.bandcamp.com/ They have links to their other sites as well, but unfortunately, they only have one of their albums on Spotify (that being said I have not checked their youtube as of writing this, but here's the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD1Y3lxxsWo )
