Darkmatternebula - Mistaken For What Once Was
Despite its amateurish roots, there are some neat moments throughout Mistaken For What Once Was. Shadow Blister opens the album with style. While its pace is slightly bland, its beautiful, unpredictable progression make it bearable. To Cenotaph is another unique surprise, purely in its dynamic contrast to the rest of the album. The snares are immaculate and bode well amongst the organ and scratchy instrumentals. More impressive is its progression, which commendably builds into an uneventful, yet satisfying finale. Like some of Darkmatternebula’s work, it seems as if the song was given-up upon towards the end, though, and thus is missing the explosive climax it deserves. On the contrary, the proceeding track Porcelain features a somewhat standard build up, but a mesmerising climax.
Sadly, the album is overburdened with fluff, such as Metavariable, the smooth-yet-undeveloped Iron Fist Holds A Knife To Its Throat, the exotic-yet-silly Desert Snake Echoes, and the never-ending, dull ...with them. Crystal Teeth delves into the chillwave/post rock scene, though despite being inoffensive, it’s embarrassingly bland. Same Page follows the same suite, though is quite alluring in contrast. Periselenium is an awkward blend of sludge and dnb that does justice to neither genre. Even the more developed ideas, such as Miss A Step, suffer from an amateurish execution.
Mistaken For What Once Was explores the same moods and styles that makes Darkmatternebula’s work standout, with hardly any of the enthusiasm or skill. Much of the album imitates, rather than innovates. Moreover, it’s boring. A humble beginning, no less, though not one I can recommend over his latest work, unless you’re a fan.
Bad
Listen to it here:
https://soundcloud.com/dmn2398/sets/mistaken-for-what-once-was
