The AE Blog

Arklight – “Aphasia” ( Grimeology Records/GRM012)

One of Grimeology Records latest releases comes from Arklight, a four-piece noise rock group from Queens, NY.  The 50-minute album is named “Aphasia” a term referring to “the loss of the ability to produce and/or comprehend language”.

The album opens with a track called “Killing My Name, I Cannot Go Forth”, a noise-rock jam that is reminiscent of early Sonic Youth, back in their grittier No-Wave days.  The track takes a bit to hit its stride, meandering around some warm up riffs mingling with lo-fi tape hiss.  About two minutes in, the guitar and drums start to meld into a coherent, if monotonous, rhythm.   The track seems excessively long (a lack of editing is this album’s greatest downfall), though it has its moments.

The next track, “By Dint of the Sun’s Plastic Attack”, takes on a very different feel.  Opening with some heavy rhythmic drumming (almost black metal beats), the track takes on a sense of cohesion must faster than the opener, introducing a phased guitar and some noise textures early on.  Chanted vocals also make a presence, though they could have been a bit more prominent in the mix. Again, this track suffers from a lack of editing, sounding more like a practice session than a true composition.  It’s a shame too, because when this track hits its stride (namely the 7:00-8:00 section), it shows tremendous potential.

“Campbell’s Militia” follows, with grinding, crumbling drum beats and punkish guitar riffs opening the track. It’s a simple piece, but one of the most balanced on the album.  There is some really solid drumming on this track, but it is unfortunately downplayed by the lo-fi production, an aesthetic choice that unfortunately hurts “Aphasia” more than it helps it.   A slow-down transition around the four-minute mark takes on an almost Fugazi-esque feel, and the track closes with the first proper track ending on the album.

The fourth track, “Daguerrotype”, is by far the stand-out.  A nice blending of heavily reverbed industrial sounds, dark ambient guitar tones & heartbeat-like staccato drumming, “Daguerrotype” is the most restrained and masterful selection on “Aphasia”.  The higher production values on this track lend a greater degree of clarity, and could have been helpful if applied to the rest of the album.  The track shows a good sense of atmosphere, build-up & composition, and the whispered vocals add a primitive and haunting touch. Very reminiscent of early Einsturzende Neubauten & good enough that I can forgive the rushed ending.

“Daguerrotype” is followed up by the unfortunately named track “The Language Of War Is Victims”.   Sounding like a free-jazz band in a washing machine, the track takes on a narcotic dirge over ten minutes, ranging from moments of brilliance (the feedback squalls around 4:00 min; the loops at 9:00) to clichéd experiments that should have been edited out (the twangy guitar at the 6:30 mark).  Despite its flaws, it’s still a unique piece that shows a lot of potential.

The album ends strangely with “Luxuriating In a Bath of Adjacent Strings”, an extremely out-of-place harsh techno piece that sounds like an Acid Loops track outputted through a distortion pedal.  While the track takes on moments of PE brilliance (particularly towards the end), it suffers from generic techno beats and concepts, reaching its worst around the 6:30 mark, where it sounds like a cheesy homage to The Prodigy.  This said, the track has some great moments, but it sounds completely out of context with the rest of this album.

While uneven in its production and schizophrenic in style, Arklight’s “Aphasia” still shows moments of great potential.  Coming in at over 50 minutes, “Aphasia” could have been much more effective if it been substantially shorter (this could have been a really tight 20+ minute EP).  If the group is able to spend more time with editing on their next release, finding the diamonds and throwing out the dirt, they could have some really promising material.

Artklight’s “Aphasia” is available for purchase at www.grimeology.com/store