‘If all life on Earth was to end, would ghosts still continue to ‘exist’? Would they continue to haunt this realm? Would they converse with each other, stalk each other, or simply dissolve back to the land of the dead?’ These seem like the sorts of questions that get asked late at night after one bong-hit too many, but in fact they form the conceptual basis for this three-way split CD from three Australian projects, released by Fall Of Nature Records.

The Haunting Resonance contains three lengthy tracks, for a total of 47 minutes of playing time. First up is Nekrasov, the Melbourne-based solo project of Bob Nekrasov, and the only one of these projects I was previously familiar with. When I interviewed Bob in February 2009 for Heathen Harvest webzine, he had this to say about his contribution to this album:

This came about by me receiving an email from one of the beasts from Nekros. Asked if I was interested in being apart of a three-way split (a bad joke could be inserted here, but I'll avoid it). I really had not been interested in the idea of splits etc., but was not adverse to it. K from Nekros Manteia proposed his idea about the split having a theme regarding the 'last ghost' and what 'it' would be about, who would he haunt etc. I liked the idea to a degree, but for some reason I then became a little obsessed with the idea of that which hunts this 'final ghost'. Nekrasov is not about lords and angels, but more about pure dark energy, the eternal black to which all things come and go. So, with all of the human concern regarding 'ghosts', I was much more interested in that which hunts the ghost and so on and so on. So, yes, I was interested in giving that beast a voice. I worked on it and I am 'happy' with the results. The title for that track is: /

Now, knowing Bob to be a bit of a ‘character’, I kind of assumed he was having a laugh with this alleged track title, but evidently I'd underestimated his eccentricity, because sure enough, this is exactly the text which appears on his page of the album insert. The track title is sensibly abbreviated to ‘That Which Hunts…’ on the back cover, though. (The full interview with Nekrasov – and it’s a lively read – can be found here: http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20090310193429764)

‘That Which Hunts…’ is just over 15 minutes long, opening with foreboding ambient keyboard chords see-sawing and scraping delicately away at the nerves, before the track abruptly erupts into a force-ten black metal blizzard, tachycardiac synth drums hammering away tinnily behind a blur of necro riffs and shrieked, blackened vocals. There’s a hiatus at the four-minute mark, with the music subsiding back to the ambient chords which opened the track, before the track comes to a complete halt, beginning again with a second section, which really seems to constitute a separate track in its own right. Looped orchestral strings and creepy, suspense-film high notes conjure a lurid gothic atmosphere, but really, this second section seems overextended without enough development. Nekrasov’s work has always mixed up black metal with ambient and industrial influences – this time around, though, it feels like too much ambient and not enough metal. Nekrasov’s work is much better represented by his recent Tramp And Void EP (reviewed elsewhere on Judas Kiss).

Moon’s eleven-minute track is entitled ‘Forgotten Spirits’, and it maintains the industrial, black ambient atmosphere of Nekrasov, with a sombre, muffled organ melody and distant, abstract screams drifting eerily over a monotonous metallic beat for the first few minutes, followed by a quieter, less percussive interlude, before doleful, drooping moans and fast drums are introduced in the second half of the track, ‘Forgotten Spirits’ finally lurching to a halt amid growling vocals and dislocated, scattered beats.

Finally, we come to Nekros Manteia and ‘The Final Ghost’, which, at nearly 20 minutes, is the longest track on here. It’s also an interesting departure from the ambient black metal of the first two tracks, offering instead a kind of sludgy, stoner psych-rock jam, mixing Amon Düül and Krautrock influences with a more contemporary post-rock sound in the vein of Nadja, Heavy Winged or Silvester Anfang. Drowsy reverbed guitar (courtesy of Bonnie Mercer of Grey Daturas) howls, drones and weeps feedback over pounding kit drums and raga-rock keyboards, within a loose, improvisatory framework. After a brief burst of sampled dialogue – a little girl asking ‘Are you sick?’ – the song shifts gear into a more tightly structured, crushing doom riff, something like Marzuraan, Isis or Kylesa. This eventually breaks down into something resembling a heavier version of the opening section - psych jamming but with meaty amounts of fuzz guitar. The drumming really stands out strongly here as well – astutely judged rolls, crashes and fills which maintain a fine balance between power and restraint. The song ends with a reversion to introspective desert-rock drone guitar, punctuated by sparse, precisely placed drum beats and choking, strangulated vocals. ‘The Final Ghost’ is my favourite part of this album, even though I feel like a bit of a traitor for saying so, since I was sent this CD by Bob Nekrasov. But every now and then I like to take a stab at doing some Objective Journalism, even if Hunter S. Thompson warns us that there’s no such thing:

So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here – not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of… The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

Whatever – this definitely left me wanting to hear more by Nekros Manteia. Having said that, though, this track doesn’t really gel too well with the other tracks. The Haunting Resonance reminded me a bit of The Trinity Of Non-Being split release put out by Autumn Wind Productions a few years back and featuring Black Seas Of Infinity, Kaniba and Ugegi Aoiveae A Ser (reviewed elsewhere on Judas Kiss). Both albums feature a mixture of black metal with more experimental drone and ambient influences, and both have supernatural and occult themes. The Haunting Resonance is recommended for devotees of the introverted, extremist black metal produced by projects like Striborg, Xasthur and Instinct, as it features a similar blend of depressive keyboard ambience and muscular black metal – although Nekros Manteia are something else altogether.

The Haunting Resonance is a limited-edition release of 500 copies, and the first 100 of these come with an A3 poster, with artwork by Nihilifer of Erebus Enthroned.

www.nekrasovsphere.com/nekrasov

www.myspace.com/nekrasovguts

www.myspace.com/moonmyth

www.myspace.com/nekrosmanteia

www.myspace.com/fallofnature