Rock Sound

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Darsombra is the solo project of Brian Daniloski, guitarist with Meatjack. While that's unlikely to make many of you rush to the shops. 'Ecdysis' is a record that deserves your attention. For the most part Daniloski eschews traditional riffs, focusing instead on feverish, discordant guitar tones, eerie field recordings and looming, pitch-black ambience. The churning industrial menace of 'My House' (reportedly recorded in a converted funeral hom) takes a more structured approach, with an unexpected sitar interlude that borders on the pleasant. 'Swelter', meanwhile, offers no such respite - its heavy breathing and atonal drone being the stuff of which nightmares are made. If the band thing doesn't pan out, a future scoring messed-up horror flicks surely awaits.

Mike Kemp