Anduin – Stolen Years (SMTG Limited, 2012)
Anduin – I Come From Mockingbird States (SMTG Limited)
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So there’s a little story behind Stolen Years, but I’m not sure I have it entirely straight. Anduin (aka Jonathan Lee) was robbed and lost all of his Anduin material. Then, here’s where it’s fuzzy, he either salvaged from the ashes the bare bones of Stolen Years or this is entirely new material made in response to the robbery. Either way, this is some dark shit. Like Leyland Kirby going electro-acoustic and scoring Twin Peaks, or a Demdike Stare / Dirty Three hybrid, something along those lines. This is fucking awesome. Subtlety & delicacy reign supreme, slow evil synths paired with creepy saxophones, samples of chains clinking & knives sharpening, the sweeping up of dried bodily remains, shuffled feet beats locked in an indefinite nightmare, the atmosphere here thick as fuck, choking on black rust, rain leaking into an abandoned shack, depression and shame weighing heavy. So much is right about this album. I don’t even really like the saxophone but I think Stolen Years wouldn’t be half as good without it. And the packaging is incredible, on both CD & LP versions, done by the highly qualified Team Eight. Check out some photos of the design and make sure you don’t miss out on this.