For a band who specialise in six strings, the electronica often overwhelms – or at least oscures – the work they are doing with their guitars, leaving it all sounding a bit like it’s been cooked up in a late-night bedroom on a laptop.
V really feels like a natural, (if not enjoyably predictable) extension of the Barn Owl canon, showing a tight control of artistic craft, delivered gracefully.
V isn’t a sudden restart, but its approaches and techniques aren’t as varied or surprising as those of Barn Owl, the almost-guitar duo.
Ebbs and flows almost flawlessly, and with a range of immersive sounds and effects that I find very hard to resist emotionally. The main reason this wasn't rated higher is that it treads on pretty familiar sonic territory, especially for people dialed into the 2010-era drone scene (Bobby Krlic/The Haxan Cloak and the soundtrack to Returnal is a good recent example of this). Dock another twelve points from the score if synths in your drone diet give you digestive issues, but man, that has to ... read more
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