After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house

Nivhek - After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house
Critic Score
Based on 5 reviews
2019 Ratings: #241 / 805
User Score
Based on 199 ratings
2019 Rank: #449
Liked by 10 people
February 8, 2019 / Release Date
LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
PopMatters
This is a deeply spiritual, if not religious, experience. And it seems, somewhat inevitably, to have a certain preoccupation with mortality in many of the ways that grief functions as recurring pain, always present, but never the same twice.
83
Pitchfork

The new project from Grouper’s Liz Harris contains some of her most beguiling work. Spread across two long, contrasting ambient compositions, her music remains in an enigmatic class of her own.

82
Resident Advisor

After Its Own Death / Walking In A Spiral Towards The House feels less like a reinvention than a continuation of certain elements of her music that have laid dormant for several years. It is an engaging example of an artist continuing to push herself and find new avenues into her distinctive sound world.

55
Spectrum Culture
Ambient’s supposed to be both interesting and ignorable. This album is the former in its first half, the latter in its second, both less often than we’d like.
knewnie
65

(DAY OF DRONE #01)

crushing.

Elizabeth Harris remains the queen of ambient. not only has she snagged one of my coveted 100 spots, but she's just so damn consistent at making the most forlorn, melancholic, and emotional ambient around. Grouper's long and diverse catalogue contains many, many, MANY gems if you're willing to dig around and get lost in her lofi, hazy fog, and i implore you to do so if you have not already, but we're here to talk about Nivhek. this might be her most minimal, ... read more

laz456
85

I like this quite a bit but sad, spacey ambient is my weakness so take my opinion on this with a grain of salt.

Edit: Raising my score from a 7.5 to an 8. I've been listening to this a lot!

Edit 2: Raising the score again- I am obsessed with this record.

notbuzzzila
90

PHENOMENAL (DAY OF DRONE #01)

Just one album in and we've already struck gold. The debut studio album by Nivhek--AKA Grouper--is either a double album or a two track long record depending on the way you look at it. Technically it's comprised of two songs, but they're both long enough to be entire albums anyway. The first half is called After its own death, which is significantly longer than the second half, Walking in a spiral towards the house. Both of these sections of the album are ... read more

70

After its own death Side B carried

surrealepiphany
79

last album im listening to today - its a pretty good ambient / drone experience. Liz Harris is one of my favourite musicians of all time, and continues to expand her regime of excellent projects with this

knewnie
65

(DAY OF DRONE #01)

crushing.

Elizabeth Harris remains the queen of ambient. not only has she snagged one of my coveted 100 spots, but she's just so damn consistent at making the most forlorn, melancholic, and emotional ambient around. Grouper's long and diverse catalogue contains many, many, MANY gems if you're willing to dig around and get lost in her lofi, hazy fog, and i implore you to do so if you have not already, but we're here to talk about Nivhek. this might be her most minimal, ... read more

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Track List

After Its Own Death
1After Its Own Death: Side A
16:41
  • Cloudmouth
  • Blue Room
  • Night-Walking
  • Funeral Song
70
2After Its Own Death: Side B
21:41
  • Thirteen (Version)
  • Crying Jar
  • Entry
  • Walking in a Spiral Towards the House
  • Weightless
75
Walking in a Spiral Towards the House
1Walking in a Spiral Towards the House: Side C
8:37
  • Night-Walking
  • Funeral Song
65
2Walking in a Spiral Towards the House: Side D
12:28
  • Thirteen
  • Walking in a Spiral Towards the House
60
Total Length: 59 minutes

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Added on: February 8, 2019