Daddy Tank #1 - The Cavern
20 May, 2013
Ah, Pang - those spelunkers into the deepest labyrinths of the electronic soundscape. Their sole LP, Garden of Menace, does not offer any melody, verse, refrain, or any sort of song at all, but instead immerses the listener in a vast, cavernous atmosphere, illuminated with glitchy, crackling sounds. Ay. This release is so engrossing, that my head did wander...
The listener plummets into this murky realm through “Plains”, a track of seething winds that blow steadily louder as you freefall. Once you’ve landed, you emerge in the bustling “Lost Pictures”, where alien insects forms shuffle to clipped beeps and echoed beats, and a surge of running water rushes past (a river, perhaps). Next, you wander into the icy “The Watcher”, where strange clatters, a sludgy beat, and distant thuds will certainly impress you with the unsettling feeling that you may not be alone in this bleak cavern.
Another turn, and your foot slips on a brittle edge into “Hollows”, a deep, pitch-black abyss; you clutch at the edge, but stare terrified at the gaping void for two minutes before hauling yourself up and moving on. Crystals shimmer in the hall of “Purlon”, but the air is thick with static clouds that press heavily upon you. This hall stretches on and on, but at last you duck into a passage - however, the two chambers that await you, “Butterfly Bondage” and “Senova”, offer no relief. In the first, you encounter a maze of sinister machines, that click and hum with electric sounds as they monitor your every move; in the second, a barrage of pulsing waves assault you, sending you hurtling even further down the cavern’s bowels.
When you finally awaken from the fall, you find yourself inexplicably bathed in light within “Violent End For A Lost Friend”, and repose for a moment. At last, you venture onward into the narrow, harrowing crawl that is “Dead Monism”, a tortuous passage of sputtering and lashing beats, sudden turns, hidden traps, and hostile creatures that you wander within for hours (OK, 12 minutes). At last, you encounter an exit – but your stomach lurches when you stumble into yet another bleak, murky, and utterly empty chamber, and you slowly collapse on the floor. Just before you pass out, however, a stream of muffled, jumbled voices bursts forth, filling the void with the last sounds of humanity you’ll ever hear before it abruptly shuts off…
Such is the harrowing, subterranean journey of Garden of Menace. Of course, you’re free to interpret the work however you choose, but you’ll agree that any listener could lose themselves in Pang’s aural dungeon. To experience this labyrinth for yourself, order it off of Daddy Tank’s site here.
The listener plummets into this murky realm through “Plains”, a track of seething winds that blow steadily louder as you freefall. Once you’ve landed, you emerge in the bustling “Lost Pictures”, where alien insects forms shuffle to clipped beeps and echoed beats, and a surge of running water rushes past (a river, perhaps). Next, you wander into the icy “The Watcher”, where strange clatters, a sludgy beat, and distant thuds will certainly impress you with the unsettling feeling that you may not be alone in this bleak cavern.
Another turn, and your foot slips on a brittle edge into “Hollows”, a deep, pitch-black abyss; you clutch at the edge, but stare terrified at the gaping void for two minutes before hauling yourself up and moving on. Crystals shimmer in the hall of “Purlon”, but the air is thick with static clouds that press heavily upon you. This hall stretches on and on, but at last you duck into a passage - however, the two chambers that await you, “Butterfly Bondage” and “Senova”, offer no relief. In the first, you encounter a maze of sinister machines, that click and hum with electric sounds as they monitor your every move; in the second, a barrage of pulsing waves assault you, sending you hurtling even further down the cavern’s bowels.
When you finally awaken from the fall, you find yourself inexplicably bathed in light within “Violent End For A Lost Friend”, and repose for a moment. At last, you venture onward into the narrow, harrowing crawl that is “Dead Monism”, a tortuous passage of sputtering and lashing beats, sudden turns, hidden traps, and hostile creatures that you wander within for hours (OK, 12 minutes). At last, you encounter an exit – but your stomach lurches when you stumble into yet another bleak, murky, and utterly empty chamber, and you slowly collapse on the floor. Just before you pass out, however, a stream of muffled, jumbled voices bursts forth, filling the void with the last sounds of humanity you’ll ever hear before it abruptly shuts off…
Such is the harrowing, subterranean journey of Garden of Menace. Of course, you’re free to interpret the work however you choose, but you’ll agree that any listener could lose themselves in Pang’s aural dungeon. To experience this labyrinth for yourself, order it off of Daddy Tank’s site here.