ABABABABABABAS (Blue Lion Child)

Masked Belgian experimental artist Hans Dens' project Innercity has released a deluge of dark, unsettling recordings that channel the cosmic experimentation of Popol Vuh into something surreal, hallucinatory, and often nightmarish. His cryptically titled fifth vinyl LP, ABABABABABABAS (Blue Lion Child), is his bleakest, harshest work yet, putting aside his usual synthesizers and samples and focusing entirely on guitar, violin, and effects, particularly looping, delay, and mountains of distortion. Tracks like opener "Baal's (Kitten Trumpeteer Choir)" are blackened and apocalyptic without being metal, and extended drones like "Masks and Mold Matter" and "In Abra and Umbra" feature looped waves of feedback, demented psychedelic guitar licks, and screeching violin. Unlike previous Innercity releases, there's no hint of bubbly new age mysticism (even if it's warped and somewhat ironic) or trance-inducing beats; this one's all haunted tension and sometimes outright apocalyptic fury. It feels slightly more focused than many of his recordings, which are defiantly lo-fi and often cluttered or messy, but it's hard to imagine him making a clean, polished recording of any sort. In any case, the album is a disturbing, harrowing trip, and it's nearly as fascinating as it is frightening.