In the Fishtank 14

The 14th volume of Konkurrent's In the Fishtank series is truly a surprise. Who would have thought that by putting a mischievous and edgy Scottish pop band in the studio with American atmospheric metal collective Isis would result in something so seductive and seamless that the individual identities of both bands would be covered over and something new would emerge? In other words, the great hope of those who make the In the Fishtank series was realized. Yes, there is noise here, there's ambience, there are powerful guitars and drums and keyboards, yet none of them are employed in familiar ways. There are three cuts on the set. "Low Tide" is remarkable for its continually, hypnotic manner of building tension that is never released. Even after nine-and-a-half minutes. "Delial" is a more conventionally "metal" tune, but it's still impossible to hear where Aereogramme ends and Isis begins. At a little under four minutes, and paranoid as it is with all those whispering voices that take over the track about halfway through, it's not even worth guessing. The slowly droning guitar lines and flat tom toms that introduce "Stolen," the slab's longest cut, feel like something Final might do. It's slow, beautiful, seductive. The voice of Aereogramme's Craig B. comes out of a tunnel, finding its way into the gentle swirl of sonic ambience. What is so beautiful is that all of these elements fade from aural view completely, only to be replaced by a shimmering and then loudly singing organ, handclaps, other drums and found sounds, rising to a pitch that nears heat and it too eventually disappears into silence. It's a remarkable little record, and easily one of the most successful volumes in the series.