Cleared: “Breaking Day”.
January 27, 2012, 0 comments
Cleared is the duo of Chicago-based artists Steven Hess and Michael Vallera. After last year’s debut, originally put out by Digitalis Ltd., Chicago’s excellent Immune Recordings has just released the project’s second full-length Breaking Day. The album is a staggering blend of stone-cold drones and pitch-black noise elements that are piled up to form massive, breathtaking soundscapes, all tied together by ultra-precise, relentless drumming. This is all very unsettling yet strangely mesmerizing, like watching quickly rising flood waters, deadly yet sublime, and completely irresistible. A highly recommended record, listen to the mind-boggling title track below.
Update: Immune released the self-titled debut from Cleared in January 2011 on both LP and cassette. Digitalis Ltd then released a cassette of different material that was also self-titled. Sorry for the misinformation (but the label admitted that this has confused people before).
Order Breaking Day directly via the label or (recommended if you’re in Europe) via Boomkat now.
