In the Grand Tradition of projects forming their own mythos around themselves, an overarching aura of mystery and intrigue, International Surrealist Bulletin, a duo comprised of Ben and Nicholas Dumbauld, have gone the way of far-out experimental auteurs like Akkad the Orphic Priest and Ak’chamel and crafted a full-length album that both questions the very fabric of reality and demands that it replace your perception of that fabric of reality. As ISB they weave a vast spiritual landscape of the titular “communitas,” a sense of equality within community that they imbue with almost overwhelming sense of reverence, perhaps for that sensation of oneness itself. The entire tape, five tracks, forty minutes, plays like a hymnal to this new idea, each raw paean an unmitigated glorification of the singular focus. The music is tense, barely contained, and threatens to shatter outward with the weight of its own existence if it’s not careful. But that’s just how I like my “intense,” “droney,” “experimental” “worldscapes”: dangerous, unfiltered, and demanding converts to its cause. The Dumbaulds, whether they intended to or not, have laid the foundation for an entire worldview and provided its eternal soundtrack. They join their legend-building brethren in crafting a new path forward through the muck of human existence, propping their ethos on a foundation of breathtaking sonic architecture. Here’s hoping they emerge from their next conclave with the equivalent of the New Testament.
International Surrealist Bulletin
Ephem-Aural
--Ryan Masteller
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