Broken Hands For Brilliant Minds
The Trial Of Modern Faith
Jazz Was Made By The Devil
Cut Your Wings Off To Enter Heaven
At The End Of The World

Dense Vision Shrine
Secret Kingdom
Cast In Iron And Stone
Dungeon Master
The Ark Of The Seer

Absolute Zero Media presents its first release for 2006 with a split recording by two of the most dynamic artists currently creating music. To my left I give you Clint Listing. To my right Karsten Hamre. The coffee and cream of Industrial dark ambience…and other genres. Broken Hands for Brilliant Minds is the latest project by As All Die, When Joy Becomes Sadness and Long Winters Stare of frothy whipped cream Clint. Karsten, Arcane Art, Defraktor, Penitent and Dense Vision Shrine, Hamre the dark and bitter coffeee. Their split release features 4 tracks apiece… and to save you wasting precious time reading any more… is an essential purchase. Utterly marvellous in every respect. Go buy it now. Scrummy, yummy mummy.

Still reading? You’ve far too much time to spare. I take it you’re bored, a fan of these acts, unemployed or a fucking tax dodging student then. These next paragraphs are just for you. First up on this release is the Clint tracks: ‘The Trial of Modern Faith’, ‘Jazz was made by the Devil’, ‘Cut your wings off to enter heaven’, and ‘At the end of the world’. ‘The Trial of Modern Faith’ begins with a classical piano led refrain over which elegant sensual synths are added to compliment the ‘oh so’ hushed vocals. Very sombre and refined and a fantastic starting track. ‘Jazz was made by the Devil’ is almost experimental in feel with horns and dark ambience the predominating factor. Quite strange but no less worthy for it. ‘Cut your wings off to enter heaven’ is… well… breathtakingly stunning and the killer track from Clint. I could listen to this forever and never get bored with it. His ghostly vocals of a fractured past are off set by the simple edifying cultured orchestrations w hich gives this track the dynamic ’wow’ factor. Closing track ‘At the end of the world’ finishes his part of the recording off with a journey into darkest ambience... where the electronics fly into ethereal haunting realms of fantasy. A suitable ending then. For Clint’s tracks have taken the listener to heaven and back.

Karsten kicks off with his first track ‘Secret Kingdom’. A harrowing filled piece of bleak despondency which whets the appetite for what is to come. The electronics weaving a tapestry of deepest foreboding clad only in black. Fear is the key that opens this castles door. ‘Cast in Iron and Stone’ continues along the same line. Long strung out notes, with a feint touch of minimalism thrown in, that conjure up a nightmare stained vision. ‘Dungeon Master’ follows suite with more of the same… music so dense you could cut it with a knife. He finishes with ‘The Ark of The Seer’ which is far lighter in delivery over the previous three tracks…but still steeped in that old black magic. A low rumbling affair with faint clanks and other sounds adding to the eeriness of the piece. Another classic four tracks from this undisputed talented artist and master of all he surveys and plays.

So much to enjoy. So little space left to write. Safe to say that both artists have proven their musical worth once more with their individual tracks. Adventurous without falling outside of their own safety nets. The music complimenting each others styles perfectly and creatively. Which of course means that it… is an essential purchase. Utterly marvellous in every respect. Go buy it now. Scrummy, yummy mummy.

ANM