A Subtle Dawn
In A Chalice Shape
"Time", she says.
"Time", she points again.
Years
"this peculiar phenomenon"
Might and Wrath
"...nightmares away from the moon"
With Pins and Needles
eclipse ii
Only at the end do saints come marching in
A Tide, Confusion
Horbehutet
Reluctant Memories of Conquest
War

Detroit USA. A place that musically will forever be in my heart. The motor city that gave birth to the original Gods of War: The Stooges, The MC5, Alice Cooper and Ted (if it breaths I’ll kill it) Nugent. Which shows my age somewhat but what the hell. Those acts defined the whole motor city ethos. Play it loud and mean and don’t give a fuck whilst you’re doing it. From 1969 to the early 70’s those acts were my heroes one and all. Then it turned to shit. The Stooges and The MC5 crashed and burned in spectacular fashion. Alice and Ted lost their way and have never recovered. But hark. There’s a new sound emerging from Detroit. A sound that is just as evocative as those past wizened old warriors. A sound built on the landscape of a city forever divided by Industrial wealth and poverty. A sound as barren and desolate as the crumbling vacant buildings and parking lots. A sound created for the now and for the future. A post Industrial act rising from the flames of normal ‘rock’ to spread the message that not all music needs to be clothed in guitar laden feedback and fancy costumes to be representative of the culture of the area. For I give you… Life Toward Twilight… the new (ish) kids (kind of) on the block. Detroit city rocks once more… only to a different type of tune this time around.

Life Toward Twilight was formed way back in 1999. The work, mainly, of Daniel Tuttle "We waited for a subtle dawn" is the fifth release under this name. Also contributing on this release are the vocal talents of Elyse and Brent Nicholas who contributed the noise textures. The 15 tracks on this release moves within the musical spheres of neo-classical, martial, power electronics and dark ambience music with (and this is only my view) a little electronic experimental attitude thrown in for good measure. Which I have no grounds to complain about when its this good. So here’s what I like about this release. The positives if you will:

Elyse sounds just like Lisa Gerrard from cult act Dead Can Dance. Daniel’s impeccable knack of creating diverse and highly satisfying sound sculptures that go from the light and euphoric to the dense and highly impenetrable but without being too intrusive or unapproachable. The strident (a good word sometimes overused but applicable here) orchestrations. The sparingly used samples that add depth to the pieces. The way it all hangs together as a recording moving stylishly between genres throughout. The dynamics that are thrust into play occasionally are quite sublimely glorious at times. The ingenious little touches that Brent introduces giving the music a greater focused resonance. That its not afraid to take chances and can be challenging in places only heightening the whole aural experience. Take risks I say. Play with fire occasionally. All pyromaniacs can’t be wrong surely? Out of the 15 tracks I was never bored once or felt inclined to hit the FFW button. In fact I found every track sustained my interest throughout. It’s FREE. Well free to download anyway. Which I guess is the way to go nowadays but isn’t for everyone. I’m not keen on the whole download ‘thang’ but if it gets more people involved in this skilfully crafted music then who am I to bitch. Try before you buy. Works for car sales so why not here?

There you have it. ‘"We waited for a subtle dawn" is a highly creative and imaginative release that puts Detroit firmly back on the musical map. Taking post Industrial music onto another higher level was never going to be an easy task but Daniel, with this ongoing project, is going about in the right way. And in case you’re wondering… sorry but there are no negatives. "We waited for a subtle dawn" is beyond reproach in that respect. A stylised musical vision that took me unawares in the best way possible.

ANM