Retina.it: Descending Into Crevasse
Glacial Movements

By now, one pretty much knows what the latest Glacial Movements release will sound like before hearing it—deep, frozen ambient of the isolationist kind, generally speaking—though that in itself isn't objectionable. If anything, it's kind of interesting to hear the particular solution the artist in question devises in response to the Glacial Movements concept. The choice of Retina.it, which Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono originated in the early ‘90s, is certainly fitting, given the duo's deep ambient soundscaping approach and their command of synthesis, both modular and digital. Though its six tracks are indexed, Descending Into Crevasse's fifty-two minutes appear without interruption.

“Synth On Axis,” co-composed with Heidseck (Fabrizio Matrone), establishes the material's brittle, ice-cold ambiance by pairing the ghoulish wails of freezing winds with cavernous rumbling, the implication being that such terrain is so severe no human could survive for long amongst it. We naturally expect the material to go deeper as it advances into the subsequent tracks and the explorers descend in the crevasses between the gorges of ice. The dreamlike, shimmering flow of “Moonshine” gives off a glimmer and glow that's appropriate to its title; “Attrazione Magnetica,” by comparison, is gloomy, its repeated muffled blows foreboding. The twelve-minute title track punctuates its ominous rumblings with violent screeches and dovetailing string figures, making for a dramatic end to the recording.

June 2012