3 out of 5

Produced by: ?

Label: Bubble Core

Fascinatingly subdued and layered downtempo jams from Doug Scharin (HiM) and Adam Pierce (Dylan Group), this has hallmarks of / from both artists but ultimately comes across just shy of polished.

Having worked together at various points, it’s no surprise that this compilation feels pretty organic.  While opener Stimulation (Alternate Reality) is clearly a Scharin track of the Egg era (heavy dub influence, slow and minimal), the tone-heavy sound of the remainder of the disc – indeed, the majority of what we hear is glockenspiel and jazz drumming – feels like more of Pierce’s realm, with Doug following his lead.  Which is by no means a bad thing, as Doug still adds the organic flavor to the mix his drumming often ascribes.  And at moments – generally at least once on any given track – songs will reward with something deep and moving, and damned sneaky.  The way the opener builds and builds with the littlest changes is intense, with the later DG track The Whine following a similar, but more compressed methodology; elsewhere a track like DG’s An Indolent Appreciation Of What You Left Behind surprises with a sudden burst of guitar, or the appropriately titled followup All That’s Left Behind breaks out into a sudden drum rush.  By the same token, the patience implicitly asked of by the album doesn’t necessarily bear out to strong finishes: almost every song sort of peters out once its hit its mark, or fades into irrelevance.  It’s admittedly disappointing after you get into the groove its been subtly building… and DG’s Perseverance Furthers. is a straight up puzzle, working a riff for half its runtime to literally just stop, then start again for a completely separate song which goes for a bit… then to do another switch yet again.  Why as one song?  No clue.

So the disc is definitely fascinating for fans of either contributor’s work, but doesn’t result in their strongest showings, more coming across as a jam session to pare down some ideas for something more honed along the way.