Χελα* - The Illuminated

Over the past 15 monts or so, I've become quite a big Xela fan. "The Dead Sea" was the album I had been looking for: bleak, extremely textural, and the kind of album that transports the listener (in this case, to the Northern Atlantic).

This cassette, scarce as it is, is an extrapolation of that bleakness, into another realm of chilly destitution. Xela uses percussion instruments/samples that mimic the sound of chimes, chains, bells, and other, stranger objects. The melodies are practically non-existent and at times just cacophonous. The fact that it's only available on a cassette adds an entirely new level of sound, which I don't doubt is intentional.

'Black Scripture' is the more scarce of the two tracks, beginning with an eerily slow build-up into the sound that Xela has now wholly embraced—what translates to a slew of sounds that seem to have clipped into red somewhere across a canyon. It's spooky.

'Gilted Rose' is similar to the A-side, except that after 10 minutes or so of this aforementioned haunting, we enter a twisted version of the world of black metal. Barely intimated vocals break through at this point, backed by that same red-lined sound from across the tank, this time with a distortion of the usual metal sound.

Overall, not easy listening, but very rewarding. And "The Illuminated" is evidence that Xela is not slowing down or keeping static.