Filament is a splendiferous gatefold LP that looks and sounds fantastic. Mytrip (yep, we’ve covered ‘em before) have grown exponentially since the “Empty” 7-inch, their latest bringing to mind a mellow version of that crazy Wolf Eyes set at No Fun Fest (from the DVD, if you haven’t seen it, find it; insanity) as a bell-tolls-for-thee beat lends meter to a spooky combination of effects that seem to come together to form a mouth-breathing, snarling beast by the time “Fibre Mask” cuts off its electricity at nine minutes, 20 seconds. It’s a sick intro to the new paradigm being explored with seasoned skill by Mytrip, a terrordome riddled with lazer-blast holes and broken-down, blackened souls. The next cut that drew blood for me was “Lustre,” a long build that lays down an intriguing foundation that becomes even more fascinating once a post-techno beat breaks up the logistical stalemate and adds a shitload of urgency to boot. This is running for that plane you shouldn’t have caught, explaining to the security guard why you must cut in line (I’ve done this, believe) then finding that the plane and everything within it is dissolving in front of your eyes (the latter I, well, haven’t done). This is what I’m talking about; progress is almost never a bad thing, particularly if the artistic spirit behind it is pure. It was a natural progression for noise artists to explore beats more thoroughly anyway; why wasn’t this happening back in the beginning (actually that first Yellow Swans EP, I remember, had some industrial rhythm)? I admit tracks like “Lustre” fail to retain the darkness I’d previously associated with Mytrip, and yet I don’t hear any reason for them not to loosen the cloak a little. It suits them. Did I mention the artwork? It’s a waste of resources, technically, to ‘waste’ a gatefold on a single LP, and yet I can’t find fault in such confident execution. It’s all going to end up in a landfill someday, right (actually I hope to GOD it doesn’t and young people resurrect their parents’ albums)? I guess that’s why the run was so small; that’s right, only 222 copies between you, me, and god. It’s an import, but it’s a good one, and there’s always the Bandcamp option (Though, you want that dope vinyl, don’t ya?) for the weirdos.
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