Juv - Juv

from its icy opening tones, something at once familiar and unsettling rises from this sound; the stark, doom-laden ambience of juv's desolate sonic landscapes transport the listener to an altogether darker world. hailing from norway, the duo of are mokkelbost & maruis von der fehr recorded these tracks in norway between 1996 and 1998. sombre tones flow like lifeblood through juv's work; underlying squeals of pain, abrasive bursts of metallic guitar drones, atonal lo-fi meanderings, the occasional cosmic-chant, all blurred by a rumbling dirge of noise. the coldness of the recordings do indeed recall the approaches of norway's most controversial musical export, black metal. other reference points brought to mind, might be the new york no-wave noise of carlos giffoni's solo outbursts, the guitar mangling of gown, the experimentation of sunn o))), and as always, the suitably understated musical narrative, which flows throughout the miasmah releases to date. the stark front cover image of a mountain on the lofoten islands in the far north of norway, in the process of being eclipsed by another mountain, conveys the weight and perhaps the intent of juv in creating these tracks. given part of the album was recorded on location here, the music certainly seems reflective of this environment - monolithic and enshrouded in black.

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