Endless Midnight＜White Vinyl＞

Starting any metal album with a solemn blend of stately slow notes is a fine thing -- if you're going to go dark and moody, go for broke -- and "What You Dream Of" makes for a good beginning for a very dreamy, moody album by Crone (aka Jeff Caxide), the the Isis bassist's debut solo effort following that band's breakup. Unsurprisingly, given his background, Crone's approach to metal is that of the blasted after-echo, a calm but implicitly heavy feeling and dark approach where bass rumbles but never explodes. He also clearly loves the kind of gothed-out zone that could just as easily be the Cure as Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and Endless Midnight's immersion in icy keyboards and glacially paced arrangements arguably extends and refines a core element of his previous band into something all the more refined as a result. Familiar riffs are eschewed in place of what could be slow, wheezing accordions, soft flutes, rhythmic pulses of feedback, and slow arcs of drone, all carefully arranged to build up and fall away. By the time a somewhat clear guitar part rings out over the building swirl of "Ghost City," a bit of post-punk epic lost in a void, the feeling is almost shocking. Thanks to the various guest performances, "The Silver Hammer" feels more recognizably the work of a band in contrast, with fellow Isis veteran Aaron Harris' skittering cymbal fills plus overlaid guitar and bass echoes intertwining and reaching moments of resolution accompanied by full drums. "Cellar Holes from a Lifetime Ago" settles into a gentler space, moody but not glowering, with tender keyboard parts, while the title track concludes almost where it began, with a bit of brighter resolution, perhaps, but still suffused with endless space, even as the guitars and drums -- almost -- start to chug and groove. ~ Ned Raggett