Velvet Cacoon

Genevieve

Southern Lord 2008/Full Moon Productions 2004
 

Southern Lord has rereleased the 2004 album from Velvet Cacoon which was originally released on FMP.  What we have here is a Burzum-esque trance inducing album of fuzzy black metal.  The vocals are a little too low in the mix for my taste, sounding almost whispered.  But I guess this helps in some way for you to get lost in the droning riffs by not grounding the music too much.  And the guitar tone is some of the fuzziest I have ever heard.  They have taken some of the ideas that Burzum was working with in his later outings and then stripped them down to their core for maximum effect and completely washed them out into a haunting delirium.  It's almost like a dream.  And the album cover conveys that kind of mental imagery as well.  I am not sure what image or direction Velvet Cacoon is aiming for but they provide a bleak trip through somber guitarscapes.  And their song titles are just as mysterious as their music with names like, P.S. Nautical, Avalon Polo, and Bete Noir.  I guess the track title Laudanum sums it up best, this is a musical equivalent of a drug induced dream.  This isn't the most amazing thing I have heard this year but it is something I will find myself drifting off into oblivion with while sitting alone in the dark.  Now if only I had some drugs.  Heh heh.