SPLIT EP REVIEW: LIMBS + FICTIONAL CHARACTER + NA MO - LUNOD
The way i see split records is different the way how i see an EP or an album. A number of artists collaborating by sharing their tracks in one release to me is a way of expressing themselves differently, while sharing one concept. Altering meaning and concepts while the artists still manage to stay in one boat.
Reviewing split EPs come in a rare occasion and most of the time i would discover something else when i have the spare time. The latest split EP I discovered recently was the collaborative effort of industrial/black metal soloist Limbs, Ambient musician Na Mo, and post-rock band Fictional Character titled "Lunod".
The three have been doing their own moves in the underground scene respectively. The three's projects happen to be mixed in my own opinion. Those projects that i happen to adore and hate at the same time. Fictional Character who is a post-rock project of Chino Sardea, a Filipino based in Singapore, Na Mo being the solo project of GYHT's lead guitarist, and Limbs being the most enigmatic out of the three releasing more music under his mysterious moniker.
Pressing play in this EP felt like i was opening a pandora's box. From the very start, i get to hear the pure chaos of Limbs, the soul crushing sound of the moniker is still at bay in this split release. Second is the calm and serene but crumbling sounds of noise of Fictional Character, and the third and last slice of the split is the sludge rock mixed drone music of Na Mo. All you get from the three is this nightmarishly decent EP and i'm glad to say that the three managed to consistently gel together their own material.
Starting up the EP was Limbs, and surprisingly his material is the most well crafted by song structure and production here. Recently, i reviewed his EP not too long ago and i didn't like it because it was too experimental. His first solo effort was more of a mess than it was an 'avant-garde' piece of 'post-metal' or whatever 'post' they had in mind. But here in this split EP, his two song effort was jaw-droppingly intense. Limbs' performance here was visceral and in-your-face. The first track, "Night Obsolete", was scary and unrepentful with the rattling of hi-hats, eerie atmosphere, and screeching vocals. The next track, "Ghost Matter", continued the chaos and cuts to the chase as the vocals become a lot more harsh than it was in the first track. Same with the stylish sound of tuning your guitar throughout the last half of the song, this is to create this feeling of unease to the listener.
Overall, Limbs side of this split has a slight improvement from his last EP. I guess he's being more technical than he is being experimental and i'm glad to see this improvement.
The second side of this EP is none other than post-rock project Fictional Character. The first track "The More You Live, The More You Die" and it's safe to say that this track didn't really catch my attention. I just thought that the first half of this 7-minute track was going nowhere. Sure, the blast beats are okay. Sure, the guitar riffs are okay. But I was left wondering to myself where the track was actually going. The last half does kinda pick up with a slow finish of the slightly skeletal sound of the guitar, which was the only reason why i liked Fictional Character as a musician; when he chooses to play music slowly, it is striking with emotion. Fictional Character going at it at a fast pace here in this EP, for me, sounds like a generic black metal song. The second track, "Leave The Sunlight House, Crawl Back To The Moon" was slightly better than the first track. The singing here, for me at least, just sounded like an add on in some stock music you get on the web. The same-y atmosphere that we got in the first track doesn't quite add up to the momentum that Limbs was able to do in the first part of the EP. Overall, Fictional Character was my least favorite part in the "Lunod" EP. Nevertheless, I'm still confident what he has more for us in the future.
Last but not the least, Na Mo chimes in the last part with his electronic ambient. One of my favorite internet projects of the last two years. I happened to stumble upon his material back when i was exploring more electronic music here. The slow and steady buildup that completely sounds like Sunn O))) having a summer vacation with Nine Inch Nails. It comes off from being calm to a rough, textured landscape. Say what you want to say but Na Mo has one of the best cuts in this portion of the EP.
Overall, all three did their best for them to give meaning of the word "Lunod" or at least interpret the feeling of drowning. Limbs perceives drowning to be this unmerciful consequence, Fictional Character represents the sensation of drowning with an exaggerated but cathartic take, and Na Mo captures the feeling of drowning to be this rational choice of never going to the surface, remain in the rough waters. That's the way I perceive their input in this project and I'm glad to see these three give their own meaning to drowning in one EP.
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