Mila Cloud - Long Way Back From The Familiar Places We´re Never Been
It´s actually very rare that I get to review anything from Poland. When I think of Poland, metal music usually pops up in my mind... not noise, experimental, or industrial music as such. Mila Cloud is a kind of thing, in between (in its own way). The easiest way to describe it would be dreamy/ethereal drone-metal, not that far away from the early recordings by Earth and some of the instrumental guitar work by the Red House Painters. Here is another charming note from the Bandcamp site, regarding the only member of Mila Cloud:
Mila is the ghost of a housewife from Warsaw, Poland, who plays and records instrumental songs in the dronegaze / doomgaze / cloudgaze style. Mila likes smoking on the balcony, playing ghostly songs, and watching short YouTube videos like "5 Terrifying Waves Caught on Tape" or "10 Biggest Waves Ever Recorded". She likes fuzzes, delays, phasers, and other quirks. Sleepwalking.
This album actually has a sort of theme/concept attached to it. The album is about Warzaw in the 90s. Mostly about blocks of flats, night busses, junkies, parks and backyards. I don´t actually know how Warzaw looks now, but it might have changed? Old buildings are torn down, and sterile square-figured buildings shoot up from the ground like mushrooms. Much the same thing that just happened in my own town of Viborg, somehow the ghost of old houses... lingers in the air. But anyway! The album comes out as an AWESOME-looking textured digipack all wrapped inside a transparent and white folder. Nice bleak but futuristic artwork as well. The album (or should I say) mini-album is a 6 tracked one, about 27 minutes in total.
The first track is called Cloudgazer, and that is exactly how the track feels and sounds. Cloudy early morning, waiting for the rays of the sun to appear... but sadly, they don´t appear. Instead, you get these various smudgy colors of grey. The track starts with a heavy distorted, and reverbed guitar. Lots of cool pedal effects and stuff, very mesmerizing and atmospheric. Takes me instantly back to early Earth, just with a tiny dose of... I don't know, the melody has a kind of depressive black-metal feel to it (just a lot slower), if this was done on a synth... then it would/could be a winter synth. You give it a listen, it´s a very good one I reckon (already listened to the album 7 times now!).
The second track Sweet Mommy is a short one. It continues where track one ended. More of a melancholic ambient and guitar track, lovely how so much expression can be squeezed into 1 minute and 46 seconds!
The third track Some Warzaw Junkie is not that far away from the first track, just a bit more heavy and slow. You can almost sense the tired and slow movement of a used-up junkie, there are some light tones in there as well... a sense of hope perhaps?. Or perhaps not, much in the same way we hope to see the sun every day.
The fourth track The Coldest Boy, is beautifully icy. Love the layered and spacy effects here, and I love the way the track slowly builds up... very focused.
The fifth track is a bonus track (only on the CD) called Message From Bird Birds Sniffer. Being (maybe) the darkest and most harsh track here. Starts really dark, and ends with the feeling of... could it be the bloody sun?! Some warmth here, and the revered guitar work here almost has a synthy sound!
The rest of the album follows the sound of the chosen theme/mood, making this album a highly enjoyable and aesthetic album. It feels like a long and adventurous journey, which gives the album a focused soundtrack sort of feel. You don´t even notice the tracks, but you will accept the whole album as one long track... much in the same way it works when watching a movie. Highly recommendable stuff from Poland here, an act to follow and check up on here!
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