ARC, who brought us the very memorable and limited Repercussion disc not long ago, return with their first "studio" disc--an opportunity to see what this experimental combo can do with home recording technology at their disposal. I'd previously pegged ARC as an improvisational collective, with a breadth of sonic ingenuity that surprised and entranced me from the word "go" on Repercussion. Their new disc Feral manages to keep the improvised flavor of their earlier material, with an edge of composed or predetermined sound that makes the simple setup of guitars, drums, and various percussions feel more alive, distant, and exotic.

Feral begins with "Trepidation," a simple melange of electronic drone, shakers, and tribal percussion. The effect is of hidden power, of a beast quickly spiriting through a jungle or veldt--not chaotic wildness, but a zen-like, instinctive, animal drive; an important distinction. This beast lives in some animal dreamtime with underlying peace beneath the feral violence. Shadows of O Yuki Conjugate fall heavily on this track, which ends far too quickly. Next is "Space to Run" which continues the fine percussive drive, this time adding a jaunty, improvised guitar "jangle" and muted cymbal atmosphere. There's something elemental about this track, reminding me of bands like AMP and Flying Saucer Attack--bands that pursue a distinctly ambient muse, despite their traditional rock backgrounds. "Emergence" drops the tribal elements altogether, in favor of incredibly resonant Roy Montgomery styled guitar playing, backed with strange experimental trilling. This is a highlight of the disc, as it manages to be sweetly earthed and at the same time lysergic; a strength we also see in Montgomery's best material. If you can imagine a Temple IV that threatens to disintegrate at any moment into chaotic particles, you're somewhere near the sublime atmospheres here. "Morphosis" shows what would happen if the music did indeed disintegrate, as string instruments are bowed creepily over a low looped drone reminding me of Andrew Chalk's strange work. Here, an unusual hinge-bodied insect slithers out of its human guise, ending the union where a larger, more malevolent beast lived impossibly within its smaller, soft host. "Untitled" begins quietly with tablas and other percussions resembling some ceremony in miniature. A tiny Cornel Wilde pursued by African warriors over a tiny landscape; an entire film distilled into five and a half minutes. Finally, "Nested" is the wonderful capstone with a track quite unlike the rest of the album. Strange electronic, broken percussives, almost glitchy in nature, punctuate a celestial drone and wistful guitar atmospherics. We're back in the luscious dreamtime of the earliest track on the disc, but are somehow even deeper inside than that. "Nested" swoops and swells prettily over fourteen and a half minutes, closing a diverse and memorable album.

Feral reinforces my opinion that ARC are making some of the better tribal-experimental-ambient music I've heard lately. While nothing here knocked my socks off, as ARC's clear antecedents O Yuki Conjugate did, all is very practiced and a pleasure to listen to--though the album would be much improved with professional quality production. The tracks here progress very little over their length, making for a somewhat static listen--however, I find that each is satisfying enough on its own merits that no track ever wears out its welcome (especially the fine "Nesting"). In all, Feral is a terrific album by newcomers whose best work is clearly ahead of them.

On Arcolepsy and Worthy Records.

since July 15, 2003