Zaft 012 Prurient / Goose Ornamentation
Track Listing:
- Prurient: A Sight For Sore Eyes
- Goose: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
- Both: A Marriage of Equals
This was the first major release as Goose. I decided that I was holding myself to rigid guidelines as Stolen Light and I wanted a chance to explore dark ambient and drone. Hence, Goose was born. Prurient is the head of Hospital Productions and an excellent musician in his own right. We decided that the premise of this release would be that of beauty. There is far too much ugliness in the world today and noise does much to celebrate this. We decided to take the opposite approach. This release is limited to 15 copies, each packaged in a round wooden box filled with potpourri. The inserts are handpainted and pressed on an actual printing press.
Here is a review from Grinding Into Emptiness:
This 50 minute split CD-R is my first formal introduction to both of these bands. Goose displays the calmer side to Brett Lunceford of Stolen Light, while Dominick Fernow's Prurient track is composed of aptly self-described "low-end spastic filth." The levels to "A Sight For Sore Eyes" are all over the place: most of the time it's a low rolling simmer of noise, but there are loud, violent periods were it boils over. I feel like I'm missing a lot of the track since I'm too scared to turn it up past minimum fearing that my speakers will blow when the loud elements burst through. The faint parts do tempt you to turn up the volume, however, but like a nasty audio venus fly trap as soon as you are lulled into the quiet you get beaten up and thrown around by the uneven, spastic chaos that cuts into it. Some harsh vocal screams near the end of the track, at about the 25 minute mark, are definitely the highlight of Prurient's side to this split. These are the final death throes: choppy, guttural, harsh and unpredictable. Goose's "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" is a breath of fresh air. A calm, ambient style is juxtaposed against Prurient's harshness, and it works really well. Soft whispers contrast the ferocious screams heard earlier, and an even, relaxing tone stretches throughout the piece. It's comparable to some Dead Voices On Air or Lustmord - minimal and soothing, with great atmosphere. With Ornamentation you get taste of the harsh, grating world of Prurient and a lengthy dose of Goose's subtle ambience for dessert.