Emuul – Crawling Across the Rafters

2010 • Anathema Sound

To be honest, I hate reviewing albums like this. Crawling Across the Rafters was one of those love-at-first-listen albums and I am afraid that digging into it too deep will ruin the magic somehow. I guess that's why I tend to avoid reviewing most of my favorite albums—that, and sometimes it's just hard to explain why I like something.

Well, I like Crawling Across the Rafters; I like it a lot. It's one of those albums that gives me that little euphoric rush when I hear it. Of course, it's in a style I already like: very slow and heavily melody-based, like Deathprod or a more electronic Stars of the Lid. Emuul's sound is simpler than either, with just a few different voices playing at once most of the time, although its simplicity definitely works to its advantage. Most of what happens on the album is just one main melody (or drone) with sound effects that accentuate the mood, something common with a lot of dark ambient, but it works equally well here.

I guess what really does it for me is the general tone and atmosphere going on through. It an incredibly beautiful and elegant album; you have shimmering drones and echoing clean guitar, very subtle melodies that sink in almost on an unconscious level because everything moves so slowly (which is the perfect speed, by the way). And it can get to be an emotional trip, too, from the incredibly dark "Without Breathing" to the uplifting "Haunting with M" and closing with the painfully sad "Firenze" (just listen to those heartwrenching vocals).

Anyway I apologize that this review is probably terrible, and I can't really think of much else to say as there really isn't a single thing about this album that I don't like. Just know that Crawling Across the Rafters is brilliant and one of the best ambient releases I've ever heard.

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