Phal:Angst: Phase IV (Bloodshed666, 2018)
Austrian group Phal:Angst are somewhere in between industrial and post-rock, constructing 10-minute epics filled with gritty guitars, creeping tempos, and cinematic overtones. The film dialogue samples strewn throughout tracks like opener “On the Run” bring to mind older Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but this group generally sticks to evenly paced electronic tempos rather than lengthy crescendos. They also alternate the samples with original vocals, which are sinister and sometimes menacing, but not overly aggressive. The music itself similarly never gets into aggro overdrive; rather, it maintains a consistent mood while evolving through different atmospheric elements, incorporating instruments such as harp and metallophone along with the guitars and electronics. “Despair II” is somewhat appropriately the most emotionally devastating track, as well as the longest. This feeling of hopelessness and pointlessness is further expanded upon with “They Won’t Have to Burn the Books When Noone Reads Them Anyway”. The album ends with 2 significantly shorter remixes, the first from Will Brooks (Dälek), and the second from Justin Broadrick. Both keep within the mood of the originals, but Broadrick’s mix adds a bit more bass pressure.
