Recorded live using just guitars, voice, percussion and looping and processing tools, Viridian Sun’s Infinite in All Directions is a nicely varied wash of drones and textures, a disc that can challenge the ear one moment and deeply engage the mind the next–often in the same track.

Mike Griffin, head of Hypnos Records, and collaborator David Tollefson coax an array of noises from their instruments as they go, building moments and movements in dependent, largely minimalistic layers, always with the sense that they are waiting for the next correct place to assail and mutate the sound. Vaporous guitar washes discover sudden-but-fleeting moments of solidity, the actual, recognizable sound of a guitar, unfiltered, coming in like a beacon in the sonic mist. And this mist is dense, often quite deep and, across the breadth of the disc, dark. There is an intensity to Viridian Sun, an edginess of feeling, which is where the more challenging aspect of it comes from. As you’re being wrapped in sounds that can range from feedback to static in points, if they can be defined at all, there is a sense of this piece, this moment, being inescapable–an understanding that no, this is not easy and yes, you are expected to see your own way through to the other side and then keep going.

Infinite in All Directions will set better with listeners who like their stuff dense, abstract and droning, with heavy doses of darkness and experimentation. Griffin and Tollefson have crafted a constantly moving, beatless and expressive space that welcomes only the committed listener. But the rewards are worth the time and effort it takes to fully dive into this disc.

Available from Hypnos Records.