Entrainment. Enclosed & Silent Order

Run a blog for several years and more and more artists, labels, promoters, etc., find me and invite me to listen to records. Of course, it is impossible to keep up with and many pass me by. I can't even apologise for it. It is what it is. When someone new comes by, I always give it try and somewhere before the summer I received an email from Stafford Glover inviting me to listen to the single from his, then, upcoming album Entrainment. I did and was introduced to a musical world that is far removed from what I normally tend to listen to but came out surprised.

Enclosed & Silent Order is the name under which Glover releases his records and it is partially true. He does not sing himself, but on two songs or better compositions the silence of the order is broken by vocal deliveries. The music breaks through any wall, door or gate anyway. The sound is, often, huge and played at the intended level, earsplitting.

What to call the music? I think it may get the moniker post rock. The only music I've once heard live coming close to Entrainment, was at A Place To Bury Strangers show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Still, that is not right, as Stafford does not rock, does not use huge drums and above all does not use guitars. And that surprised me. Listening to the sound on Entrainment, my guess was hearing heavily distorted guitars, so distorted that the sound is on the verge of falling apart, like dust caught in the light swirling in all directions with the movement of air.

According to the Bandcamp page what I hear are all synthesizers, no doubt heavily treated by effect pedals. A trumpet can come through the haze, a piano or organ, they hardly make the mood lighter. Enclosed & Silent Order is not one to let the light in easily. Darkness prevails but its alright. Light does not belong here. Colours something to be shunned as much as possible. Even tints of grey are dubious.

And then comes the almost modern classical 'No Darkness'. Don't go in search of light though. Go in search of space. Between the over and over repeated piano notes, dark(er) notes of course, there is so much space. Filled by the lingering sound of the notes played but also other sounds and the voice of Amy McKenna, somewhere between an apparition and an angel. 'No Darkness' is the kind of song that can put me into a trance. The question is how big is the scare with the next composition. 'No Darkness' is a track for the 'Kairos' show on Concertzender alright.

Next up, is an undefinable sound, emulating a steamtrain slowly gathering speed, I'd say. A looped sound that is going faster and faster. Nothing to get scared of. It is more a sound experiment than composition. 'Broomway, 5AM' last far beyond ten minutes and moves slowly but surely into almost a pop track. Air on a dark trip, instead of a sunny Club Med one.

Enclosed & Silent Order takes the listener through several surprises. If the noise of 'Purity / Penence' was not made by an electric guitar, effects and amps, then how did Stafford get this sound? Even the artwork surprises. At face value it looks like an electronically made work of art. It is a painting by Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach called 'The Fairy Dance' from 1895.

Having listened to Kairos for years, I have gotten used to listen to atmospheric works that sometimes go beyond what I call music. That helped when I exposed myself to Entrainment. My ears were trained as it were. Enclosed & Silent Order in several pieces moves far beyond the works on Kairos. It is what I decide to call the metal version of soundscapes, while at the same time there is a melody to be found in most works. And finally, there is 'No Darkness'. Impressive and surprising this album is.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Entrainment here:

https://enclosedandsilentorder.bandcamp.com/album/entrainment