Dante’s Kitchen Review

Dante’s Kitchen brandishes a reborn sound for Attrition, abundant with new influences and passion.
Certainly, one can draw a few comparisons to the sound the fluxes throughout. The eerie opera of Die Form, the sultry rhythms of recent Massive Attack, and the alien organics of perhaps Coil.
Preceded by the introductory tortured violin of “Andante”, the disc plunges into the disjointed dance macabre of the title track. Martin Bowes gravel voice bristles across break beats as high-pitched female operatic pleads for divine help.
“The Head of Gabriel” continues with reptilian grace; an elastic bass beat twang here summons the shimmer of ghostly ethereal vocal as the violin flutters around like a moth lost in the piece’s trance. Warm warbling waves of bass carry driftwood banshees and samples through “The Long Hall”, before being disrupted by a frenetic rhythm, as their chanteuse is chased by a retro horror keyboard line.
“A Ladder” is a seething dub exploration that bounds through in nocturnal slow motion, while the subterranean samba of “Two Gods” is enhanced by doom-laden violin while the title repeated as a mantra. “Dreamcatcher”
exhales a nightmare underneath banshee wails and nightmare-depicting dialogue samples, spilling out natural drums that somewhat slice through its claustrophobic tension.
Attrition also delves back into their worlds of dark ambience. “Feed the Crow” is a grim piece haunted by the hiss and clunk of ancient steam tunnels amidst the choppy flutter of electronics and banshee sighs.
Finally, the closing “Still Life?” glistens with ambient textures and the birdcall of flutes before being drenched in a field recording of a foreboding storm. Overall, I find Dante’s Kitchen is balanced precisely between ominous soundtracks and the vivid thrum of fetish-istic techno.
Enthralling as well as eerie, it might be their best effort to date.