Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees 6 months ago
  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash 6 months ago
  • Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019 7 months ago
  • 25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11 7 months ago
  • Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: DiS Does Big Ears 8 months ago
  • IDLES Smash It In Sheffield 8 months ago
  • More bands announced for DiS partnered Fuzz Club Eindhoven 8 months ago
  • The Shape Of Punk To Come?: DiS Meets Crows 8 months ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

65daysofstatic

Heavy Sky

Label: Hassle Records Release Date: 25/10/2010

64620
geordiedave1981 by David Edwards November 1st, 2010

There is something inherent within 65Daysofstatic that suggests a profound sense of self-flagellating masochism. Not just within their intense, post-industrial ear assaults but in their astonishing level of workaholic creativity. This, remember; is a band who once stated their 'disappointment' at having played under 100 gigs in a year. The new Heavy Sky EP is no less than their seventh release in six years (including live albums and EPs). Collated from a series of culled tracks from this year's We Were Exploding Anyway album, it again illustrates the mind-boggling array of productivity emanating from this band. When most people release an EP, it contains four to five tracks and lasts about 20 minutes. Heavy Sky, on the other hand, runs to seven tracks and lasts nearly 34 minutes. From this, it is safe to deduce two things. Firstly, 65dos have a laudable desire to negate cutting corners, providing their fans with value for their coin. And secondly, they probably don’t sleep that much.

The problem with outtakes albums is that… well, they ARE tracks previously left lying on the cutting room floor. And most of the time, there is a good reason (I’ve never quite bought the 'it didn’t sound right on the album- explanation - if it’s good, it’s good). There are precious few examples of an off-cuts album surpassing the parent body (The Final Cut is the only one that springs to mind and I think 75 per cent of Pink Floyd would happily disagree with me on that point). And thus it proves with Heavy Sky. It isn’t bad, there isn’t a single poor track and there are two or three moments of intense, sublime beauty. But in comparison to the excellent We Were Exploding Anyway, there are several times that you find yourself nodding and thinking 'Yep, I can see why this didn’t make the grade'.

In contrast to the general tendency of releases, you unearth the true seam of beauty within the central strata of Heavy Sky: the record has a tendency to drags at its welcome and goodbye. The opening edit of ‘Tiger Girl’ retains the same wonderful break-in-the-stormcloud beats and guitar enormity of the original but this seems a shame to confine into such a small period of time. ‘Sawtooth Rising’ is much better: growing through a thicket of darkened Underworld beats and breaths into a clearing realisation of searing beauty. One of the key aspects to 65Daysofstatic’s sound has always been their eternal precipice-teetering: you’re never too sure where they’re about to move next. The problem with the likes of ‘The Wrong Shape’ and especially the baffling closer, ‘Guitar Cascades’ (more to follow) is that it’s a little too obvious, as if they’re painting by numbers. It still retains the same intrigue, but the structure is entirely predictable.

When they get it right, they still shine beautifully. ‘Pacify’ is a gorgeous piece of delicate, romantic, ambient-with-muscles electro-sonic texturing; simply beautiful to behold. And ‘PX3’ can be cherished in very much the same vein, building beyond earth and sky to something wonderfully stratospheric. Those two tracks serve as the standouts and though it doesn’t particularly move heaven and earth, ‘Beats Like a Helix’ is a pleasingly truncated and demented romp through drum‘n’bass/dubstep territory, as if the band have just decided to go all-out f**king mental for two minutes. Which leads onto the aforementioned ‘Guitar Cascades’, which sadly just seems out of place and unnecessarily drawn out. You listen to the entirety of its 10-minute lifespan waiting for something to happen but it never quite does. It isn’t broad and belligerent enough to be something truly epic; it isn’t soft enough to be a cushion of ambience. It simply sits there in the middle lane for ten minutes. Which is impotently frustrating, as you are patently aware that 65daysofstatic are far, far better than this.

Heavy Sky is a mostly fine release and a welcome, intriguing addition to the 65dos oeuvre: we didn’t expect it and now we have it. But in all honestly, in direct comparison to the almost unanimous excellence of their back catalogue, it does come across as a slight stoop in stature. That said, a modest release by 65daysofstatic still effortlessly surpasses the majority of their peers. In taking the decision to clear out their vaults, the release of this EP suggests that 65daysofstatic are flicking over a clean page for another elaborate, sky-touching project. First however, they are apparently preparing to live-soundtrack 1972's eco sci-fi classic Silent Running. Do they ever rest? What do they put on their cornflakes? Who knows. The important thing is that we have them as part of our world.

  • 7
    David Edwards's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees


  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash


  • Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019


  • 25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11


  • Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: DiS Does Big Ears


  • IDLES Smash It In Sheffield



Left-arrow

Apparat

DJ Kicks

Mobback
64611
64643

Spectrals

Spectrals Extended Play

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136

    Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
  • Festival Review


    25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11

  • 106134

    Festival Review


    Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: Di...

  • 106133
  • Live Review


    IDLES Smash It In Sheffield

  • 106132

    Festival Preview


    More bands announced for DiS partnered Fuzz Clu...

  • 106131
  • Interview


    The Shape Of Punk To Come?: DiS Meets Crows

  • 106123
MORE


    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • feature


    Panic Prevention: At the drink with Jamie T

  • 14183

    feature


    The Knife: Swedish purveyors of alien synergy

  • 27337
  • Column


    DiS Does Singles 22.04.13: Daft Punk, Savages, ...

  • 89944

    DiScover


    ReDiScover: Low

  • 12734
  • In Depth


    Lou Reed: An Eu-lulu-ogy

  • 93330

    DiScussion


    Emo? Twee? In unnecessary defence of Neutral Mi...

  • 93713
  • Interview


    Ace of Bass: DiS Meets Royal Blood

  • 97097
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2019 DROWNED IN SOUND