Gathering Together

Ron Morelli's first album and EP sounded like a more brittle, paranoid version of the type of outsider house his label L.I.E.S. is known for releasing. His subsequent albums, however, are much more in line with the industrial, dark ambient, and noise tapes commonly issued by their home label, Hospital Productions. Released in 2015, A Gathering Together is Morelli's bleakest album yet, burying haunted voices and metallic clanging under swarming rhythmic feedback loops. While the album generally isn't harsh in terms of volume, it's an unsettling listen simply because of how ominous it is. Morelli will often develop a diseased, dread-filled atmosphere and let it simmer for five minutes, rather than progress or attack. This isn't to say that there aren't unexpected moments, such as the machine-gun fire that punctures through "New Dialect." "Desert Ocean" interrupts a flickering, bubbling bass synth loop with some despaired flashes that could either be a scraping stringed instrument or a distant car horn honking. "Voices Rise" and "A Gathering Together" both seem to cloak tribal rituals in distortion, and the tapping drum-machine rhythms of "In Secret" evoke a similar feel. A Gathering Together is sort of an ironic title, as this is a tense, paranoid album that couldn't be more isolationist. ~ Paul Simpson