Not the Wind Not the Flag

Toronto, ON's Colin Fisher and Brandon Valdivia, as the recently formed Not the Wind Not the Flag, engage in high-energy, global-minded romps across the entire spectrum of genre bashing sound. In a live setting, the duo slay; it's worth considerable effort to attend a performance. Tintinabulum proves that Fisher and Valdivia also exert a considerable amount of energy via their recorded output. A single extended track, this disc is an ambitious exercise in the building of tension. At the outset, a series of ringing guitar chords is interspersed with extended periods of silence, calling to mind Arvo Pärt's tintinnabuli. Valdivia slowly introduces cymbals, shakers and other percussive elements as the piece progresses. Eventually, Fisher's guitar explodes, revealing a sludge metal apocalypse, and Valdivia sprouts the arms of Vishnu, attacking his kit with abandon. At its zenith, Tintinabulum is epic, like a detonation between the ears.