Hail Conjurer / Absolute Key – Trident And Vision 12"

HAIL CONJURER and ABSOLUTE KEY should be familiar names to those who follow the crimes of SIGNAL REX lately: both sonic iconoclasts released albums through the label later last year - respectively, Earth Penetration and The Third Level of Decay. Both entities are singular in their vision, and both skirt the stylistic boundaries of black metal; in some sense, one could say both perform "black metal" without actually utilizing the bog-standard rudiments of the artform...or perhaps it's the other way around? Thankfully, neither Finnish group offer easy answers.

Now, HAIL CONJURER and ABSOLUTE KEY will join together to perform a rare four-show mini-tour in September, to celebrate the experimental collaboration album Trident and Vision, which is being released this September through SIGNAL REX. Both CD and vinyl versions will be available, with an exclusive wax variant specially made for the live dates.

Totaling five tracks in 30 minutes, Trident and Vision is structured in a unique way. Of those five tracks, both HAIL CONJURER and ABSOLUTE KEY have their own respective track; then, the other three tracks are completely collaborative works between both bands. Just as uniquely, the tracklisting alternates these collaborative and solo tracks, making the flow of the record fever-dreaming, unpredictable, and above all, unsettling. While both HAIL CONJURER and ABSOLUTE KEY already skirt the hinterlands of "abstract," the totality of this record - both solo and collaborative - is further abstracted, stretching to a dangerous limit the already-broad stylistic repertoire of both bands, altogether imparting a worn-out feeling that irrevocably underlines that their creators are far from steady & clear-headed people. Reflective of this shared-yet-still-divergent vision, both bands at the upcoming gig will perform together, creating blackened soundscapes partly planned and partly based on instinct. No light...no hope.