performer. Leo Anibaldi
title. Void
catalog. RePHLeX [UK] CAT031CD [1996] (to be released as CD/LP)
Kneeling in black sand, new hands cradle a black sea shell
to my ears; it screams a curdled and bitter song -
then spits up and odorous green-black bile. I hurl it
into the sleepy ocean and hear not a splash, but the sound
of shattering glass.
The opal moon grinds across the sky, scraping frozen storm
clouds as it cicumnavigates.
My black pearl orbs screw down and sideways, my peripheral
is stained with an image.
A Saint?
--- Al Columbia, "Doghead" (Tundra Publishing Ltd., 1992)
Imagine all fables, stories and fairytales mutating into grotesque
nightmares, monster-inhabiting and dread-inducing. Imagine Dante's
Hell, its seven circles up to their rim in souls in eternal agony.
Imagine a winter that will never end, all colourless and desolate,
darkness eveloping the firelight in the corner, whose flame is as
cold as it is without color.
Every now and then a record gets released that has an immense
emotional impact on the listener. Leo Anibaldi's "Void" is one such
record. Dark, near-gothic and sinister ambience coupled with mangled
and distorted rhythms. Throughout the record, there are hisses, pops
and scratches at the peripheries of hearing. These barely audible
tidbits add to the overall feeling of shadows closing in, unseen
figures lurking in the corners and doors opening and closing with no
apparent reason. An aural ghost-story.
There is also a visual and textual counterpart to "Void" which
can be highly recommended - J. O'barr's "Bone Saw." "Void" is a
beautiful record. Emotionally disturbing, but nevertheless one of the
most important and noteworthy RePHLeX releases.