Every once in a while, after listening to literally hundreds of records, that one record will come along where, when you put it on the stereo, everything seems to melt around you and all that there is that is important at that moment is that record; I can count on one hand just how many times this has happened to me with new records (certain classics still draw you in so completely no matter how many times that you listen to them) and that is a shame because being totally immersed in a listening experience is really what you hope for when listening to music (at least I do). Seriously, think back to the last record that so captivated your attention that you sat in rapt silence while being completely taken in by the sounds and even feelings or moods that the record elicits from your psyche; if you can pinpoint the last album that was thus enrapturing (bravo if you can) think about how many records in recent memory did this (it may or may not be a small number).
Hirror Enniffer by Mamiffer was an album that upon first release it did not strike me in this way at all (though I did find it enjoyable), but, over time, this Mamiffer record became an obsession to the point where I listen to it several times a week now and have taken to tracking down every single little release that this outfit releases. I can certainly be fairly crazy about them as well acting like some revivalist evangelical sermonizer spreading the gospel of <b>Mamiffer</b> to anyone who will listen to my insane ravings (not really but it can seem like that sometimes).
With the release of their second long player, Mare Descendrii, Mamiffer, Faith Coloccia (and her now full time cohort Aaron Turner) employs a large number of guest musicians to fashion a droning, ambient masterpiece that boarders the lines of some possible neo classicist fore runner; the utilization of pianos, strings, droning guitars, and vocals (as flourishes instead of any real focus) creates an arresting atmosphere of beautiful dread that sucks you into undulating waves of sound. Listen to “As Freedom Rings”, “We Speak In The Dark”, and “Eating Our Bodies” and be swept up by their melancholic melodies and lush string arrangements (courtesy of Eyvind Kang) while being mesmerized by the vocals (that make me wonder if this sounds like an opera at times); “Blanket of Ash” shift the gears to a bit more of a drone experience that brings an added dimension to the album with lush soundscapes that are completely hypnotic and mesmerizing, and “Iron Water” somehow combines many of elements that are heard on the record in a way that makes complete sense as to why it closes out the album. Mare Descendrii is a literal triumph in composition and arrangement that makes me half jealous and half overjoyed that such music exists, and this is not overwrought hyperbole because the music here truly touches my soul like so few records do (hopefully that statement is completely overdoing it).
Again, listeners will be hard pressed to hear any music quite like what Mamiffer is laying out here on Mare Descendrii; in a world of often heards and near incessant variations of emulations and near tributes, Mamiffer stands above the herd with their tremendous compositions and forward sounding oeuvre.
