A curious beast, this CD. It arrives – in promo format, anyway – in a clear slipcase, with the CD encased in a piece of sandpaper, with little in the way of information on it. Not that there is much to tell – the tracklisting is simply Parts 1 to 5 of Session 9, clearly hinting that the 24 minutes-plus running time is meant to be taken in one sitting.

And doing that provides what is, in parts, an unsettling listen. Part 1 is an odd, two-minute intro track, using ghostly vocals from some decades back, before Part 2 brings the rampaging, punishing noise that made the previous EP so good. Part 3 is another more mellow section, with odd, skittering beats and effects that once again introduce voice samples that really do give you the creeps, the only problem being that much of the rest of the track is not particularly memorable. Part 4 is another uptempo track, that perhaps lasts a minute or two too long, as it does get somewhat repetitive in time. Finally, Part 5 starts as if a gathering storm, followed by yet more odd samples, and it kind of fizzles out.

The question is, though, does it work? Well, almost. There are a lot of ideas here, perhaps too many – meaning that the effect of the concept is diluted a little. The ambient sections are not anywhere near as effective as the noisy sections, either, but perhaps if this release were to be expanded or incorporated into a larger whole, they would become far more effective. Interesting progress, all told, I’m just hoping it isn’t dead end.