Review
The Haxan Cloak
Excavation

What dream like states can you imagine, and how exactly might you reach such a trance? Do you use illicit and not so illicit substances, or are you maybe touched a bit having brushed wings with delirium one too many times? Regardless of how you might enter a waking dream world, what do you enjoy to use as the soundtrack?

Ever since the second full length from The Haxan Cloak was released, my dreams (both waking and others) have at times been dominated by the creeped out beauty that permeates from my speakers and headphones whenever Excavation spins on my turntable; and trust me when I tell you that this is one of those releases where people listen and view the record in a haze of critical kudos and maintain that the album really is as good as people say it is.

There is a general tension and feeling of unease that subtly attacks your senses when Excavation circles the turntable would be virtually palpable if the album was not so completely mesmerizing, and while it has been a challenge to impart any kind of description for individual songs (simply because I zone out all the time whenever I put on the record), there some awesome moments when you can focus on what is playing. Songs like “Excavation (Part 1)”, “Excavation (Part 2)” (this one simply kills with a nice sub woofer), and “The Drop” are more ambient mood pieces, whereas songs like “Mara” and “Miste” sounds as though they could be a soundtrack to a thriller movie or something like The Shining due in no small part to how creepy and effective the tension building is; and yet there is more as “The Mirror Reflecting (Part 1)”, “The Mirror Reflecting (Part 2)”, and “Dieu” sound less like ambient pieces and more like esoteric nightmarish soundscapes.

For quite a while, I considered Excavation to be a good record where I could consistently pop it on my stereo and enjoy listening whenever I wanted; but that feeling or regard for the album slowly gave way to something much more in that Excavation became an album that I found myself subconsciously drawn to popping on time and time again, and just perhaps, that is why I find myself espousing just how great this album is to other people. I cannot just call this album from The Haxan Cloak good any more and have to refer to the record as great instead as it so frequently dominates my listening habits; even when I walk away from Excavation, the compulsion to listen always returns and always has me thinking that I should pop the record on again.