*300 copies limited edition* Since the release of This World is Not My Home in 2014, Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Breathless, Broken Flag) has been releasing one new album per year by his critically acclaimed solo Kleistwahr endeavour. The idea driving this is to keep producing an album a year until he is no longer capable of doing so. While the dedication to this pirouettes starkly between insanity and an admirable stoicism, it’s quite an undertaking when one considers the sound palette Gary works from. Threaded throughout all of these albums are signature features comprising organ groans, despairing vocals reaching from a scorched canyon, black hole guitars, abrasive textures and occasional rhythmic pulses. Yet, magically countering all of this is a powerful yearning to keep everything fresh and moving forward. Subsequently, each of the ten albums released by Fourth Dimension since 2014 (and others have appeared elsewhere), including this one, is contoured with surprising twists and turns that neither betray Kleistwahr’s sound nor nudge it anywhere close to stagnation.
On The Battlefield is Everywhere, in addition to the searing psychedelic churn Gary Mundy is a deft hand at delivering, there’s the slow-burn volcanic rock assault of ‘Let’s Be Strangers’ and the electronic bleep-addled mass of howls, demolition ball rhythm and cascading textures of ‘Yet Still the Birds Sing’ to contend with besides many other delights that pull the album in several directions. While it could be contended this music would be ideal for the aftermath of your next toxic ’shroom stew-serving dinner party, there’s still room enough for some violent twitches towards an appetising dessert.
As always, this album sees Gary pushing Kleistwahr into new spaces only he has the tools to carve. Where he continues to draw this inspiration from only he knows, but Fourth Dimension Records is going to do its utmost to keep supporting this output all the while it is able to.
Here’s to the next one!