Is that the cloudy seat of the divine domain underlit by the burning brimstone beneath the abyss? The cover image created for Aurora Liminalis by James Elaine is aptly huge and ambiguous. For this imposing piece by William Basinski and Richard Chartier resembles a confrontation between heaven and hell, each pressed against the other just above earthline with unfathomable force.
A clash of Gog and Magogian proportions seems imminent as one gains ground only to lose it right back . You hear cracks snapping in the sinews of the mighty monoliths. Fortunately, this gargantuan test of strength ends in a standoff, not the apocalypse, and literally fizzles out. Aurora Liminalis is all about tension. Basinski is best known for his work with obsolete technology and Chartier state-of-the-art digital, so the pairing makes for a fitting dichotomy. Three-quarters of an hour of grave. awesome ambient on the threshold of violence in the pre-mortal world.
Aurora Liminalis is available on Line.
