Squalling electronic noise, thudding industrial beats and a rock solid bass foundation that sounds like it’s clawing its way out of the very centre of the earth, Shhh… are anything but quiet in the sense their name implies. Preparing the way for a full-length album, this three-track mini-cd provides the perfect introduction to the world of Shhh… with its unsettling white noise, scarifying industrial soundscapes and occasional bursts of conventionality to which the listener can cling if things become too disconcerting.
Opening track ‘the thief’ is a remix, a thudding beast that claws and snarls its way across your consciousness from the moment it opens in a scree of guitar abuse, through its squelching synth lines and ominous bass to its fragmented conclusion. It is a claustrophobic, steely nightmare made auditory reality by the twisted genius of Rui Bentes (AKA Shhh…) and if you have yet to encounter Shhh…this is a fine starting point. Heading off further into left field, ‘Inside every storm…’ opens in a digital storm, all blurry white noise whistling around you before the elements begin to settle into a gentle ambient pattern that recalls Aohex Twin at his most experimental. It says much about the talent of Shhh… that such order can be wrought from chaos and the result is a track that gently inserts itself into your consciousness before slipping back out into a surge of noise that makes you wonder if you ever really heard anything at all. The final track is also the title of this mini-cd. ‘Afterglow’ is appropriately named – a sumptuous ambient track that shimmers with the golden light of early morning sun, the beats echoing around you and the warm tones drawing you in like the crystal clear waters of a mountain pool. As chilled out as the lightest Orb track and with similar tendencies to meander it’s something that you’ll want to return to time and again and the overall CD is a brilliant taster of Shhh…’s forthcoming work.
Unusual, brilliantly constructed and utterly compelling, the world of Rui Bentes is awash with colour, life and inspiration. Over the course of just three tracks Shhh… are capable of drawing you into a whole new world and if this is any indication of the larger work then there is no doubt that the coming album will be a work of staggering scope and vision. In the meantime this will whet your appetite and, hopefully, encourage you to return to previous works such as the monumental ‘Sleeper has awakened’ (a collaborative effort reviewed here) in search of further wonders.
