Music - CDs - The Tower

• Format: CD-R
• Released November 2009
• Part of The Tarot Series
• Released by Invisible Eye Productions
• Duration: 17:53

The Tarot Series is a collection of 22 3 inch CD-Rs, each containing about 25 minutes of music, with 3 or 4 groups for each volume.

From the early months of 2009, and in each month thereafter, 2 volumes are produced each month until the 22nd volume.

Each volume will contain a mini book with 3 pages, including an explanation of the card, pictures and details of the songs of the groups present.

Initially limited edition of 30 copies of each disc.

1. Thanatorium - The Tower (2:49)
2. Edge Effect - The Tower (6:28)
3. Mascarae - The Tower (6:26)
4. Marco Grosso / Troy Southgate - Card Explanation (2:10)

As one continues on the Cartomantic path, the Tower is the final card that heralds change in a significant but also disruptive way. While things get permanently taken away when the Death card appears, the Tower is much more about revolution. When this card comes before you, know that what was is about to be torn down, and you yourself might be going down for the ride as well. Yet misfortune is not manifesting for its own sake, and after you have witnessed or been part of the great collapse, you will find that what did not hold up in your life after being subjected to such intense and irresistible forces is not merely gone, but out of the way. Often times we go through life building upon shaky ground, and sometimes it is not only the foundations that are faulty, but also what we construct around us.

One might forge friendships, relationships, family ties and even business deals and other types of unions to feel shielded, and whether it be by fault of others or one's self, the homes we build in seeming grandeur can be subject to the crumbling of their walls if the walls are made of lies, deceit, betrayal or even dependence and manipulation. But when the unsubstantial substance has been cleared from our path, we are liberated and can discover that a better life awaits when what was weak is removed and previous mistakes exposed and can be learned from.

This single is sequenced pretty well. The tracks go from quiet and droning up to crackling and desolate. And for the first time in the series all tracks by all artists share not only the same name, but the same mood. The "Tower" submitted by Thanatorium is a mix of a heavy atmosphere, muddled noises, and what sounds like a priest chanting Benedictine style with a chorus joining in from time to time. A loud percussive sequence shows up for a few seconds, having a particularly sharp snare, then drops. The next tower by Edge Effect is similar to TZII's first track on the "Individualism" EP, an arctic fog of lo-fi choir drone and stale synth pad with a strike of metal wrapped in both delay and reverb sounding unexpectedly every minute or so. But the final tower is the most interesting. Granted by Mascarae, this track is a sort of strange blend of Power Electronics-style synth prevalent in most of Steinklang Industries Zyklus compilations with a clean guitar similar to Neubauten's "Kein Bestandteil Sein", but much slower and less erratic.

Rexington Steel