CONTROLLED BLEEDING
BETWEEN TIDES
ALBUM MULTIMOOD RE-RELEASE: SUMMER 1999 REVIEW: JULY 30, 1999
Originally released in 1985, "Between Tides" sees the previously extremely
noisy team of Paul Lemos, Joe Papa and Chris Moriarty moving into less
aggressive atmospheres. Frankly, for me this is where Controlled Bleeding
started to sound interesting.
The album's strength lies in the balance between harsh noise and serene
harmonics. These components work together to give the music a greater depth
than you usually find in ordinary noise or ambient music. Still, it's mostly
an indecisive album, glancing in many directions at the same time. You can hear the
band "trying out" different musical styles without lingering very long on
any of them. You have tribal style drumming here, pure soft ambience there
and electronic body music-type instrumentals somewhere else.
All in all "Between Tides" is something of a transitional record for
Controlled Bleeding. It's probably more interesting for it's historic value
to a collector, than for somebody who isn't already familiar with the band.
For those I would recommend their more recent releases, where they focus
even more on ambience. Still, this is a lot more diverse and adventurous
than most "dark ambient" records issued nowadays.
MATTIAS HUSS