Betrayal

Originally issued in 1993 by Staalplaat adorned with the epithet "Dedicated to a united Arab response", the 11-part 'Betrayal' is reissued here in it's entirety, which should acutely pique interests of those into the likes of Christian Love Forum, for it's heavy stylistic bias toward a strain of hypnotic atmospheres and serpentine steppers' rhythms. Ostensibly instrumental, save for the Arabic voices sampled and used texturally, not literally, within it's shadowy matrices, the album sits firmly in a prized vein of Bryn Jones' work, beloved for it's atmospheric pressure rather than noise scuzz. We're talking proper pearls in the likes of his sleep-stepping 'Druse' and it's sky-razing, almost post-rock/shoegazey version, and superb hand drum loops wreathed into 'Nabius', and a total standout in the 10 minute masterwork 'Ramallah' and it's longer variation.