Intrusion - The Seduction of Silence (Echospace)

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | Sounds

According to Wikipedia, in geology, an intrusion is a body of igneous rock that has crystallized from molten magma below the surface of the earth. A well-known example of an igneous intrusion is Devil’s Tower, in Wyoming, made famous in the 1977 film “Close Encounters of The Third Kind” - the place where the aliens make contact with humans. The origins behind the name Intrusion can’t be discounted on echoey, cavernous musical realms of “The Seduction Of Silence,” the new full-length Intrusion project by Stephen Hitchell.

One half of the Detroit-based dub techno duo — and label — Echospace (alongside founder Rod Modell), Hitchell’s Intrusion project doesn’t make a big leap away from the deep, spacey dub techno associated with the Echospace imprint and its most high profile album, Echospace’s “The Coldest Season” (2007), characterized by long, milky and expansive tracks.

Yet, while “The Seduction Of Silence” and “The Coldest Season” have many similarities — both owing a big debt to dub techno pioneers Basic Channel — Intrusion centers more on a spare, minimalist approach, emphasizing thick, percolating kick drums, deep subsonic bass tones, and thick ambient textures, while never forgetting its debt to dub and reggae. In essence, “The Seduction Of Silence” is rooted in a watery element, as if custom designed for traveling the deepest depths of the sea, while “The Coldest Season” seems best suited for an interstellar trip through the cosmos.

Opening with the cool, comforting “Montego Bay,” with a likeable, shuffling beat, though “Tswana Dub” is where the album really starts to move, diving headfirst into oceans of ambient textures and hypnotic, head-nodding beat, before moving into the equally epic “Intrusion Dub,” led by a pumping 4/4, reverbed harmonica, crackly keyboard stabs and clicks.

The final two tracks seem to solidify the journey the listener has just been taken on, feeling reflective and contemplative. “Little Angel” features Paul St. Hilaire on vocals, in a soothing, emotional tune. The album closer, “Under The Ocean,” emphasizes haunting minor chords and eerie, meditative melodies and textures, devolving into a whispery silence.

“The Seduction Of Silence,” Hitchell’s full-length debut, is an enjoyable, impressive aural journey, slogging through the more watery depths of one’s mind

Tim Pratt

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Tags: Basic Channel, Dub techno

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