Folian - Ache Pillars
Folian is the musical project, the brainchild, the sonic offspring, of David Fylstra, who just dropped Ache Pillars.
Folian
Based in Portland, Oregon, prior to creating Folian, Fylstra released his recordings as Wasting Seasons. But he abandoned the Wasting Seasons project in 2017, and gave birth to Folian. Originally from the Northeastern part of Pennsylvania, Fylstra moved to the Northwest in 2015.
Folian’s musical offerings, almost impossible to describe, have to be heard and experienced to be believed and appreciated. It’s intoxicating stuff, luscious, transitory, and gorgeously structured. The sound amalgamates sonic ingredients from metal, drone, shoegaze, and noise into elusively haunting, lingering soundscapes encompassing subjects such as dreams, love, fear, nature, and depression.
Ache Pillars comprises four tracks, the first of which is “Clearing In The Shadows,” opening on eerie, mystical tones, discordant yet entrancing. A reverberating thrum enters, filling the void, like the arrival of a deity. Drifting, dreamy, resonant vocals infuse the tune with phantasmagoric shadows, as layers of industrial synths surface, consuming the soundscape and then flowing seamlessly into “Ghost In The Flesh,” rife with heavy dark energy and subterranean colors.
Listening to Ache Pillars is akin to riding with the prophet Elijah as he ascends to the heavens in his chariot of fire – a magnificent, stunning encounter.
Surging washes of color embrace the harmonics, brimming, dripping, and finally engulfing the tune in thick black, galvanizing tones, as if armies of dead souls are escaping Purgatory. Swooshing waves of opaque strident energy pervade the song’s culmination.
“Gift Of Sorrow” opens on potent flowing hues, stuttering gaps, and swirling vortex-like momentum. A spectral voice echoes as if from a remote distance, imbuing the tune with mystical tones that wane and wax, gathering urgency until subdued by jarring invasions.
The final track, “Where All This Dust Comes From,” travels on flicking guitar tones backed by cavernous throbs of color. A whispering, mirror-like voice emerges in the distance, growing closer and assuming gliding sensations. As the harmonics progress, the tune takes on a keening drone full of spiritual savors, which transition to undulating drones, followed by gleaming tranquility.
Listening to Ache Pillars is akin to riding with the prophet Elijah as he ascends to the heavens in his chariot of fire – a magnificent, stunning encounter.
