'In the Gardens of the North' makes its entrance with 'Rings of Saturn,' a sombre opener with menacing feedback rising in pitch and intensity creeps in over low-slung bass.
After this, however, it all goes horribly wrong. Or, to be more accurate, goes nicely wrong, taking a turn for the nice. Chilled out nice. Laid back loungecore nice. This isn't the way I would have expected the 'DIY punk, experimental-noise ethos at the heart of Sleeping States' to manifest itself (even when fused with classical theories).
Despite the literary influences and inspirations behind many of the tracks, their application has resulted in a collection of songs that's largely self-reflective and dreary, with little by way of change of texture, volume or tempo.
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There are occasional - and in context, extremely unexpected - bursts of noise, such as the squall of feedback that accounts for the first couple of seconds of 'Red King,' but these are few and far between. As such, the album simply washes over the listener, remaining politely in the background without ever demanding one's attention.
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