As often as the old adage cautions us not to judge a [record] by its cover, sometimes the graphic representation of the album is dead on. In the case of Dreams Drenched in Static, the docile images of water, grasses, and rocks have been violently torn and pasted into a disorienting collage. This is a fitting visual for the sounds present on this record. They might not be too disorienting on their own, but they’re chopped and stretched and pasted together in a way that feels abrasive. Yet beneath the white noise and feedback is a calmness that’s almost tender.

At first blush, it appears to be steeped in harshness. The mix is swollen and clipped, a sheen of distortion over every element—even at its quieter moments. Bursts of noise sputter in the space between chords, the drums reduced to washes of distortion and subsonic pulses. Project mastermind Zen Zsigo’s voice occasionally explodes into black-metal screams that are warped to the point of being incomprehendible. Much of the album was created using heavily modified tape recorders and circuit-bent keyboards in conjunction with field recordings, pianos, and guitars wrapped in effects so thick they’re unrecognizable.

But at a point, the harshness of the soundscape stops being abrasive and becomes almost comforting, like the comforting embrace of the snow after an avalanche or the otherworldly weightlessness of drowning. It’s worth mentioning that Zsigo nearly drowned several years ago—this near death experience gives a clear lens to view the aural chaos through.

Because beneath the overexposed blasts of noise saturating the record, Zsigo’s sense of songcraft and composition is practically delicate. Hidden beneath the abrasive elements are ballads that are as moving as they are gentle. With more conventional production, these could be arresting pop tracks. But with the production being what it is, it’s a far deeper experience.

In a lot of ways, his balance of harshness and tenderness reminds me of doomgaze It-band Holy Fawn, but without indulging in as much wall-of-noise catharsis or seismic dynamic shifts. I’ve already described it to a few people as “if Holy Fawn was a bedroom project,” but that comparison is more of feel than sound. It’s certainly a challenging record, but there is a rich reward for those willing to take the plunge.

Dreams Drenched in Static is out April 15th through The Flenser.

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