(Lost in a Sea of Sound) Words are sometimes a feeble method for describing sonic enigmas. When sounds are catalyzed deep within the conscious and then brought to pristine audible clarity, we think of Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky for example. In current times we are fortunate to have artists shed what is considered music and follow paths filled with rumbling disturbances unheard in the pleasantries of safe abodes. These sounds are not constructed as gleaming polished surfaces on already successful formats, these sounds are the hard work of chopping paths through unexplored jungle. They are the pounding resonance of iron being molded into great tools for hopeful conquest. The incredible beauty within is unfortunately locked away from many listeners, a discordancy of aural heaviness dragged across the listeners conscious. Aural waves begin like a tsunami, easily dislodging listeners caught in the surge areas. Sadly, this is not their fault, we are all susceptible to being caught off guard or unprepared. Illusions of Safety & Z'ev is a listening path most people have sought out, so if you have read this far it will be easy to understand this sonic might is the pinnacles of ice, wind and snow. Harsh, barren and beautiful places that there needs to be some preparation to earnestly understand and savour. As far as the backstory for Illusions of Safety & Z'ev, i will leave that to Arvo Zylo. An excellent thoughtfully descriptive writer with a knowledge base to provide heart felt history and passion. Read Arvo's history of how this album came to be here. This collection of sounds takes strength in how massively pristine it is. Sonic glaciers moving unfathomable amounts of earth, all condensed in the course of an hour. We hear planets being both discovered and destroyed, skies dropping galactic shrapnel, and the last two people on earth playing an instrumental farewell. To say Illusions of Safety & Z'ev is a sonic heavy is easy descriptive word play. Illusions of Safety & Z'ev is the tiny light in the sky that is burning so voluminously bright, we can see it from millions of light years away. This composition is a collaboration of so many people. The clarity and intensity is a testament to this. The labels involved with this release: No Part Of It, Feast Of Hate And Fear, Cipher Productions, Oxidation, Korm Plastics, Drone Records, Personal Archives, Public Eyesore, Tribe Tapes, Liquid Death Records. The links are active above. Some will take you straight to the Illusions of Safety & Z'ev LP and others to the only website reference i could fine. This release is in a count of 350 editions. There are 100 clear and 250 in black vinyl. The record is enclosed in a poly lined paper sleeve and includes a 12in x 24in two sided full color glossy poster. Both clear and black versions are on 140g vinyl. Clear is a little more scarce, but a few labels still have copies if that is what you want. - Ken Lower

(The Wire) In 2008, the legendary percussionist z’ev sent Illusion Of Safety’s Daniel Burke several short recordings of acoustically generated sounds. In a back and forth that lasted four years, the prolific sound artist layered z’ev’s recordings with his own contributions, sculpting the results into two sidelong tracks of soul-rearranging industrial ambience. “A Strategy Of Transformation” opens a holographic portal to an inscrutable yet familiar dreamscape; “Smaller Revolutions” is a gaping maw of human and bird voices, insect chirps, slamming metal and cavernous drone. A decade after its completion, and five years after z’ev’s passing, this inspired collaboration finally gets a vinyl release. - Emily Pothast