SKY SHADOW OBELISK

Sky Shadow Obelisk is the one-man band of Peter Scartabello, a multi-instrumentalist and avant-garde composer who, under his own name, releases diverse and way impressive avant-classical compositions. However, unlike the other kind-of-long-hair music he plays (the classical stuff), in SSO you won’t be hearing much that evokes Messiaen. Here it’s all about the doom, the artful doom plunked in a long two-song EP framework.

“Ex Oblivione” really had this writer’s ears standing up with its spinning kaleidoscope of dark sounds: raw, dissonant and very Voivod-ian heavy-assed riffs that get overcome by ambient guitar, distorted bass bellows, clicking hand percussion, Slint-like spoken word recitations, clean singing, interstellar fusion/jazz axe solos and death metal shout-sing. “Ex Oblivione” is a killer track indeed; however, the clean singing isn’t delivered as confidently as the adroit guitar and massive death grunts—maybe more voice lessons before the clean vocals stand so nakedly?

Surprisingly, after all the variations of “Ex Oblivione,” the self-titled track is a classic very sloooow doom number throughout—sustaining, slowly shifting power chords and single notes, sandwiched by hellish grunt-sing. A solid, impressive debut and a perfect addition to all the extreme metal albums showing allegiance to H.P. Lovecraft—the EP is dedicated to the Great Old One’s scribe.

—Shawn Bosler of Decibel Magazine

Sky Shadow Obelisk is an experimental doom project from the mind of Rhode Island multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/composer Peter Scartabello. On this self-titled EP and debut release, Scartabello applies his classical training to two tracks totaling over 26 minutes, mixing funeral doom, avant-garde, spoken word, and smatterings of other styles.

The song “Sky Shadow Obelisk” is a monster of minimalist and oppressively forceful funeral doom. Minimalist because it foregoes the keys and melancholic lead guitar that many bands within the style employ, stripping down to just the heavy percussion (the ride cymbal sounds like the ticking of winding-down oblivion) and very heavy, punctuated guitar riffs. Oppressively forceful because the song itself seems reluctant to keep going at times. Scartabello’s vocals are somewhat inconsistent, but luckily his deep death growls, which would be at home anywhere in the genre, are more common than the occasional ill-suited yells. However, this small flaw does little harm to this well written and very well produced song which simultaneously evokes atmosphere and claustrophobia.

Unfortunately, “Ex Oblivione” continues neither the title track’s style nor quality. Dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft, the song is an odd stylistic mix that fails to garner attention until very late, getting to the doom finally at the 12 minute mark. Starting with a strange dissonant rock intro, the song mostly consists of an overlong crescendo that includes long sections of spoken word poetry. While the artistic intent is undoubtedly honest, the results fail to urge repeated listens.

I am curious to see if Scartabello writes a full album under the Sky Shadow Obelisk moniker, and if he does, if it will take on the approach of the first or second song on this EP. A set of songs similar to the title track could potentially position him as a strong new voice within the order of extreme doom.

written by Zack Duvall of metalreview.com

A one-man doom metal project featuring mellotron and recorder is a recipe for disaster more often than not, so it’s something of an exhilaration to note that this not only acquits itself nicely, but lands squarely in the realm of excellent debuts. Pretentious opening sentences like that, incidentally, are made for records like this. Now, the music. Two songs are on offer today and clock in at well over twelve minutes apiece, with the first, bearing the project’s namesake, hewing more closely to more traditional Peaceville Three doom. Slow, dragged out riffs, sorry-to-exist death growls, tolling bells and the lingering whiff of mournful, sour melodies. Great stuff. The second, “Ex Oblivione,” is a more ambitious work, and is both better and worse for it. It begins with a more uptempo doom rumble ala Witchfinder General or Cathedral’s “Midnight Mountain” before the drums and guitars drop out completely, giving way to swirling mellotron and spoken-word Lovecraft passages, a veritable ‘60s prog/psych cornucopia fantasia extravaganza. If this caught me in a different mood, it might strike me as a steaming vat of bullshit, but I’m totally on board for now. General practitioner Peter Scartabello employs a handful of guest musicians on this thing for guitar solos and the odd vocal passage, but otherwise this is entirely his baby (right down to the real drums!), and for that the Rhode Islander should receive the lion’s share of credit. And so he has.

-written by Matthew Kirshner for http://www.tartareandesire.com

CAST

    "Put your hand on my forehead and whisper the signal is getting stronger. . .in my ear - not performance instruction but actually the title of Peter Scartabello's meditative work for solo guitar, here played by Ben Moran. Rhode Island based Scartabello's strength is his subtle, imaginative feel for textures that seamlessly mesh into something greater than their individual parts. His 1997 Cast for string quartet is a mournful piece, with a soundworld balanced somewhere between late Schubert quartets and Morton Feldman. The Charleston Quartet play with remarkable stillness and control, and the disc ends with Electro-Magma for bass clarinetist accompanied by miscellaneous metallic rattles."

-a review of the cd Cast by Philip Clark from the August 2004 issue of THE WIRE(UK).

HOGG

"Hogg bring insane heaviness from Providence, R.I. straight to your skull. Lurching rhythms and glass-gargling vocals pound the competition into hamburger. Metal-heads will definately be living high on the Hogg."

-a review of the cd Hogg by one of the editors from DOWNLOAD.COM.

Leng Jin by ANECHOIC

"Anechoic is another guitar and drums duo, comprising Peter Scartabello and John Lima, although (in distinction to the above) I sense that their Leng Jin CD (YUGGOTH RECORDS 009) may veer more towards windy and spacey avant-rock with a vaguely dark vibe, as suggested by titles like ‘Deathstar Gamma Burst’. However, they’re from the ultra-hip Rhode Island (home of Lightning Bolt) and their record label name is something H P Lovecraft would savour as he mouthed it with his thin, pale lips."

-not sure what to think of this review of the cd Leng Jin by Ed Pinset of THE SOUND PROJECTOR(UK).

"According to their press release, Anechoic “formed primarily as a place of spiritual nourishment in a growing wasteland of modern music.” Wow. To begin with, I wasn’t sure if I should read this statement as pretentious or just totally badass. However, after listening to their disc, I’m inclined to think that these badasses may be onto something.

On their sophomore disc, Anechoic delivers an album of solid, skillful instrumentals. At the core is guitarist John Lima and drummer Peter Scartabello. Some cello and clarinet are thrown into the mix as well, to good effect. The album moves between atmospheric, freeform sounds and more concrete syncopated styles that seem positively jazz-like. The tracks “Deathstar Gamma Burst” and “Aqueous Suspension” in particular revolve around extremely tight rhythms and arrangements. Coincidentally, these are the tracks where the cello and clarinet appear.

The rhythmic tracks are good, but to me, the best songs on the disc are the looser sounding ones where the group gets back to its drum and guitar core. Anechoic does a great job juxtaposing dissonant guitars against bursts of both heavy and ethereal percussion sounds. On the last two tracks of the album in particular you can sense this chemistry between the players. I think I would have liked to have heard more of these freeform types of songs from Anechoic, but I can’t deny that both the chaotic and controlled sounds are good listening."

-another review of Leng Jin by Matt Blackall of FOXY DIGITALIS.