Genre: Industrial/ Ambient/ Phonography/ Drone/ Noise

Tracklist:

01 Fuzz At The Edges
02 Warped Reaches
03 Underbelly
04 Static Surfer
05 Pulsegrain
06 Foiled
07 Artificial Surf
08 Brightness
09 Sessile

Mystified is the intensely prolific project of Thomas Park,  Mystified is a minimal ambient project which has also spanned a lot of genres within itself such as, phonography, drone industrial and noise.

Foiled Again is a Minimal Ambient Noise release that at first revels in low level atmospheric drones. Track one Fuzz at the Edges starts with atmospheric sounds – drones and the sound of trickling water. The lovely sound of nature, a comforting sound, drones raise to slightly high tone, dancing around deeper drones; without trying to sound funny, a lead drone backed by bass drone; A nice ballet of three sounds. Warped Reaches begins a singular drone, complimented by a more tonal drone, beginning a pleasant meditative feel to Foiled Again. However eventually, there is an ominous distant darkness there which does not materialise, this is good the mind is beginning to anticipate, am I being foiled? This adds a noteworthy conceptual touch to the disc. Darkness lingers but is never full released at this point. On Underbelly; water returns in drops playing with the atmospheric hum, the hum changing in presence throughout the track. Mystifieds minimalism is strict in it’s limitations to the amount of elements used to create an atmosphere, but manages this without being boring. Static Surfer revolves a drone like progression around a low level static continuation, the drone surfs the static and it is good to see a relevant title/track combination. The static appears tunnel like in parts; the drone progression is the static element, never changing, wow, brain pumping minimalism. Pulsegrain; a tunnelling static of a different tone to...Surfer and deeper Tibetan sounding drone intertwine; the feel is subtle and steady, at this point. Things do deepen in sound, slightly.

Foiled a low level beat, static and an overbeat of static now shift Foiled Again’s operative elements, this is a more roots industrial percussion, not to dance to, but it has jolted the atmosphere into an oddly different yet similar purgatory. The static changes to offer a change throughout, is the static a loop of grain being poured to metal and pulsed by the beat, clever humoured titling. There is a metallic feel to everything, was there a title muddled up, or was I foiled again… During Artificial Surf; A sea waves like sound is punctuated by a looped tinny percussive sound, a weedy splash, or artificial surf? Brightness; percussive shimmering and looped hisses demonstrate Foiled Again's shift from a kind of plain atmospheric drone to a symphony mainly consisting of low level percussive elements, this track sounds bright. Sessile; the drone returns and shifts to the earlier dreamlike state of the album with a sessile melodic shift behind, both work well together.

Overall Foiled Again tends to use two – three elements, sometimes four to create tracks, what impressed me is I was encouraged to mentally engage with this disc, the titles and tracks actually work together. This is a disc made by someone who thinks like a true artist, they are not just throwing together abstract sounds and giving irrelevant abstract titles. Darkness never materialises, however this is not easy listening, foiled is an exercise of true restraint - marking Mystified as a strong project that holds the viewers concentration. Foiled Again also earmarks Autumn Abattoir as a label that has so far given strong considered releases.