ECHTRA

BardO

TEMpLE OF TORTUROUs Existential adventures with an eye on the sublime Echtra is the solo project of the Pacific North West’s Joshua Phillips, a man in pursuit of transcendence. Recorded in 2008, BardO is only now seeing physical release. It’s divided into two 23-minute rituals, the second part of a triptych exploring man’s passage to the immaterial. BardO I is a waltzing lament, solipsism fleshed out with lo-fi, tremolo-picked black metal static as Joshua bares his soul with a hollowed out bellow. BardO II thrusts into the beyond, a roaring chasm whose rattling percussion threatens to become all-consuming as it builds up towards a deafening close. BardO offers no answers for our existential plight, but provides fertile thought space for those with the will to seek them.