LogFAQs > #955534533

163. Burial Archangel (2007)
from the album Untrue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k_f2QK77ew

Burials Archangel exists at the intersection of so many sounds. Though an early dubstep hit, it blurs together elements of ambient to create an unsettling atmosphere. The frantic beat unnervingly collides against a glacial wall of electronic despair, a choir lost like ghosts in a machine. The result is something anxiety-inducing. Archangel evolves like a slow eruption, the ambient elements shifting ever upward. Little effects give a corrupted quality, as if the recording is on the verge of disintegrating as it plays. This track successfully covers the two extremes of electronic, its ambient architecture playing unpredictably against a steadfast beat.

Alongside the tense drum pattern, Archangel is held together by stunning yet simple R&B samples. The lines are generic feel-good phrases, but distorted into desperation. The result is something like a lover begging their partner not to go, the music capturing their growing dread. There are plenty of electronic tracks exploring similar unease, but Archangel features an emotional density few songs manage. Burial says so much with nothing more than a handful of stock phrases and pitch modulation. There are plenty of songs with a similar vibe, but the overall production on Archangel has placed it in a league of its own.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/