Halo

This is a four-track solo release by Blind Idiot God guitarist Andy Hawkins, produced by Bill Laswell with occasional contributions from BIG bassist Gabe Katz. There are no drums; Hawkins’ guitar — a mix of dragstrip riffing, post-metal shred, and massive outbursts of thunderhead noise like Keiji Haino dueling with Neil Young — floats in space, surrounded by very subtle synth drones and samples of Tibetan throat-singing monks and evocative dialogue snippets from Apocalypse Now. The cumulative effect is like floating down a slow-moving river in darkness as the world explodes and burns around you. The louder you play it, the better it sounds; ideally, you want the sonic pressure to build up to the point that your ears are popping and you’re sweating through your shirt.