The world can be a vacuum of negative space. Dominick Fernow aka Vatican Shadow returns to the fold with 12 tracks selected from his six cassette box set released on his own Hospital Productions label in 2014. The material moves from dark industrial techno to ice cold drones backed by Fernow’s uncomplicated rhythms. You get a sense that everything is decaying as you’re listening to it. Different tones dissolve into themselves, while certain percussive elements sound like mere memories of what they once were. This is dim and clouded material, a perfect fit for Modern Love’s post industrial aesthetic. There’s a foggy patina that ties everything together in a way that only Fernow can. Not for the faint of heart, but rewarding for anyone audacious enough to follow Vatican Shadow as he makes his descent.

• sourced from the six cassette box set of the same name
• green and transparent yellow vinyl pressing
• limited to 300 copies
• music label: Modern Love 2015

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 05/2015