Best of 2009 (albums) #10 William Fowler Collins - Perdition Hill Radio (Type)

The 2000s were the decade of the drone. No other musical form permeated the soundworld as much as that primordial sound. Some of the most successful indie rockers, like Animal Collective and Deerhunter, built pop songs on top of the drone. Noise artists, for the most part, pretty much just played the drone really loud. Metal birthed it's most viable genre since the advent of thrash, death and black metal as a result of the drone. The drone was everywhere. Unfortunately over the past couple of years the actual art of the drone has fallen on hard times. A survey of year-end lists from the early to middle aughts would reveal a bevy of drone luminaries such as Campbell Kneale, Peter Wright, Mirror, Phill Niblock, William Basinski, to name but a few. Over the last couple of years it has been hard to find a drone release worth latching onto, most have simply rehashed what has already been done and to lesser effect. The same cannot be said for "Perdition Hill Radio."

William Fowler Collins' blacked drones moves the ball forward in much the same way that Tim Hecker's "Harmony in Ultraviolet," did a few years back. But whereas Hecker switched things up by adding elements of doom and electronica to the mix, Collins keeps things minimal. Like Hecker, though, Collins has crafted a full length sonic journey that one travels from beginning to end. While each piece can stand on its own and still provide an immersive experience, this is a record of epic scope that needs to be heard as a whole.

"The Hour of Red Glare" begins the album with the echoes of war and devastation. What sounds like bomb blasts populate Collins' noisiest drones on the album. What follows is the aftermath of the collapse of all things, and it is as harrowing as one would expect. "Grave Robbing in Texas" and "Dark Country Road" invokes the blackest of nights in a wasteland fit for no man, old or young. All is not lost though, after traversing through more blasted ground with "On Perdition Hill" and "Slow Motion Prayer Circle," the album ends with the beautiful shimmering "The Ghosts of Eden Trail." There is a note of hope, or at least resolution, in "Eden Trail." Whether that means survival and triumph, or the sweet release of death, is best left for each listener to decide. Few albums take you on a journey like this, and even those that attempt to, do not succeed like this.

It has already been said more than a few times that "Perdition Hill Radio" is the musical equivalent of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." I would agree, even though it was never Collins' intention to tie this album to that book in the manner that it has been among critics. Collins had not even read the book before crafting Perdition's sound world. But like McCarthy's masterpiece, this is an album of unrelenting darkness that manages to maintain its humanity throughout. Both are also crafted in a minimalistic manner, yet contain a depth and power not found in lesser works full of sound and fury. Even if it wasn't Collins' intention to create the soundtrack for "The Road," he, like McCarthy, has crafted an album for the aftermath when each survivor will have to decide on their own, and through no faith in external ideas, whether or not anything is worth saving. If the warm heart that beats throughout "Perdition Hill Radio" is any indication, there may still be hope among all the ashes.

Listen to "Perdition Hill Road" here