The idea of artwork playing a crucial role in an album as a whole seems gloriously old-fashioned these days, but having recorded parts of Torpor in one of the few remaining medieval halls in Britain, you get the feeling that’s one of the reasons Baron crammed a coldly evocative short story of past times into the booklet.
Like a perfect spice added to a sauce, it brings the music within to life, the post-rock and Krautrock-influenced melodies droning to hypnotic effect, the vocals coming across as an incantation, and the drums set as a heartbeat. The primal Stry, in particular, builds to a magical crescendo of extraordinary power. Stirring stuff.
