"Björn Granzow follows up "In Slow Motion," his acclaimed début for Umor Rex, with another awe-inspiring set of lung-swelling drones as The End of the World Championship. Lushly mastered by Lawrence English and featuring gorgeous artwork by Judith Keller, "For Dear Life" shows off two long shards of crystalline synth drone that open up almost imperceptibly into dark fissures of all-consuming depth. Yet slivers of light are still allowed to penetrate, coming in the form of the innumerable tiny details that squirm below the surface and reveal themselves slowly like unusual organisms from the farthest reaches of the universe caught fleetingly in a sunbeam."
- J&C Tapes
"Björn Granzow, AKA “The End of the World Championship” has been busy. In two months he has released two albums of incredible drone, In Slow Motion being released October 15th 2013, and For Dear Life on December 9th. The debut album featured two twenty minute pieces of monolithic synth-drone. And I mean MONOLITHIC. This is as heavy as it gets. A complete pummeling of your ears and grey matter, this guy just manages to make the most soul shatteringly intense drone. Minimalistic to the extreme, these synth drones reverberate around your skull for the full duration and don’t subside, oscillating tones holding the most of the attention. Their second release, despite also containing two 20 minute pieces, is rather different. While still retaining the heavy synth-drones of the first album, this one seems to focus more on soundscapes and subtle changes all the way along. It’s overall a much more interesting listen than the debut, there’s a lot more to it than the ear-pummeling debut of “In slow Motion”. If anything, if “In Slow Motion” was the vehicle carrying out the apocalypse, crushing life on Earth, “For Dear Life” is the mournful surveying of the destruction left in its wake. In short, for people who like their drone heavy and punishing, look no further than The End of the World Championship."
- Swirls of Noise
credits
released December 9, 2013
Recorded April - June 2013
Mastered by Lawrence English at 158
Artwork by Judith Keller
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