While "Incense At Abu Ghraib" has a horror auteur's knack for intimidation, a shrill whistle barely masking the sound of feet on metal stairs. It's masterful, though it'll leave you feeling like a speck of gravel in self-destructing world. [Nov 2013, p.72]
Hecker's sound signature may still be instantly recognizable, but there is no denying that he has moved significantly farther down the path toward something else with Virgins.
This is an intense, unsettling work from the Canadian musician and if it doesn't quite reach the heights of Ravedeath, it's mostly down to Virgins lacking the fluid album arc of the former and not because the tracks are any less powerful.
Listening to Tim Hecker's "Virgins" is amazing. After a few listens, slowly memorizing the position and elements of each song, it begins toListening to Tim Hecker's "Virgins" is amazing. After a few listens, slowly memorizing the position and elements of each song, it begins to unfold like an epic, or perhaps, like the shadow of one.
It's as wide as a cathedral, haunting as the Catacombs of Paris, ominous as an approaching hurricane, cold as Siberia, glitchy as Windows 95, fractured as a broken spine, scary as a horror film, invasive as a parasite, intelligent as a skyscraper's blueprint, instrumentally varied as Texan geography, glowing as moonlight through stained glass windows, melancholic as peacetime after the war, disquieting as a necropolis... and yet, it remains beautiful throughout.
I enjoyed Tim Hecker's "Ravedeath, 1972" well enough, but "Virgins" speaks to me far more. Stigmata I and II are wonderful together and are perhaps my favorite songs, aside from Virginal I and Virginal II. It's wonderful throughout. Glad I bought it.
Also, just for kicks: compare Rachel's' "Systems Layers" to the song "Black Refractions." It's interesting how similar they are.…Expand
Original Score: 8/10
Reviewed on: 25/10/21
It took me a while to realize this is a perfect record. It's always been quite difficult for meOriginal Score: 8/10
Reviewed on: 25/10/21
It took me a while to realize this is a perfect record. It's always been quite difficult for me to give a completely ambient album a ten as it just didn't seem fair or on par with my other 10's which were 10's for a myriad of factors which usually involve the songwriting, vocals and delivery. But tim Hecker on what is his best album impressed me with his skill,how he manages to craft these vivid foreboding soundscapes reminiscent of obsidian and empty attacks. His music feels very hollow, as if delivered by an inhuman celestial harbinger. The ceenter piece "live room" is a solid higlight I can never skip.
Dark,claustrophobic and peaceful. A great achievement in composing and production. I cannot help but return to this in times of stress. Love this…Expand
Tim hecker really delivers on virgins, the hooks on this album are done very well the track live room is my favorite especially the hooks inTim hecker really delivers on virgins, the hooks on this album are done very well the track live room is my favorite especially the hooks in this wow, this album has a dark feel to it. Track after track tim delivers. This album is put together really well 8/10…Expand
This album is a beautiful listening experience. A journey through a road of amazing sounds. Some are sad, others are tense, while others canThis album is a beautiful listening experience. A journey through a road of amazing sounds. Some are sad, others are tense, while others can actually be called scary. And then there are the calm pieces. Just wonderful. It's why "Black Refraction" is my favorite track. It feels almost like a meditation.
I enjoyed this album more than its predecessor, which is still good in its own right.…Expand
The kind of album that makes you have deeper reflections on what should actually be and represent any other music album.
I had the impressionThe kind of album that makes you have deeper reflections on what should actually be and represent any other music album.
I had the impression that Tim Hecker chose certain sound movements for this project and then diffracted them again and again in various ways. Of course there are numerous floating and transitional moments but it is only to come back harder and with more originality. Unfortunately there were just too many of it for myself. Time is way too often suspended in my opinion. But I can't take out those pure transitions though, as the beginning of 'Black Reflection' appear to be.
Indeed this LP manages to invoke powerful and varied emotions in us during the listens. It sometimes feels poetic, rushed, dark, contemplative and derivative at the same time. And surely words would not have been enough to describe it all better than 'Virgins' did.
It is a questioning effort. But the several listens I had of it just made me realize the major highlight of what I could call shallowness and repetitiveness.…Expand
I find this to be totally unlistenable and hard to really quantify as "music". It's more like a bunch of annoying noises layered over eachI find this to be totally unlistenable and hard to really quantify as "music". It's more like a bunch of annoying noises layered over each other in random ways. There are many who will bend over backward to convince themselves that they "get" this album, and try to seem "sophisticated" by liking it. I will not be one of those hipsters.…Collapse