INSECT ARK is an electronic Experimental/Doom duo from Brooklyn, New York. I did the same thing, and sighed thinking "oh, geezh... experimental music huh." It dawned on me that I had no reason for that attitude. INSECT ARK's "Portal / Well" mocked my attitude and prejudice and transformed it into an appreciation of its genre, not by subtle suggestion, but rather, by sonic waves of feverish hypnotic, textural beats and sedation, holding my subconscious and waving through it, channelling it away from my spatial-temporal setting and into an ethereal experience I never knew I longed to escape to. I actually felt something unique listening to "Portal / Well." This is not however a reflection on the whole album, for there were some songs I felt aware what I was listening too, and I was looking from the outside noticing things about the said song, rather than, ideally, experiencing looking at the experience from within the experience. I know, difficult and tedious concept, I am not the distinguished writer to articulate it, but the nature of the album calls for an attempt. So, lets go into some detail.

The album kick starts with "Portal / Well," which never fully encapsulated my hypnotic experience. It introduced the electronic, melancholic yet entrancing tones and synths and the bass guitar was superb in its ability to drive the song and hypnosis. "The Collector" is where the magic happens, as the drum beats hooks you in, thrumming along with a foot stomping dance with the base, circled by synthetic tones that keep their distance, some passing through the dancing circle of drums some making a beeline, but then ultimately, turning away distancing themselves. The beat keeps the passion and the synthetic tones add the ethereal melancholia and estrangement. The contrast between the drum and bass and the synths was addictive and entrancing, and I found myself seeping into a dark and very strange day dream and the song carried through me. A collector of those uncanny thoughts, surfacing them to be experiences then snuggled back down in the recessed of the brain/mind, almost shameful, as the song ends.

"Lowlands" is more subtle, and not as feverishly entrancing. You are cautious now of the effects. The synthetic tones tease you. I waned in and out. This song has a sound and tone that makes you feel hollow and empty, a remarkable effect. "Octavia" had a dullish feel, not offering much different. It has a fantastic gradual progression and seems to get louder, and as the drum and bass increased their tempo the song started to claim my whole attention and once more I forgot where I was. I think this kind of song would suit a kind of scene from a dystopian film. It has a sadness, almost estranging. The dullishness at the beginning pays off, and in the context of the song, essential for the build-up.

"Crater Lake" has warmer synths and are not so ice-like and estranging. But they have a frost. It is not a long song, and it ends succinctly. I wake up to it ending - a testimony to its excellent function of placing me in that nether region! "Low Moon" is the final track and culminates interestingly. There is no bass or drums, that had that circular entrancement, yet this song still hypnotises the mind, and casts a dark fog that which slows down everything and allows of an introspective awareness of the aural experience. There was a peacefulness, as if I had gotten used to the strangeness of the dystopian soundscape. The lack of beat lets the synths speak for themselves, are they are not so dark, just different. Primal, is the word. And that's okay.

I think ultimately, "Portal / Well" does a lot of things to the mind of its listener. It opens up peacefulness, emptiness, estrangement, loneliness', fantasies and hypnosis. It is an album worthy of listening. And this was just my first listen.