Wind’s Poem / Wind's Poem

Phil Elverum — the sole member of Mount Eerie — wanders broad vistas of grim beauty on 2009’s Wind’s Poem where he veers towards the forbidding regions of black metal to fashion Wagnerian noise-curtains out of synthesizers, feedback and percussion. “Wind’s Dark Poem,” “The Hidden Stone” and “The Mouth of Sky” unleash torrents of crushing decibels invoking images of storm-battered landscapes. Elverum contrasts such pieces with quietly melodic songs like “My Heart is Not at Peace” and “Between Two Mysteries,” which wrap pagan-like musings within soft, ghostly tones. Fans of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks will recognize echoes of Angelo Badalamenti’s haunting score in the misty strains of “Ancient Questions.” While the album’s overall mood is fairly grim, there’s a sense of spiritual awe present in such meticulously-constructed tracks as “Through the Trees” and “Stone’s Ode” that lift the album beyond mere bleakness. This is serious stuff, demanding at times, but potentially transformative to the right set of ears.