The Aphotic Leech CD that came out on Utech earlier this year was a real surprise...the guy behind this amazing ambient doom project is Nathan
Michael, an experimental music artist that lives right down the road from Crucial Blast HQ. But I didn't even know that Half Makeshift existed until I found
out about the band through Dave Adelson at 20 Buck Spin; when I finally heard the Aphotic Leech disc, I was floored by how good it was, fusing
glitchy, deconstructed electronics to crushing ambient doom metal rumble. With so many bands trying their hand at the whole "ambient doom" thing nowadays,
this was the most interesting stuff I had heard in ages. Anyways, Nathan has apparently been hard at work on new material, 'cuz we not only have a new album
from him on 20 Buck Spin (which we will be listing shortly here at C-Blast), but also this new disc on the new CD-R label Small Doses. Released in a
handnumbered edition of 151 copies and packaged in an attractive handmade sleeve, Final is a more mellow collection of music from Half Makeshift,
with a heavier emphasis on melodic, repeating piano melodies. The first track is a crusher, though: "The First And Second Passing" starts off with almost
total silence, then begins to open up with melodic piano clusters over a distant industrial doom dirge until everything bottoms out and all we are left with
is a somber keyboard melody. A gorgeous piece of heavy, overcast minimalism. "Origin" features another beautifully somber keyboard melody, with deep rounded
resonance almost like he's playing a Fender Rhodes; and towards the end of "Les Livres, ils pleurent" a thick cavernous drone and distant pounding percussion
underscores the dark piano lament. Finally, we have "Final", and the piano playing on this track sounds like it's been processed somehow, a sad
melodiousness melted into a grey wash of rumbling resonant notes and deep reverberating drone. Yes, this is deeply beautiful to my ears, equal parts piano-
driven post rock and cavernous floating sludge. Highly recommended.