Endless Chasm – Dweller on the Threshold
10.6.17 by Ryan Masteller

You are NOT going to fuck with me, Endless Chasm! You and I both know that I’m obsessed with TWIN PEAKS, and the only reason I’m reviewing this is the connection of “Dweller on the Threshold” to that show. I mean, that’s not totally true I guess – I can dig your harsh ambient vibes coursing through my headphones. It WAS the entry point though, so it’s me and you and a copy of season 3 that I have to rewatch now once it hits home video formats (available December 5!). You guys watch it too? I’m going to have to slap on a big ol’ SPOILER ALERT right here then, because Endless Chasm is forcing me to indulge the worst impulses of my Twin Peaks fandom (once again) even though I know none of you can respond to me and so this is basically an exercise in frustration. Still, let’s roll with it.

Side A is “White Lodge” (there it is!), and no amount of Giants or Firemen or ????????? is going to provide a satisfactory answer to the nature of the supernatural location. And guess what? That’s OK. I’ve evolved as an ingester of pop culture to the point that I don’t need the answers – my philosophy suggests that the questions are what will drive me to be a better and more complete individual. But that still doesn’t mean I can’t speculate. And Endless Chasm explores the sonic architecture surrounding this this place that is situated on a different plane of existence, much like David Lynch has taken great care to build his scenes around audible cues. Anyone who’s witnessed episode 3.8 understands the great importance of the work of the White Lodge, yet its deliberate and elongated actions call for exactly this type of soundtrackery – compositional fortitude that doesn’t get in its own way.

There’s no “White Lodge” without “Black Lodge,” and although Badalamenti’s shuffly jazz is what has propelled scenes set there in the past, it’s much more terrifyingly appropriate with Endless Chasm’s minor-key drone hovering above the chevron floor. The nature of the Black Lodge has been teased, its origin suggested, but the mystery of the place remains, and the mystery of “Black Lodge” deepens the further into the track we get. Feedback and noise overpower the drone, and I’m one “Gotta light?” from flipping my lid and getting the hell out of here. It’s about now that I notice the distorted (forest?) image on the cover of this tape, and now I’m worried about vortices and convenience stores and garmonbozia when I should really be calling it a night and getting a little shuteye. But that ain’t happening. That ain’t happening with “Dweller on the Threshold” still occupying my attention. It looks like your work here is done, Endless Chasm – I’m a seething mess who can’t shake the feeling of “The Return,” and your tape is enabling my unhealthy obsession. Did you know that I’m a serial theory reader? Wanna hear my favorite? Episodes 3.17 and 3.18 are meant to be watched simultaneously! Holy Jesus Zaireeka Christ! It makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE that way.

Whatever the hell, I don’t know, buy this tape from This Ain’t Heaven Recording Concern, because why wouldn’t you at this point?