ameokama – i will be clouds in the morning and rain in the evening | Album Review

On her debut solo album, ameokama burrows deep into her weird side, discarding the chains of genre and convention for a captivating and challenging experience.

Aki McCullough has never been one to be held down by what the masses might consider acceptable or accessible. With an impressive resume which includes progressive sludge band A Constant Knowledge Of Death and modern skramz trailblazers Dreamwell, McCullough has reimagined herself under the moniker ameokama. Ready to unleash her unhinged combination of slowcore, noise, shoegaze and ambient on the world with her debut album i will be clouds in the morning and rain in the evening.

Take this as a warning, i will be clouds in the morning and rain in the evening is not for the faint of heart. From the very beginning of the album’s opening track ‘My Fears Have Become Fetishes’ the listener is beaten with a barrage of clashing guitars, fuzzed-out bass stabs and overlapping vocals in a disorienting maelstrom of noise. Genres are gathered and carelessly discarded with elements of industrial, hardcore, hyper-pop and cybergrind making appearances throughout the track only to be absorbed into the whirlwind of chaotic noise.

Except for the drums and a handful of instrumental parts, McCullough handles all the instrumentation and production herself, injecting the album with a unique and consistent voice despite all the lawless genre-mixing. Whether through the techno inspired industrial of ‘Phantom Cock’ the minimalist, experimental folk of ‘Ravensong’, the feedback-fuelled ambience of ‘Cluster B’ or the blackgaze meets pop-rock of ‘I Am Driving A Car With A Cute Girl And Pretending That The World Isn’t Ending’, each track sounds entirely like ameokama. Each track offers a new surprise and never feels disconnected or messy, instead coming together like a brilliantly mismatched collage.

The track ‘Izanami’ stands out as one of the more expansive experiences. Opening with an unassuming acoustic guitar backed by lilting clean vocals, which quickly unfurls into a screeching ten minute post-black metal odyssey complete with throat-ripping vocals and unpredictable, discordant guitar lines. Sharing more in common with the work of Pupil Slicer or Ihshan than some of the other tracks on the album. While there certainly isn’t one specific sound on the album that represents ameokama in her entirety, each moment, whether through blistering noise, delicate acoustic or energetic techno, feels perfectly suited to her unique point of view.

The closing track ‘Gila River’ reveals yet another side to this project, with a gracefully crafted, piano-led experimental track bringing a contemplative end to the album. Giving Nordic Giants a run for their money, ameokama builds the album’s eleven-minute finale up from a gentle solo piano melody to a dense fog of noise layered with subtle saxophone, guitar and upright bass covered by a cloud of intense, feedback-fuelled static. Where many of the album’s tracks jolt the listener into a state of hyper-awareness with a tornado of dynamic stabs, ‘Gila River’ instead envelops them into an immersive world of competing textures, leading them along through a solid central through line.

On her debut album ameokama proves herself as an assertive genre-bending force, as confident with extreme metal as she is with folk, industrial, ambient or pop. While I Will Be Clouds In The Morning And Rain In The Evening may not be ready for prime-time radio ameokama demonstrates her talent at crafting a song for any occasion.