A little Organum talk...
Amen struck me in a similar way to Harmoniumwerk by Nitsch: not quite there, a bit shallow in texture, and superficially angelic. The repetitive vocals change the entire soundscape, causing it to be on the tedious side. It isn't the subject matter, or even word, only that it does nothing to add to the character of the album. Maybe that was the point, that religious matters don't add character to life. I don't know. One of the least impressive Jackman works in my memory.
Sorow, though ambient and not noisy, takes Jackman back to the incredibly rich, deep-imaging, gorgeous timbres and textures of Desola. A labyrinth in which to get lost. This is the kind of work that benefits extraordinarily from a good stereo system. The type of sonics that will fill every molecule of air and every recess of a room. It's not suffocating. It's not airy. It's plush, full, majestic, and a true resonator. One of those albums that leaves me with the great confusion of what to play next..."nothing" is the answer...because there isn't much out there that can follow such skilled work and leave me as satisfied. My only complaint is that in the peaks of the swells, it sounds like a bad burn; a digital glitch/clicking type sound. It's throughout the disc. At times, its easy to ignore, but it's always there to irritate. Unfortunate, to say the least.
