Alliance Rose Croix: Alliance Rose Croix

It’s hard to argue that art’s darkest terrains are the most fertile during these increasingly precarious times. Despite many artists being entrenched in this space, it’s those voices who arrive from different places that truly illuminate it.

Enter Alliance Rose Croix – the new collaboration consisting of Bell Witch’s Dylan Desmond and Nonconnah’s Magpie Corsa. Said to be inspired from the Order of the Solar Temple suicide / murders of the ’90s, whether Desmond and Corsa’s interpretation of drone can reach the point of maximalism is an interesting notion. If so, then on their debut self-titled release, the duo come as close to it than anyone. 

Mastered by Nadja’s Aidan Baker, Alliance Rose Croix sees the duo not just shift the paradigm of drone, but also their own. This oceanic volume, removed from their natural habitats of charred cathedral doom (Desmond’s Bell Witch) and sci-fi-inspired shoegaze (Corsa’s Nonconnah).

Throughout these two long-form compositions, there’s a push and pull between both artists. A fierce exchange of ideas fraught with danger that eventually sees the pair meeting in the middle. So, where is that middle exactly? A marshland where droning echoes and synth-based dreadscapes form a backdrop of doom tailored for these times.

On Awaiting Transit to Sirus, the duo dispense the kind life-damaged biker drone not a world away from where droneroom explored earlier this decade on Rustic Lung. It’s no coincidence that Blake Conley features at the backend of the piece (under the alter-ego, Cowboy Shit). Having previously worked alongside Corsa as Jesus’ Twin Brother, Conley’s embellishments of rustic twang and acoustic brushes create an extra layer of sorrow indicative of the piece.

It’s not before Desmond and Corsa stamp their mark, and perhaps like never before. The pair, starting with glistening synth and guitar interplay, before heaving tonality and crushing bass weight hits like an avalanche. Malice from the ground level rather than the kind of summon from the void that Sunn O))) have built a career on. However, despite their search and destroy mission, with such a forlorn ending, oddly enough, it calls upon the same earthy emotional pull as Corsa’s work alongside David Colohan as Look To The North for their 2023 release, A Shadow Homeland.

On White Star of Vercors, Desmond and Corsa make their intentions much clearer, with a malignant-spirited wall-shaking drone that drags you to the edge of the abyss. It’s only Corsa’s gooey synths that keep you from falling in, despite still struggling for equilibrium.

It’s the sound of warfare and its aftermath. Both pieces, dynamically underpinned by the drone, and while they differ in feel, their nexus comes by way of the fact that both rumble all the way to your core. Again, perhaps that’s the design of maximalism, and on Alliance Rose Croix, Desmond and Corsa are the architects of an accurate and sinister demonstration of it.

Alliance Rose Croix is out now via Cruel Nature Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.