Blood Fountains “Floods”
Utech Records
Review by FoxyDigitalis

Stephen Kasner is best known for his skill at oil painting. Perhaps you’ve seen some of his art, if not then check it out. There’s no question that he’s one of the foremost at what he does, and has proved very influential in the art world. He is undoubtedly amazing at what he does. But what unparalleled dark beauty he creates visually is now manifested audibly with his new project, Blood Fountains. “Floods” was released back in August on the noteworthy label, Utech Records. He had done album art for some of the other artists on the label as well. Blood Fountains, however, is the ultimate synesthetic experience. It is the perfect harmony of sound and art. The artwork is stunning and presents to the eye what the CD offers to the ear. It offers the same unparalleled quality that makes every Utech release unique. Chill on the floor and just get lost in Kasner’s own art, especially for “Floods,” while listening to the album itself. Essential experience. You won’t be the same afterwards.

If you could put your ear up against one of his paintings, a track off of “Floods” is what you would hear. It’s like patiently listening to the voice of the sea shell. Shadowy layers drift hither and thither with indecipherable female incantations via Yoshiko Ohara (Bloody Panda) that flow like a drone itself. It feels like you’re walking onto the scene of some primeval pagan ritual with a priestess softly chanting a magical formula in a foggy forest. The focus is undoubtedly fixed on the mood. When one approaches a Kasner on the wall it does something. It morphs your environment into something sinister, mysterious, and ethereal, yet strangely hopeful. It’s all about the impression. And that’s just what these six tracks do. They are a soundtrack to something completely alien…a dreamscape bordering on a nightmare that you could never quite invent. That’s the genius of Kasner in his painting and that’s also the genius of Blood Fountains. It’s hard to think that someone less than divine could knit such an intangible aesthetic creature together and contain it on a canvas, or in this case, a compact disc. Now through the end of the year you can score this disc at the unbelievable price of only $10.00 at Utech’s site. Don’t miss this one! 9/10

— Dave Miller