Kevin Drumm’s »Neither Here Nor There« is a boundless, unrelenting exploration of liminal, untethered drone compositions that sit somewhere between presence and absence. Over the course of over 2 hours, intricate micro-shifts in texture unfold into an unceasing, nearly oppressive, contemplative limbo.

Compiled and released via Vaagner both digitally in remastered form and as a special triple cassette edition on its Vaknar sister label, the expansive set highlights some of Drumm’s most dense, meditative and wholly captivating drone work, all of which was produced and self-released during a short yet fruitful tenure between 2018 and 2019.

Predominantly known and acclaimed for his noise work, what’s immediately becomes striking about »Neither Here Nor There« is its commitment to minimalism—not in the conventional sense, but as a focused intensity that explores the boundaries of what (drone) music can achieve, fluctuating at times between endurance test and religious experience, where sustained movements with intricate textural variations and minute adjustments take on almost revelatory properties through the consistency of Drumm’s vision.

In the end, there’s an undeniable quality of ritual to this release, an exploration of the existential space between being and nothingness, with »Neither Here Nor There« perfectly encapsulating this unmoored condition, leaving us, the listener in an ever oscillating state of quiet tension and sublime dissonance.