Fencepest is a collaboration between fencepost and Pestzone. I had reviewed previous releases by each and enjoyed them, so I was interested to see how this would turn out, even though they seem to be the same person running both projects based on the Bandcamp page. In one review, I wrote, “If Fencepost was going for maximum creepiness, they nailed it.” In another review, I wrote, “Pestzone manages to evoke a sense of existential dread without resorting to cheap gimmicks like horror movie samples or jump scare noises.” You can understand why I thought that this would be a good combination, right? So let’s see what’s happening in the garden, shall we?

We kick it off with “bloom_II,” which is heavy cinematic ambience. This would be perfect for a suspense movie. You're in the dark, but you know that you're not alone. Waves of cascading sounds and ambient noise. Nice. “decay_XIII” keeps this cinematic feeling going, but the conflict is now on and the antagonist has revealed themselves. Pulsing bass with crashing noises surround you. “bloom_I” is spacey and dark. To keep the story going, the conflict is over, but everyone is wounded. You have survived, but at what cost? It would almost be peaceful if it were not so unsettling. With “decay_XIV,” you thought that the conflict was over, didn't you? There are still unseen forces that seek your demise hiding in the forest. You think that you can almost make out their eyes, but you're not sure if it is just your imagination. The sounds of malevolent bird songs ring in your ears. “bloom_VIII” is a bit grittier, featuring drone with just a bit of distortion. There is a lot going on here, which keeps it interesting. “decay_III” is a bit more chaotic and noisy. This is not to say that this is harsh noise, but imagine the cacophony of a high school band warming up, then run it through some reverb and you are heading in the right direction. This mellows out at times, but the overall feel is chaotic. “bloom_XI” is a bit more subdued, like the previous track has been totally fuzzed out and dissolved into a wall of sound. It's still gritty, but with a little less edge to it. “decay_XVII” is like a cow mooing (trombone or trumpet actually) with subterranean drones and other snippets of noises that sounds like heavily processed field recordings. This one went on a bit longer than it needed to though.

Somehow, they managed to attenuate the creepiness of their previous albums. But the overall result is still more than the sum of both band’s parts. Overall, if you want something that will serve as good background music to the soundtrack of your life, this is one to pick up. This album weighs in at around 70 minutes, so there is a lot to sink into.