With Endless Fire is constantly playing with the Promethean substance. Ilyas Ahmed’s latest is ablaze with countless influences, each converging into a strangely hypnotic pop release. You will become a moth, tirelessly returning to this tape (there is a vinyl release as well). Drone into Eastern raga into weird pop medley; it’s a strange flow that will confound, but it ultimately engulfs you in the whitest flames. Ilyas has achieved the unthinkable: turning the complex into the simple. The layers become rubble, revealing an artistic vision fit for a broader audience. Ilyas is Joan of Arc, tied to the stake and set to burn as the English pig dogs revel in their minor victory. Or even larger and more gluttonous, Ilyas is an elegantly set Thanksgiving table, complete with a glistening turducken and the razor-sharp fangs of a family eager to devour the spoils of evenly roasted labor. Fire is indeed endless, and so is With Endless Fire. You’ll never give this up. You can’t, no matter how hot to the touch.
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