Album Review: Disseriph - Warp Tunnel

Album Rating: A-

Personally, I would not call growing up a fear, but it is definitely something I am wary of. I have accepted that it is going to happen, but while I am not afraid of it, it is something that keeps me wondering. Sometimes I stop and contemplate what I'm going to think of myself ten years from now. Surely I will probably look at myself and reflect on how foolish and naive I was at this age, but will I stay the same at all? While listening to the opener of Disseriph's debut release, Warp Tunnel, it really makes me ponder the exact same things about my future. "Sorta Grown Up" begins with the verse "so far away from my past, I'm looking at it through a telescope/and down this tube of refracted light, see myself waving to a future me", which paints the exact image of me sitting down, thinking about what it will be like when I'm ten years older while sitting down and seeing myself sit down ten years ago and think about what I will be like when I'm ten years older.

Surely Adam Kaniper, the one man behind Disseriph (and guitarist for New Jersey's Insouciant) feels the exact same way in the lyrics to "Sorta Grown Up". Growing up is a strong theme throughout Warp Tunnel's brief but brilliant eight minute timespan. Throughout its run time Kaniper combines common nostalgic occurrences with often whimsical lyrics, such as on "Philadelphia to Hackettstown", where he sings "It's a fact cookies taste better on the road that leads home to you". Another very striking aspect of Kaniper's music is his extremely crafty guitar work. Warp Tunnel was recorded live with just a lone microphone on a wooden chair (assuming that a picture of said recording set up on Facebook captioned "disseriph studios" means that how the recording was done), which adds a raw, unaltered emotion to both the vocals and the guitar playing. Kaniper picks and taps out some of the craftiest and intricate riffs while simulteneously singing and yelling, most notably on the last thirty or so seconds of "Live Like Yr Alive", when a flurry of notes fly by while he sings "love yourself, and make your instrument".

Warp Tunnel is an incredibly solid and impressive debut for Disseriph, considering the conditions it was recorded under and it's briefness. In just under eight minutes Kaniper summarizes the adult realizations of your gone or passing youth (Sorta Grown Up), the rewarding joys of visititing a distant significant other (Philadelphia to Hackettstown), and just about any other notable emotional occurences throughout your youth. But if anything, Warp Tunnel is extremely promising and shows us that Kaniper has some great things in store, whether it be under Disseriph or Insouciant.

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01 - Sorta Grown Up
02 - Live Like Yr Alive
03 - Philadelphia to Hackettstown
04 - Warp Tunnel