Scott Monteith comes out from behind his Deadbeat moniker for the first time in 20 years to inaugurate a new project with Italian singer Letizia Trussi under the name Ark Welders Guild. Their first salvo, Mons Clepsydra, is a 1 hour durational ambient piece in four parts. Peaceful and severe, contemplative and grave, the track takes its inspiration from the mountain element and reflects on the relativity of our time - rock and hourglass; it delves into the concept of the sublime, intended in its broad philosophic and aesthetic sense - encompassing beauty and threat.
Part I introduces the variably stratified, meditative om-like pulse and the dilated sound of strings from Monteith's frequent collaborators Sophie Trudeau and Marten Vos that mark the entire piece. Trussi's voice appears in part II as a language finding itself through the experience of its possible mechanics, dynamics, rhythms, expressions, and modulations.
Given the gift of word, the lyrics in part III make explicit nature’s chagrin at the impending failure of her human children. Through earthy images and low-register earthquakes, the third section tells of the finiteness of human life against the expanded time of its home planet. Enraged and yet undisturbed, this rightfully detached mother reigns again alone in part IV, with its telluric sounds and bass vibrations.