Christ

There's an immediate urge to say something snarky such as, "Oh, look, it's the second coming" when first introduced to Liquid Chris H., the Scottish electrocoustic composer known singularly as Christ. But on Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle, Christ's debut full-length (following the 2002 PylonesqueEP), clichés can't describe this murky, cavernous marvel.

That's not to say certain aspects of Miracle aren't familiar. Any review would be remiss in ignoring Christ's writing credit on Boards of Canada's debut EP, Twoism. Similar to BoC, wobbly, detuned nebulas of synths are its breath and breadth. Miracle's chords yawn, exhaling transfixing twilight vistas. Swooning swaths of crystalline chimes are buoyed by the reverberating raggedness of sputtering shuffle beats (a cursory nod to Autechre). The gummy beats -- crisp tendrils that are almost prismatic in the way they aurally shimmer -- command such a presence while they scuttle that they're nigh tactile ticks.

Miracleis an utterly enveloping, womblike listen. At times nearly religious in its unfolding subtleties, it shows Christ has indeed risen ... to the challenge of composing compelling tenets.