The general 'arc' of artistic output has always fascinated me: some artists release perhaps one or two seminal releases, only to disappear into the aether and never do anything ever again. Others continue to dish out output well past its shelf life, and then there's a highly rarefied group that seems to draw on a seemingly unlimited supply of fresh artistic energy. It would appear that Alio Die is in the latter elite category, someone who (along with Steve Roach and a very tiny number of peers) not only manages to maintain an aggressive release frequency, but continue to outdo himself with each release. I'm not sure if this is the best album he's put out there but it's certainly one of the better ones and I hope he continues down this path for many years yet.