Usually with split records, it is hard to pick a winner, since both bands are fairly similar and the set tends to play to both band?s strengths. On ?Harmonic Motion Volume 1,? however, there is a clear winner.

Introducing the dirty and majestic You.May.Die.In.The.Desert, a Seattle trio whose five track submission for this split disc is a powerful, hypnotic slab of shoegazing noise. Their first two tracks, ?The Sound of Titans? and ?In Case I Should Die?? are songs that make you jump up to listen more intently. They are intense guitar driven songs that apply just enough tension with quieter moments to leave a listener thinking ?right on!? Only Let?s Have Sarcasm? slightly disappoints, its redundant rhythm making the song more ponderous than it might have been.

Not to say that Gifts From Enola shit the bed, just that they suffer by comparison. Their half of the ten song disc rocks, just not in as wonderfully unpredictable ways as their partner band.?The Sun?s Condolences? and ?10/7? mix ambient with bursts of shredding guitar to great effect. Less successful are ?Still Walks The Streets? and ?the Vision of Ruby Turpin,? which fall back too often on alt-rock clich?s when an infusion of inspiration was what was needed.

In all, ?Harmonic Motion Volume 1? is an energetic set by two bands worth checking out. One of those bands, You.May.Die.In.The.Desert, however, is worth SEEKING out. 7/10 -- Mike Wood (28 April, 2008)