Hiemis are a project out of Spain, not exactly a mecca (yet) for dark ambient bands or dungeon synth, but this album is wonderfully bleak and enveloping. It has the feel of a lo-fi Spanish or Italian horror soundtrack, but with a lot of warmth to it. Eerie, of course, but accessible.
Reverse Image are a project out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who produce absolutely stunning ritualistic experimental music. There’s a hint of early Nurse With Wound mixed in here as well. All respect is due to their label, Khatulistiwa 赤道, for alerting me to this gem.
William Ryan Fritch’s lastest disc is the, “second in a three-part series reflecting on the many calamitous water crises affecting life on this planet.” Cohesion is a bit darker than the previous album, Polarity, but there is a more organic feel to it.
From Fritch’s Bandcamp site:
“In contrast to ‘Polarity,’ which was largely created by synthesized and electronic signals being transformed into acoustic phenomena. ‘Cohesion’ was constructed solely from acoustic instruments (baritone and alto saxophones, oboe, contrabass clarinet, bassoon, tuba, etc) mic’d and processed live to behave and sound like synthesized and/or sequenced sound sources. Using multiple contact mics, filters and overdrive circuits, even faint breaths and valve clicks are given a weight and presence that can anchor massive, heaving rhythms. The rattling irregularities of each horn are accentuated and fore-fronted in ways that make them behave like wholly new and grisly things.”
Two of Italy’s best dark /ritual ambient projects, CHAIGIDEL and NERATERRÆ, have joined forces and created a deeply evocative ritualistic opus rich in various aural elements and sceneries. The title “Lamaŝtu” pays tribute to the Mesopotamian mythological malevolent goddess, the most terrible of all female demons, daughter of the sky god Anu and lover of Pazuzu.
CHAIGIDEL is Mattia Giovanni Accinni, devoted to the most evocative side of music; sonic offerings for Qliphotic rituals from the depths of occultism and the left-hand path. On his fourth release on Cyclic Law, Alessio Antoni’s NERATERRÆ joins compatriot CHAIGIDEL on this trance-like-state inducing aural experience, seeking for knowledge by unearthing the roots of all evil.
Black mantras, organic drones, tuvan throat singing, tibetan bells, doumbek, balaban, maaponim, shofar and ritual drums are the earthly tools chosen to cut through the soil of human beliefs and comprehension, and to reach for the purest and obscure states of being.
It is an incredibly dark album, but engaging nonetheless.
“A massive, oppressively brutal wall of sound.” That was the first impression that popped into my head after listening to Arvo Zylo’s project, Blood Rhythm’s latest release, New Illusions.
Think of ritualistic noise with some sense of structure, like Z’ev meeting Merzbow’s more restrained and focused works. This is bleak, claustrophobic, ugly, and fitting with the zeitgeist of our current time. A heavy listen, made much better and more engrossing with headphones.
This is quite a momentous occasion for me, as áMARXE Records out of Galicia, Spain, release an album by Hungarian composer László Hortobágyi which has been shelved since 1989. The album was programmed specifically for vinyl, and áMARXE are releasing a small edition of 250 copies, no doubt of high quality.
The story with László Hortobágyi is quite an interesting one, as I used to work many years ago as an A&R manager for Tone Casualties, a record label run by the animator Gábor Csupó, he of Klasky-Csupo, who released such cartoons as The Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, among others. He was and is an avid collector of experimental music, and we had the change to work with his countryman, László. During this time, I would contact magazines around the world seeing if we could promote our albums, and I had the pleasure of meeting Rafa Dorado, a fellow Galego and brother in music, then running Margen Magazine. Thanks to the wonders of social media, we have been able to follow each other again, and it’s an absolute joy to see him releasing such amazing music.
The Amygdala Expedition is exactly what you would expect if you know of Hortobágyi’s work. It is a combination of progressive rock, Kosmische Musik from a Hungarian slant, but imbued with ritualistic sounds, and bears a heavy influence from his exposure to music from various parts of India. It is meditative and calming.
It’s one thing when you’re the impresario of a record label who consistently delivers astoundingly good quality. It’s quite something else when you make music yourself that is as solid as any of the releases you so lovingly curate.
RHaD (Research for Historical Audio Documents) is a side project of Raffaele Pezzella (better known as Sonologyst), and head of so many incredible boutique record labels. This collection of tracks pulls together influences like radio transmissions, telephonic conversations, hi-fi test signals, old and forgotten documentaries, unknown field recordists, and threads these bits together into wonderfully coherent compositions made for late-night black-and-white TV viewing. A pleasantly surreal experience from Raffaele and company.
Yet another great listen from Russia. I have plenty more coming down the line.
Fellirium produce a neofolk that stays away from the more pretentious parts of the genre, and sticks with fine, gentle instrumental soundscapes. One can hear hints of the Incredible String Band, perhaps a more acoustically based Legendary Pink Dots, and some rather ambient bits which blend together quite well.
First, a debt of thanks goes to Dimitris Tsironis who took the time to send me this compilation for review. His label, 1tracktape, is doing a great service exposing Greek experimental and avant-garde music to the world, and the quality of this compilation is superb. What’s more, the label is unique in that it releases albums every New Moon and (most of) Full Moon dates. I can’t say I’ve heard of any other labels maintaining such a specific schedule, so each moon that pops up will be an opportunity to check out what new releases Mr. Tsironis has in store for us.
What is pleasant about the album is that it doesn’t stick to one format. One can hear electroacoustic music, ethereal music bordering on gothic (think Dead Can Dance), offered by Death Of Codes. Field recordings and ritualistic music reminiscent of 1980s and 1990s cassette culture about here. It’s a label definitely worth exploring.