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Henrik Nordvargr Björkk and Jouni ‘Ulvtharm’ Ollila) teamed up to perform at the Collapse festival in Rostock, Germany.
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With Mz.412 having infrequently graced the stage over the years, it was way back in 2000 (18th August) when two of the three members (i.e. Mz.412 Vs Folkstorm – Live Ceremony CD Old Europa Café 2015 Posted in 2017, dark ambient, drone, experimental, Old Europa Cafe, ritual | Leave a reply Mz.412 Vs Folkstorm – Live Ceremony Whether or not I get the opportunity to see the group perform live remains to be seen, but albums such these album’s do at least provide an opportunity to experience the ritual works of Phurpa. I also suspect that there is a far greater inherent power in being able to hear and experience Phurpa’s music in a live ritual setting, where an element of its sonic impact is likely to be lost in the recorded album format. Personally I have enjoyed the experience of becoming acquainted with Phurpha’s atypical musical style and approach, but equally I perhaps don’t anticipate myself regularly revisiting these albums either. Having heard this album, in comparison to the others I have also heard, they are noted to be broadly in the same sonic palate and style, where it raises the question of whether you need to hear more than a couple of albums to gain a decent appreciation of what the collective is about. On occasion the mood elevates to crashing crescendos of cymbals, deep drawling horns, higher pitched atonal wailing thighbone trumpets and a general subterranean percussive thrum, where structurally these instrumentation driven passages are used to bridge and interlink the sections of the cavernous throat chanted vocals.
#Arktau eos catacomb resonator full#
Sparse percussive sounds provide a droning introduction to the album, before the low guttural throat singing chants arrive full force at around the two-minute mark, and by this stage the catatonic pacing of the vocal driven soundscapes has been firmly set. On Chöd Ritual / Grotta Santarcangelo the album features a single track spanning close to 80 minutes, and which displays the sonic hallmarks of being a direct recording of one of Phurpa’s live rituals. Although I have not been able to confirm it, I have an impression that the majority (if not all) of these releases are straight recordings of live performances, rather than studio albums. Having previously heard a couple of albums from the group, I was then surprised to discover that they now have 26 releases to their name which have been issued over the past decade. Primarily based around chanted vocals of a Tibetan throat singing style, this is mixed with an array of abstracted and minimal traditional ritual instrumentation including horns, cymbals and various percussive implements. Phurpa has been a rising name in the underground in recent years, which is somewhat expected given their distinct sound and approach which effectively sees this Russian group performing Bon ritual music in a Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Limited to 423 copies.Phurpa – Chöd Ritual / Grotta Santarcangelo CD Old Europa Café 2017 The CD version of the album is enclosed in customised, screen printed cardboard covers. While the vinyl edition is in some ways the optimal medium for the album at hand, the CD has the advantage of being mixed as a seamless whole. Between the two segments, the sides A and B, lies the secret canticle: heard by few, yet ever present. It is this process which the sixth Arktau Eos album attempts to convey: led by abyssal psalmody, the sonic tapestry is interwoven with dusty, crackling electronics of a bygone era and other, subtler elements for an all-enveloping sound that readily lends itself to prolonged listening sessions.
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We are a nameless grave from which the self divine may rise to witness new constellations light up on the darkening firmament. We are a labyrinth unto ourselves and equally we stand as a totem-pole at the crossroads of a universe, gazing into distant horizons. Every man is a catacomb resonator our very being resounds with hidden desires, dreams of unknown origin, and deeper still, primordial voices of our buried ancestry.