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Band: Treha Sektori (feat. Sam Vaney and Kristoffer Rygg)
Graphic artist: Dehn Sora
Album title: The Sensation Of Being One Of Them [EP/Book]
Release date: 15 September 2015
Label: Cyclic Law/Cyclic Press
Tracklist:
01. The Sense Of Dust And Sheer
"The Sense Of Dust And Sheer" is an 25-minute long track by Treha Sektori, created to accompany Dehn Sora's The Sensation Of Being One Of Them on Cyclic Press, the publishing division of Cyclic Law. The first 50 copies come with a heavy gray stamped casing, including three signed and hand-numbered A4 prints.
French graphic designer and musician Dehn Sora (aka Treha Sektori), collaborates with Swiss composer Sam Vaney, aka Muhd (of Cortez fame), as well as Kristoffer Rygg from Ulver, who contributes vocals to "The Sense Of Dust And Sheer". The addition of these two musicians to the project really makes "The Sense Of Dust And Sheer" feel different from previous Treha Sektori tracks. We are still given the same ritualistic repetitions throughout this 25 minute piece. However, the dynamics of this release move Treha Sektori into a new level of musicianship and begins to transcend what was previously expected of a Treha Sektori release. I have been a huge fan of Treha Sektori's previous work, but "The Sense Of Dust And Sheer" feels extraordinarily well planned and crafted. The listener will find all the trademarks of Treha Sektori on this release, but you will also notice that there is a depth here, a deeply meditative quality is present, which adds to the more ritualistic elements we have grown to know and love from Treha Sektori. The rises and falls of intensity flow naturally, we are taken from paranoid whispers and dreamy synths to an almost tribal hammering of percussion. The harsher vocals in these sections fit perfectly, not only adding to the suspense and buildup of the tracks, but giving the listener a means of emotional release.
The graphic design skills and vision of Dehn Sora are of a truly professional quality. Dehn Sora has clearly put a lot of time and effort into curating some of his best work for The Sensation Of Being One Of Them. Some images will make you wonder in amazement and fill your mind with fantastic imaginings, while the next will turn your stomach, and bring you back to terms with the confinement and inevitability of life and death as humans on Earth.
I am very excited to see more of these intersections between dark visual art and dark ambient music. We saw the potential of such innovative projects through Inlumaeh, a similar styled book of art by Krist Mort accompanied by a spectacular short album by Lamia Vox, and through the many experimentations of Martin Bladh (IRM, Skin Area). It is quickly recognizable, how many multi-talented artists find their way into the realms of the dark ambient world. Whether the visual or aural is the primary factor in these projects is generally not necessary to delve into. It appears to be quite a cyclical process, where dark ambient fuels dark photography/manipulation/sculpture and vice-versa.
Kudos to Cyclic Law for taking a calculated risk with Cyclic Press. The dark ambient genre is drowning in artistically talented musicians as well as listeners. Many fans of dark ambient find themselves here because it helps them meditate on their own projects, whilst utilizing the theme or sense of emotion given to them by the dark ambient album with which they listen. Dark ambient can steady that mood, and constantly remind, embed, the artist with the mood or atmosphere they wish to portray in their own art, whatever their personal medium may be. Releases like Dehn Sora's The Sensation Of Being One Of Them, not only showcase the astounding level of talent some of these better known artists like Treha Sektori possess, outside their musical careers, yet it also gives inspiration to a younger generation of dark artists looking for various ways to express themselves.
A fantastic new release by Treha Sektori where we hear many dynamics coming into play. Accompanied by a book filled with fantastical imagery, this is a release not to be missed! I hope to see many more publications like this coming from Cyclic Press, they seem to be filling a void that is depressingly empty right now, considering the vast and varied talents of artists within this genre.
(I am only rating "The Sense Of Dust And Sheer", not the book itself as I haven't seen a full physical copy to give it a fair and fully representative review.)
Review written by: Michael
Rating: 9/10
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