Location: Sweden
Members: Marcus Lönebrink
Guest: Pär Boström (on Sanctum)
Mastering: Frederic Arbour
Artwork: Viktor Kvant
Type: 6-panel digipack compact-disc (300 copies)
Duration: 48:51 minutes
Genre: esoteric, mystic & ritual Dark Drone Ambient
Introduction: after a very long time, Sinke Dûs finally returns on Cyclic Law with a new eight-tracker, called Modus Vivendi. The former one, Akrasia, saw the light in 2007 (almost sixteen years before this successor!). It comes with very nice and definitely fitting artwork by Dreamhours alumnus Viktor Kvant, with this visual artist’s characteristic surreal drawing trademark.
Content: Modus Vivendi brings a mostly emotive, oppressive and intuitive form of Dark Ambient; not a Lovecraftian approach or a Horror-laden one, nor an experimental one, yet one that focuses on introspection, endeavor and growth. It narrates about a spiral that, somehow, returns like a circle, facing privation and redemption at the very same time; or at least unveiling the organic interaction about both these two opposites. It’s all about the paradox caused by ‘contemplation’: beneath the dormant surface of fossilized and frozen inner landscapes, underlying movement continues to stir. Relying on the inner compass to navigate, the attentive explorer discovers that the black veil of stagnation is in fact a perception that may be lifted, offering a glimpse of truth and strengthening the will to forge on (takes from the bio). It’s a magnificent thought, deeply accompanied by the stunning visual and captivating aural art involved.
That aural part is of an intoxicating, somewhat sedative yet seductive kind. The hymns on Modus Vivendi are like hypnotic, floating soundscapes, built around multifarious mesmeric synth-waves, surrounded by roaring and anesthetic drones and hints of Post / Death Industrial. Several obscure, heavy-weighted parts come with a meditative, even monastic intention (take Contrition, for example, with an almost touchable fragility and, at the very same time, a transcendental glory as well), while others delve rather in orbits of integer, doomed and tranquil quietude, or then again within spheres of mystery, ritualism and allegiance. The few industrialized elements (like the opening sequence and some internal fragments within the esoteric composition Stonelore) drench substantial fragments from this captivating experience in a nebula of twist and disturbance, which interacts organically well with the inauspicious atmosphere. That portentous character sets the tone immediately at the opening of the album, with that bombastic opening symphony Vastatio (which comes with an orchestration that surrounds a convinced Martial Industrial excellence, by the way).
Conclusion: this second cooperation in between Cyclic Law and Sinke Dûs is another monumental highlight within the ever-expanding universe of Dark Drone Ambient majesty. The album serves as an enduring reminder that stagnancy may not always be what it seems through almost fifty minutes of compelling yet intimate aural artistry. The result is very varying, with many things going on, yet at the same time with a very outspoken cohesive identity.
I hope we do not have to wait another sixteen years before the third album might become reality…
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/modus-vivendi