Remete is a new project by Hungarian artist János Madura, currently active in Slumbersun and formerly known from Zebaoth or Our God Weeps as well. And if I am not mistaken, it’s the same guy involved with e.g. Kriegsfall-U and Mortem too.
Anyway, with Remete, he signed to Castellum Stoufenburc’s roster in order to release the four tracks compiled as Hamvaim. And let me start with a big problem: four tracks only?! Damn, this must last longer, much longer!!! Twenty two minutes is (and now I’m just joking) an insult for my ear drums and brain…
No, seriously, once again Castellum Stoufenburc are able to offer the audience nothing but fabulous Aural Art, and once again with inclusion of unique artwork too, developed by the skilled creativity of Cold Sun Arts. About the lay-out and artwork more specifically, well, this mini-album comes in an ingeniously folded A4-paper with the less-is-more principle: soberness creates beauty, and originality creates attraction. A picture of a dried-out body (a piece of it: torso, hand and arm), as if it had been mummified, adorns the front cover, and besides some additional information (song titles, art provider and artist’s info), there’s nothing else to distract the listener from the essence.
But in the first place it’s the aural side that counts. Believe me if I express my respect for this German label once again, and in extension for this project too. Hamvaim starts with Mare Crisium, with its four minutes of length the shortest piece on the MCD. This composition brings a very oppressive, almost ominous form of CMI-oriented Industrial (I admit that this description is pretty vague, but listen and you will understand), noisy and ambiental, esoteric and ethereal, haunting and eerie. Imagine Peter Andersson covering an older The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud piece (the industrialized side of that sadly defunct act, of course), or Desiderii Marginis joining forces with Les Joyaux De La Princesse… Elhagyatva, the second piece, initially reminds me to (older) Desiderii Marginis too, with hints of earlier Raison d’Être, Coph Nia and Swartalf. There are hints of the Martial-oriented glory, but the focus still lies on abyssal and obscure atmospheres. As from half of this piece, a spoken voice (sample) and almost tribal percussion strengthen the martial identity of this song. Poklok Kapui opens rather minimal, but after about two minutes, it slowly turns into an eerie yet vigorous piece of Haunting Industrial with truly breath-taking synth lines, grandiose percussion patterns and conjuring choir-vocals at the back ground. The title track, finally, is the most droning and noisy piece on Hamvaim, including those spoken word-samples too, like in the second composition.
Conclusion: let’s hope for more Remete-material soon. This four-tracker simply catches, and it makes me longing for more, much more. Therefor it is highly recommended for every Ambient / Industrial ‘fan’ in general!