One of the most productive Dark Ambient artists lately must be Alexei Rojinski, the human being behind the Rojinski-outfit. Throughout a couple of years, (t)his project evolved from a rather Electro-based one into an Ambient-oriented act, balancing in between societal subjects at the one hand and obscure / spiritual / … ones at the other. …and everything in between. I mean, conceptually in the first place, of course. The finest thing is that Alexei offers everything for free via his Bandcamp page, because, and I quote, ‘times are difficult for a lot of us’. He wishes the audience to stay safe, wherever and whoever you are.
I think it goes beyond being a nice person (which he surely seems to be!). What he creates as Rojinski is like an outlet as well for / to himself, in order to canalise his ideas, feelings, urges and needs. And you know: it works. It’s almost therapeutical, for him, and for those who comprehend and understand (and therefor: who -probably- like) his dark-edged aural ambience.
Enough about this. Let’s get over to Suffering In Silence, one of his latest pièces d’art sonore. Once again, it’s a personally emotional album for the artist, ‘dedicated to all the kids suffering in silence, at home, at school and everywhere people are hurting them’. As a father, I refuse to ignore the unnecessary pain - physical, spiritual or mental - caused to innocent kids all over the globe, so this approach and message / concept covers ‘my being’ in support and appreciation.
But once again, enough about this. Now let’s finally get over to Suffering In Silence when it comes to the sonic side of the story. This newest coherent collection of creations consists of six (lengthy) titles (no, the titles are not lengthy; the songs are, in case you were confused), which have a total running time of more than fifty-six minutes. And they go on in the vein of some of the latest Rojinski releases that focus on audible obscurity and cinematic vibrations.
The album brings contemplative Dark Cinematic Ambient in general. There you have it. No, seriously, it does stand for lightless Ambiental soundscapes of course, but Suffering In Silence offers (once again) such in-depth emotion, such captivating character, through its mesmerizing and overpowering combination of integer, even introvert, passages of deeply emotional nature, and excerpts of bleak, even stubborn persuasion.
A new step, which makes this specific recording being different once again (and therefor unique once more too) compared to (most of) the former ones, is the balance in between crepuscular soundwaves, semi-classical chapters (with piano, for example), chimerical parts (like the magic behind the fairylike melodies in Hidden Under The Pine, to give you an illustration) and oppressive, doomed moments of gloom. Several former recordings too bring an organic mixture of subtle yet significant differences, but in this case the equilibrium in between dimness and scrupulousness gets deeper, further, more pronounced.
Striking are the almost-secretly used field-recorded fragments taken from (unknown) sources by kids’ sampling – playing, crying, narrating, just doing what little kids do. It’s just a ‘small’ addition, but it deeply fits to the concept of this album. These fragments do not ‘overrule’ the play, but are of importance to paint the murky colours of the concept. And it naturally fits to the long-stretched, hypnotising and hazy waves of droning shade. The lack of animosity replaced by introspective mesmerisation, almost meditative and esoteric, gets strengthened by that fine yet mental-based balance of soberness at the one hand, and defiance at the other. Aural structures float, extending then again waning, with a mostly cohesive character. So, despite its sober, even negative identity, Suffering In Silence turns out to be a monumental soundtrack once again!
PS: only two weeks after Suffering In Silence, Rojinski gave us The Things To Come, another masterpiece with a dystopian message lurking behind the magisterial Aural Art. Evidently highly recommended once again!
https://rojinski.bandcamp.com/album/suffering-in-silence
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/rojinski
https://rojinski.bandcamp.com/album/the-things-to-come