There are a couple of reasons why I do appreciate the project Rojinski. First of all, I do appreciate the human being behind this project. The both of us seem to share some common ideas about ‘the world’, the human kind, hypocrisy, social media, the future, misanthropy; enfin, we’re not the only ones caring about our world and criticizing civilization and the human nature to destroy everything around us, just to satisfy our narrow-minded, selfish needs.
Another word op respect deals with his sonic creations. Throughout the years, he sort of ‘grew’ as musician – or better, for this isn’t but a subjective statement of course, I like the evolution he made, with so many releases that are comparable, yet which are distinctive too from each-other. Rooted within a rather electronic and danceable source (initially under another moniker), Rojinski slowly evolved into darker, more in-depth realms, exploring the spheres of cinematic, darkened and droning Ambient Music in its many facets.
Enter Despair & Desolation. Once again, this recording is a conceptual one, ‘about broken futures, sadness, war’ (dixit the BC-bio). It’s a manifest against fear, I think; fear for leading figures, people who are mighty, and therefor being feared, who are able to do whatever they want. And that ‘whatever they want’ goes way too far, including supporting nationalistic supremacy, invasion of other countries / suppression of other ethnics, the annihilation of other-thinking people, random violence, mass-murder in the name of a nation (or its untouchable leader), deportation, execution, …; don’t get me started, for this sickness (which is purely ‘human’; no other mammals act this mad) causes so much grief, pain and despair – all over this globe. The ‘truth’ of lies, brainlessly believed by the ignorant (and stupid) masses, are the seed to grow stupidity and submissiveness. Innocent civilians are the victims, archaic tribes suffer, and Mother Earth – animals and vegetation – fade away because climate change and pollution are fake news…
But hey, as stated before in several other reviews, Concreteweb is not a political webzine. I do focus on Aural Art in the first place. So here we are. Despair & Desolation is a five-piece effort, which clocks more than one hour. Every single composition lasts for more than eleven minutes. But that does not cause any form of boredom or exaggeration at all. Before focusing on the sonic aspect, I’d like to refer to the very fine cover artwork, which is, I think, created by the composer himself, Monsieur A. Rojinski, with his in-depth knowledge of AI-oriented craftsmanship. It represents a kid overlooking a totally destroyed city, like a post-apocalyptic vision that, sadly enough, represents our contemporary reality too.
It all starts with the title-song, which immediately accompanies you towards a secret, hidden world of floating and mysterious elegance. Darkened and doomed waves roll over and fade away, slow but inevitable, oppressive and at the very same time enlightening too. These hypnotic keyboard-lines, alternately expanding and minifying, come with repetition, yet that’s nothing but a first glimpse. Actually, every ‘wave’ comes up with some enrichment, even-though it might be nothing but the sense of efflorescence. Yet still it has, time after time, that subtle hint of accession. Seen the lengthy duration (though, this title track I the shortest one out of five, with its length of ‘only’ 11:19 minutes), that evolution has the remarkable opportunity of intrigue. In a lingering manner, the whole flows further, marches forward, containing the necessary elements to maintain the listener’s attention and interest. Waiting For The Rain To Stop (13:17) (interesting title, for it might refer to other things that drop from the sky) sort of goes on in that very same vein of sonic evolution and devolution, interacting organically and convincingly. The atmosphere is colder than an Arctic winter-night, consisting of bleak, grim droning layers that are ingeniously and meticulously mingled. The whole has a noisy background (a new yet surprising aspect within Rojinski’s rich discography), with additional sounds and sampling (it would not be that crazy to enrich the artificial tag ‘Ambient’ with ‘Drone / ANW’ in this case). Drone Patrol At Night (12:36) then again injects a certain nihilistic form of Dark Ambient with horrific elements and disturbing sounds from unknown, convulsive sources. The experimental approach outreaches any sense of normality and acceptance, softly yet undeniably caressing the fragile border of mental sanity and complacency. This piece searches for a well-balanced symbiosis of gloom and turmoil. Once again, the concept of ideocratic power gets so well expressed through this sound-sculpting. Northern Hemisphere (12:54) returns to a cinematic approach, with haunting, long-stretched melody-lines, reverberating and echoing, like an immense oceanic solemnity. The variety behind this specific composition lies in its modest yet substantial stylistic divergences, which do characterise the whole sonic poem. Northern Hemisphere might be the most adventurous piece on Despair & Desolation, yet still this oppressive soundscape withholds any extravagant outburst. With The Sad Beauty Of Starting Over (12:16), Rojinski once more delves into the depth of introspective, mesmerizing, almost transcendental ambience, touching the unphysical immensity of space and time – concepts that exceed human sense and comprehension. Again, initially, a sober, nihilistic wave of soft-noise floats by, minimal and intimate at the same time, evolving smoothly, after a short while, into a warmer, more comfortable form of 80s-oriented Ambient Music. It’s like some small flash of light, far away, distantly glowing in the dark, easefully levitating closer and closer, expanding and evolving. It reminds me of the consciousness of man, accepting the knowledge that every single soul might / must be able to elaborate and cultivate his / her own present and future.
Despair & Desolation is another remarkable chapter within Rojinski’s generous realm of Sonic Supremacy. More than before, I hear frustration and resentment, yet also hope and self-confidence. This message gets supported by another hour of beautiful yet still endarkened Drone / Ambient; this time little more Noise-laden at moments. Or, in short: candy for the ears, for the brain and for the spirit…
https://rojinski.bandcamp.com/album/despair-desolation
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/rojinski
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/rojinski-0
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/insectarium-omensworn-rojinski