Ryan Muscat is the sympathetic guy, who I sort of ‘met’ (digitally) earlier this year. He’s part of Malta’s Devil’s Breath (in the future, I will surely come back to this act), yet he also curates the M.A.D. community. This deals, at the one hand, with a fine and honest view on genres like (Dark) Ambient, Industrial, Tribal / Ritual and the likes, created for, and supported by, connoisseurs / amateurs of these genres, and related ones. At the other hand, and at the very same time, there’s a label related to this family, i.e. Music Analysis Discussions Records. It does release sonic works by artists from all over our beautiful planet (did I sound cynical once again?), as well a some ultimately impressive compilations, which do include some of the best and well-known artists as well as less infamous ones; worth being checked out!
This review deals with the tenth official release on this small yet interesting label: Ιερóς Γάμος by Greek duo Tohu. It might be somewhat brutal if I say that this (new?) Athens-based act is a side-project of Current XXIII, but it’s a certainty that both acts share some members (George Diamantopoulos and George Kanavos). This recording is a one-piece effort that clocks almost forty-six minutes, being written, recorded, produced and mastered totally by this duo. As far as I know, it is a digital-only release, coming with stunning visual artistry courtesy of George Diamantopoulos himself. That artwork immediately refers to the thematical concept behind the recording, i.e. a ritualistic expression that unites opposites through an aural ceremony of extremes: enlightenment versus obscurity, the female and the male, spirit and physical embodiment; Hermes and Aphrodite, the Red Husband and the White Bride, divinity and lust…
Seen the fact that this album is a lengthy wone-tracker, one might expect quite some variation. And indeed, Ιερóς Γάμος is a continuously evolving effort, divided into numerous diverse yet somehow cohesive chapters. It is, and I quote, ‘an attempt of recording the process of an actual ritual, based on some predetermined parts along with certain improvised ones’. It opens quite calm, esoteric, intimate and introvert, with reverberating bells / gongs, pulsating echoes and a sample that reminds me of rustling into glass or stones or so. After almost two minutes, some other sounds, both sampled and based on instrumental improvisation, join, with that rustling turning into percussion-like energy. Other bells and / or chimes appear, while those noises fade away, reappear, and again. Step by step, new detail get injected into the play, and others grow silent, over and over again. During several minutes, this aural ceremony goes on in that very same vein. At about eight minutes, the sphere slightly turns into rather meditative proportions, introducing a richer palette of sonic elements: percussions from different origins, glossolalia-like voices, ominous sound-textures and oppressive synth-work. Despite the seemingly desultory amalgam of audible effects and techniques, those contradictory elements go well together, representing the concept of ‘infinite unification’ of spiritual opposites. That’s once more that reference to the male and the female, as well as its cohesion of both relatives. Spacelike digital manipulation, organic drum-patterns and ghostly murmurs and choirs evolve, step by step (we’re about at one-third of this experience), permanently exploring the very same path, and at the same time permanently searching into new sonic territories too; despite the un-loud execution. As from half of this ceremony, voices seem to grow in importance for a while, spreading their secret messages of divinity, worship and devotion to the Higher Powers. Still the weird loops and solemn bells / chimes / tolls appear and die away, again and again. Also some strings and wind-instruments (as from the last quarter of this secretive journey) get united into the whole musical (what’s in a word) encounter, as things seem to expand sonority-wise, albeit always fragmentary and momentary.
Because of the returning (I first would use the description ‘repetitive’, yet seen the subtle richness in sound, that moniker would underestimate the content) details and elements, yet at the same persistently developing and altering approach, Ιερóς Γάμος never retires its intrigue or sublimity. Consequently, ‘Ιερóς Γάμος is the spark emanating from the source of divine providence’; I think that this definition might cover the unphysical essence behind the aural concept of this album with glory, reverence and esteem…
https://musicanalysisdiscussionsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/-