For the legendary story of the universal happenings with the Emperor and the King I’d like to refer to the greatly comprehensive discographic catalogue of Zebulon Kosted (or, in a modest way, to some of the reviews I did for the marvelous recordings by Mister Rachid Abdel Gafur; links at the bottom of this article). More confronting is the fact that the concept of this album is so topical, so real-life at this very moment of our earthly existence. It deals in a space under true authoritarian monarchy, where nobles decide the everyday fates of peasants. It’s an unfortune fact that autocratic despots indeed do rule, and dictate, the current world order. Tyranny takes the place of democracy and only those of royal blood, their yes men and lackeys (read: those who gently kiss the hairy ass of their president, eh, I mean, their country’s chieftain) are allowed the privilege of comfort and security. It’s so ‘everyday’, so remarkably true, and even though Concreteweb, as you know, focuses on the sonic side of ‘Music’ in essence and not intentionally on politics (or at least: not in the first place, I have to admit, yet it feels liberating to spit my bile from time to time on the illness called man-un-kind and its inferior existence on this planet’s being), it makes honest people sick to notice that rights are an abstract concept for commoners who only dare to dream of a better life for their children.
This said…
U.T.R.Y.N. is a five-tracker, being an acronym, in fact, for Under Tyranny Rights Yield Nothing. And it is the first in a series of four ‘UTRYN’- releases, being one lengthy new chapter within this inspirational concept. Anyway, these five elegies from the first chapter are remarkably lengthy, but that’s not new in the case of this project, as well as the related projects by Rachid (Zebulon Kosted, Themis, Vrozlyd, Obsidian Mirror, which, more than often, do offer extremely prolonged epics). Here, all five tracks last in between forty and fifty minutes, clocking about 224 (!) minutes in total!
Even-though all five of them have a comparable nature, i.e. Dark Ambient with hints of Space Ambient, Noise and Doom-Drone, all of them do have their specific aural nature. I will not go too deeply into each of them, dissecting every single minute, yet a modest illustration is the least I can, and will, do.
The opening ‘song’ Under (44:32) initially does sound like a peaceful, tranquil, meditative, even ethereal piece. It’s like a long-stretched aural wave of intrinsically hypnagogic Ambient / Dark Ambient. Different layers of slightly droning synth-based sound-sculptures float through a colorful space-of-sound, touching an airless cosmos of esoterism and inner rest. Slowly, things do turn darker, however (as from about twelve minutes, for example), yet still the focus on some Inner Eye does maintain that captivating touch of enlightenment somehow. At about half of this composition, the whole gets injected with hints of industrialized and soft-noisy accents, penetrating the mesmeric Ambient-based basement with eerie tones of impending calamities. The last quarter indeed gets rougher somehow, yet it does still hold on to a mantra-like sphere.
Tyranny (42:00) might start in a comparable way. Subtly woven stratums of droning harmonies, injected with distant field-recorded noises and hypnotic melodies, slowly evolve through an expansion into rather dreary proportions, for the initially mellow-like melodies get subtly interspersed with callous sounds. A narrative of unrest and omen gets born out of the increasing doom behind, and around, this oppressive piece. At thirteen minutes, things turn much more industrial once more, with metallic machinery and scratching anti-caressing (a masochist would love this), unfurling a dominating core of grim Drone Music in its most direful definition. Fine are the somewhat orchestral passages, as well as the hypnotic details.
Things however do elaborate throughout this enigmatic process. Rights (45:42) immediately surprises with its merciless wall of industro-electronic gravity. It’s more repetitive than both former chapters, yet at least as ‘full’ in sound and structure. Icy scores and rusty scrapes, scratchy and, at the very same time, anesthetic in nature, sort of gravitate, harsh and intolerant, yet still subtle and fair in execution. A semi-perfected mixture of ANW and Dark Drone amplifies its authority.
This evolution continues through Yield (49:04), balancing in between the likes of Ambient Noise Wall and Dark Drone Ambient. At first, it’s a disturbing, even repressing experience, with these mechanical sounds and asphyxiatingly terrifying fragments. Monumental walls of extended sound-statuary thunder forth, and forward, adding an element of razor-sharp nastiness, adding a hint of venomous treacherousness, adding a sentiment of qualmish satisfaction too - purest post-apocalyptic elegance...
Nothing (42:22) is the result of an advancement beyond limitation or confinement. It’s a one-directional, monotonous, overflowing and somehow asphyxiating Grande Finale, a monolithic cenotaph drenched in mesmerizing, oppressive shades of Ambient-influenced Noise-Drone-Industrial sonorities. There are several levels of sound, yet the humdrummy motion works heavily intoxicating. It’s like getting veiled in a toxic nebula that slowly surrounds your body, that slowly deafens your consciousness, and that slowly purloins your spirit.
So, this first U.T.R.Y.N. chapter is now a fact (part two and three are ready too in the meantime), and it is an equitable work for sure. Endurance and open-mindedness will guide you through these almost-four-hours aural adventure, which is worth it!
Onwards to rebellion!!!
(PS 1: mind the intriguing artwork by the mastermind behind this project himself!)
(PS 2: the following chapters are, evidently, comparable in atmosphere and concept, yet different and unique once more in approach and execution)
https://zebulonkosted.bandcamp.com/album/u-t-r-y-n
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/utryn
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/zebulon-kosted
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/act-entropy-zebulon-kosted
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/zebulon-kosted-0
https://zebulonkosted.bandcamp.com/album/u-t-r-y-n-2
https://zebulonkosted.bandcamp.com/album/u-t-r-y-n-3