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Neznamo
CD (ltd. 200) |
Six years have passed since the release of the previous full-length work of Neznamo "Aiwyâstô", during which Dmitry Shilov was busy with session studio and concert work with other bands & projects (Majdanek Waltz, Noises Of Russia, etc.) and released only a couple of very limited edition cassettes ("Rite Unknown" and "Aery" – split with Notum). And now we finally have a new album!
The material for it was collected during 2012-2019 from fragments of studio sessions and live recordings, and unlike "Aiwyâstô", which consisted of viscous thick drone music, "Molva" makes one remember the archaic and ritual roots of early Neznamo works. Conceptual like before, the album consists of three sonic canvases, woven from lingering drones, rustles, resonances and cryptic spells, interlaced into a single sonic ritual.
The CD was co-released with Moonsun Productions in an edition of 200 copies in a 6-panel matte cardboard digisleeve, the digital version is available on bandcamp.
Reviews
Quite some time has passed since I reviewed 'Aiwyasto' (Vital Weekly 987) by Dmitry Shilov, also known as Neznamo. His albums before that I have not heard. A six-year gap doesn't equal a six-year silence. Shilov was active with other projects, such as Majdanek Waltz, Noises Of Russia, etc. and did a few limited cassettes. Just as on the previous release, there is a single piece on this new CD; a bit shorter this time, forty-one instead of forty-two minutes. Also, as before, I have no idea what kind of sound sources Neznamo uses, but it is safe to say it is a mixture of synthesizers, sound effects, field recordings (which, so I believed six years ago, wasn't a feature on the previous release) and some heavily treated instruments. In the opening minutes, I detected (well, believe to notice) the sound of birds on a loop, along with some delicate, fat drones. From there on, the piece unfolds slowly... or, instead, follows a slow course in minimal changes. I understand that Neznamo used fragments and pieces from 2012 to 2019 to create this recording. That may account for some of the changes in the music, as opposed to the very few to no changes of his previous release. There are three main sections here (the first ten minutes and the other two around fifteen minutes), slowly fading away and fading in a new one. Throughout, the music is peaceful and quiet and un-quiet at the same time. The processed bells and voices added a kind of sacral atmosphere, that of the incense in an orthodox church or the damp smell in a forest, just minutes before a few hooded men will start a ritual. The humming of voices, the ringing of bells and the soft crackles of fire make this a very ritual piece of music. It is just not easy to say which denomination. I might be too down to earth (or believe so to be) for those aspects of this music, but as someone who enjoys a fine piece of ambient/drone music, I very much enjoyed this, detaching myself from the overtones this work also has.
Auf 200 handnummerierte Exemplare kommt "Molva" daher, nachdem gut sechs Jahre ins Land gezogen sind, seitdem Nezmano einen vollwertigen Tonträger publizierten. Der Ursprung hinter dem Projekt von Dmitry N. Shilov war die Erforschung der menschlichen Psyche unter der Verwendung von Klangmustern als Weg, um in das Unbewusste einzutauchen. Dies merkt man dem neuen Werk auch sofort an, ohne hier irgendwie zu hinterfragen. "Molva" beruht auf spirituellen Charakter, wobei sich der Musiker auch die Zeit nimmt, um damit etwas zu bewirken. Das Material wurde über mehrere Jahre gesammelt und lässt sich dem Drone Ambient zurechnen, wobei das Werk auch lediglich nur aus dem Titeltrack besteht. Stolze vierzig Minuten gilt es sich hier durchzugraben, was aber erstaunlich leicht von der Hand geht- Dmitry N. Shilov versteht es nämlich durchaus, mit lang gezogenen Dronen seiner Komposition Tiefe zu verleihen, was gerade Hörern zugute kommt, die sich gerne stundenlang durch Drone Gefilde graben oder um einen angenehmen Soundtrack im Hintergrund zu haben. Mit "Molva" ist beides möglich, wobei das Geschehen in eine Art von drei Abschnitten unterteilt ist. Dem Drone Ambient folgt dann eine sphärische Welt, die einen Hauch von Mystik verbreitet. Ruhig und geheimnisvoll ist da wohl die richtige Wortwahl, wobei mir dieser Abschnitt auch am besten gefällt.
Wer verträumte Klangkulissen von ruhiger und getragener Aura mag, der sollte Neznamo ruhig einmal antesten. Ein Album, welches sich in der Tat sehr gut dazu eignet, am Ende eines anstrengenden Tages runterzukommen. Sammler müssen allerdings schnell sein, denn die Limitierung lässt kein Zögern zu.
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