re:mote voices

Title: Peryt Shou
Artist: Turbund Surmwerk/Inade
Label: LOKI Foundation

Reality is a funny thing. I read and write. I read while I write. While I listen. I decide to write about Peryt Shou now, and in doing so I am reading Marcher. Marcher is a short story by Chris Beckett about multiple realities and those who travel between them - for whom they use the symbol of Yggrdrasil the world tree, shortening it to Igga. Peryt Shou is LOKI Foundation's follow up to the Saturn Gnosis compilation, with tracks by Turbund Sturmwerk and Inade. Turbund Sturmwerk's track is called Iggrdrasil, a clear reference to the world tree, and an uncanny parallel to Igga. Reality is a funny thing...

Peryt Shou like Saturn Gnosis before it is a special edition vinyl release, which revolves around esoteric and mystical themes. Where Saturn Gnosis featured eight artists across two 10"s, Peryt Shou takes only two of the artists which appeared there, giving them a side each on this 12". Like Saturn Gnosis, Peryt Shou comes in a cm thick card box, with illustrated booklet filled with German text.

With Turbund Sturmwerk a low, melodic drone rises to start Iggrdrasil, warm with a certain sigh, that becomes transformed in a sonorous fashion as it becomes a sequence of notes. Coming up beneath this is a higher toned, shimmering drone layer, complimenting the first layer as it gains an increasing presence. Sigh, dup, and thicken as a woman starts to speak in German. As she talks the sound balances the shifting drones with a suggestion of medieval vibrance, which continues once she is done.

From a brief lull past 7-minutes, we have the introduction of deep, sparse piano notes, which tilt the atmosphere towards something more pronounced. Building into a grander piece, the melody comes together, with filtered echoes and organic washes. A section which lasts for about 5 minutes before fading. The melody starts to build through bass notes, with the woman's voice returning - layered and cut up and providing a pattern within the diaphanous soundscape. A mutteringly esoteric phase, that, for me, is the strongest of the piece.

Kwa-non-seh by Inade ripples out in bass splashes, thick pooling sounds. Metal whispers, sheer calls in the froth, beneath the rumble and thunder crack. Terse bass notes build, providing a certain melodic coalescence. A man's voices peaks, his words echoing off after each German phrase, layering and playing with the bass ripples. Creating bustling impressions, details weaving into a mounting and atmospheric ensemble. At points streaming into this burgeoning drone work, full of texture.

As it progresses there is more percussion, then a stormy turn of phrase that shifts the mood into something more turbulent and wind swept. Before calming into a sparser waste, hollow bass sighs and groans. Blossoming in conclusion, dawn's edge creeping in to contrast the darkness as Kwa-non-she reaches an end.