Dilemmas aside, let's get to it. This new album by Yen Pox is really outstanding. I seldom look at track titles and the name of the release itself. This time my mind quickly made sense of it: among truly heavy, bass-filled, trembling, dimention-shaking sounds, I hear all sorts of weather related effects. Some tracks fill me with earth-mixing-with-sky atmosphere (which I guess does relate to the spheres between the horizon and the abyss). Certain other parts give an experience of standing in the middle of a tornado: it's dead quiet in a small circle around you, while the powerful wind whirls around you, chaoticly rotating all sorts of materials and tiny details in an encircled loop. This, I think, perfectly depicts the soundscapes throughout the album: they are complex, highly and richly detailed. It is amazing, actually, that this huge mix of sounds was made into such a meaningful musical experience. The artists here are true masterminds.
I truly enjoyed listening to this album through headphones (over the ear - for max soundscape experience) and looking at the skies. Heavy clouds, enormous skyscapes, winds - both at dawn and when the sun was setting, complimented each other. The last track stood out in particular. The roaring bass loop that eventually fills the soundscape, before it echoes away, and once again returns, sounds like some sort of enormous entity looming above you in the skies. It's filled with winds, lightning, rolling clouds. It appears as threatening, yet in a way that is filled with awe. This track (The Procession) can be heard as a truly deep description of the aforementioned air elemental entity.
These descriptions are actually just a few of many other similar ones that one can hear during the whole album. It is so rich in detail, that I keep finding new elements in it. I think it is important to stress that despite such a complex soundscape detail, this album is not tiring to listen to. But it is not soothing and sleep-inducing either. Actually the overall musical experience is so advanced that it sometimes would induce a state of flow for me, if you are familiar with the term (a simultenous feeling of inspiration and mastery). This was my first experience with Yen Pox, and from what I can hear, the other albums aren't far from this. I look forward to dwell deep in their discography in the nearest future, and I certainly think that this artist/project/band or whatever you want to call it, is among the more special ones that you can hear across all music. Oh, and I absolutely love the art design of the cover!
Relevant links:
Album's bandcamp link
Cover artist's webpage
Tag(s): dark ambient