Orphikia (2008)
Irony. The irony of an ironic little aspect of this album, initially unleashed upon the dogs of the world in 1997, for this album was recorded in companionship with, and read it out loud, “…thirty vocalists of the Joyful Company of Singers, an internationally recognized professional British choir specialized in the interpretation of contemporary and classical 20th century…”. I wonder, for this is everything but joyful, if the vocalists were as Joyful after this album.
Nah, professionals handle these sorts of things so let’s stick to the game. And the name of the game is Elend’s “The Umbersun”. Last year the band released its probably last album “A World In Their Screams”, which did wonders to me. And “The Umbersun” does wonders to me in the same chaotic way. There is nothing to grab hold to, like steady rhythms, verses, refrains and great solos. No, this album is a soundtrack to the downwards spiral into your innermost fears. This is not like being punched in your face, but rather like the feeling one most probably gets from having thousand needles fastened into your body. There’s no joy at all, only pain…
…still I feel the delightful shivers down my spine when the cinematic soundscapes of hell surround my environment, my sole tiny life which is important to me but probably doesn’t make any difference in the world. But Elend doesn’t not only create hell, thinking of the big scores as in the opening of the second track “Du Tréfonds Des Ténèbres”. There are dark passages, those horrifying corridors you have to walk in between each personal hell. And in a wicked way these more silent, yet perhaps even darker passageways are scarier because you know, you feel that there is something coming for you!
“The Umbersun” is an album I have to listen to in solitude. There is no room for others in my own personal hell. Nobody can understand. Nobody will understand. And few would even dare to try.
Do you?
Note: there’s one bonus song which was recorded at the same time as the original album. This one opens the album and adds to the insanity.
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Composed by Roy Kristensen