I can’t be the only one willingly soundtracking my life with purposefully crafted experimental sonic dread conjured from the minds of fascinating individuals, surely? You know the type of ambiances I mean, the most ominous, slowly seeping waves of sound that blend from the aural world into the concrete one, like the thousandfold tentacles of some abhorrent entity lifted from a cosmic horror novel. There’s various ways to how the abstract can be brought to life, with today’s premiere being a prime example of just that.
Demonologists and Vainoras are gearing up to release their collaboration album Plantae Arcanvs via Aesthetic Death, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to share this with you as well as to verbally dig into it. The journey of these two artists begun a while ago, most recently voiced by the latter featuring on the former’s album from two years back, which I wrote about over here. This time, however, the annexation of these two distinct tonal worlds is completed in the form of a highly evocative and, dare I say, adventurous album, that in all of its avant-garde glory is equally fit for a spring evening walk in the park as it is for a profound depression session in a bunker somewhere after a nuclear war. I do hope the latter is just a figurative notion, given what’s been going on recently, but with that in mind, dig into Plantae Arcanvs in its entirety from below;
Aptly lifting all of its song titles from the Latin names of arcane plants, Plantae Arcanvs is first and foremost a thorough journey of the psyche deep into itself, with extremely unique character and expression, coming together through dark ambient, noise, and free jazz leanings amongst others. There’s honestly such a variety in the musical scope here that the entire article could easily turn into a run-on list, so let’s just avoid that and hear what the musicians themselves had to say about this project;
‘I had been aware of Terry Vainoras and his various projects for quite some time before approaching him to work with Demonologists. Initially, I had collaborated with a mutual friend of ours, Adriano Vincenti, as a member of Zoloft Evra. This led me to release an album for one of Adriano’s other projects, Senketsu No Night Club, which also featured Vainoras. This chain of events ultimately brought us to reach out to Terry — and to what would eventually become Plantae Arcanvs.’ — Cory Rowell / Demonologists
‘Plantae Arcanvs is a blend of dark jazz elements and experimental rhythms that some might describe as industrial. The titles, conceived by Vainoras, revolve around plants known for their extreme toxicity, psychoactive properties, and ritualistic use — a subject that deeply fascinates me. Describing Terry’s vocal style mirrors the album’s own shifting nature: he moves between shamanic scatting, emotional outbursts spanning multiple ranges, and moments of almost soothing crooning. At times, these transitions happen within seconds. The result is something akin to a fusion of entheogenic ritual, anxiety-inducing electronics, and film noir atmospheres.‘ — Evan Price / Demonologists
The mentioned soundtrack-like aspect is strong throughout the album, but more in an actively scoring manner rather than something subtle on the background. After all, subtlety isn’t exactly something I’d associate Plantae Arcanvs with, even though its dynamics are lush and plenty. In return the entirety is also a demanding listen, but a rewarding one as such, as through repeated listens it unveils itself in different meaningful ways, remunerating the effort.
One key aspect I find tremendous joy in, is how Demonologists and Vainoras are able to weave their own worlds together in ways that doesn’t compromise either, and the result is something far more vibrant and brisk than you might first expect. Sure, it is dark as fuck, but also so much more. Hauntingly beautiful, you could say. While I’m sure both artists engaged in spur of the moment activities, Vainoras did mention about his quasi-improvisational approach on the record, alongside detailing how the collaboration came to be from his point of view;
‘I first came across Demonologists through their split release with Pain Injection on Love Earth Music. From there, Cory got in touch and we quickly discovered a mutual appreciation for each other’s work. This led to a couple of standalone collaborations, which proved to be very enjoyable experiences. The idea of creating a full album together was immediately intriguing. When Cory and Evan sent me the core material that would become this record, I was struck by its dual nature — harrowing and immersive in places, darkly melodic in others. I approached my contributions with a cinematic mindset, as if I were a musician within a film scene, trying to understand my role within the compositions.
‘Rather than stepping into the spotlight, I aimed to blend into the sonic landscape, enhancing and highlighting moments where needed — something Evan seemed to intuitively grasp when working on the final mix and master. Much of my process was also based on spontaneity: I often recorded without a strict plan, embracing a quasi-improvised, reactionary approach. That instinctive method shaped a significant portion of what you hear on the album. I’m proud of how this record turned out, and I hope we’ll be able to conjure more otherworldly sounds together in the future.‘
I certainly hope for it as well, and for a good reason. I’ve never strayed away from endorsing collaborative works between artists regardless of their stature or style, as that often nurtures the grounds for something exceptional neither party could’ve come up with on their own. Some examples always present themselves in this context, and Plantae Arcanvs will without a doubt become an addition to those.
Head over to Aesthetic Death‘s Bandcamp to grab a damn nice looking digipak CD edition of the album, then support the artists directly digitally via their own sites, Demonologists‘ over here and Vainoras‘ over here. Meanwhile I’ll engage in further, eh, deep listening of the album in different ways now that the writing gig is done, and see where I end up, and whether or not I emerge from the other end as the same person I’m now. We’ll see.
