Ambiance and noise exist on a spectrum. On one end, and usually a more light hearted affair, ambiance is breezy introspection, and unconcernedly whimsy devoid of deliberation. On the other end, noise challenges the listener’s endurance, cultivating a blank space to explore the audiological brutality that is the underbelly of mostly everything. Its dark aspirations tend to yield equal parts cathartic and exhausting results. Neither are for the casual listener.
futuredrugs x Declining Rate x Kirril achieve a rare balance of this entire spectrum with deliberate precision in a narrative offering that enhances the aesthetic and vibe these collaborators have developed with “VIII”, the video for which we’re premiering right here.
An audiological story with three parts; the narrative starts with cautious and somber curiosity with a sound that pulsates and encourages further exploration, but gloomily promises nothing. A single piano note takes the focus and gets wrapped in a bleak analogous slither of static, like a snake finalizing its prey. Without warning everything transitions abruptly into an unnerving and anxious minimalist percussion driven pressure cooker of unease. An earth shattering static reminiscent of scratching glass contends with a white noise that crackles like a dying fire. All of this is expressed in a calming demeanor that resembles a slow moving killer in a slasher, or differently put: an oppressive impending unstoppable doom. The conclusion ends with harrowing distant white static screams as an analog tick cuts through everything, before the silence fades out.
The visuals that contend with the music as each act unfolds calmly overwhelming the senses with equal parts organic mitochondrial objects fading in and out of various moving shots of doors, stairwells, and a subtly terrifying elevator. It’s an effective piece of media that reflects desolation incredibly well, and is reminiscent of dissonant horror such as Skinamarink, and the calm bleakness of the work of Thomas Ligotti.
Nothing is explained, and everything works better because of it. It’s an unnerving experience comparable to a nagging thought at the back of one’s brain that sort of just takes root, and grows from there to all consuming levels.
Harsh, unapologetic, and enigmatic, this project is a portrayal of forethought and balance, and a crowning achievement of dark ambient noise.
“VIII” comes from the collaborative album x KIRRIL x FUTUREDRUGS x EIGEN RISICO x DECLINING RATE x and will be physically released on Clan Destine Records (which you can pre-order on Bandcamp and includes Spanish industrial hip-hop artist Eigen Risico) on July 23rd, but you can stream it in full at that same Bandcamp link above. You can check out each contributing artists socials on the links below:
