Album: Centuries
Artist: Sun Through Eyelids
Label: Black Mara
Catalogue no: Unknown
Tracklist:
1. Primeval
2. 3100
(Ancient Egypt)
3. The
Sun God
4. Sueno’s
Stone
5. A
Dystopian World (2049)
6. Final
Frontier
7. Stardust
Even before I delved into
the music, the tracklist was suggestive of a story, a narrative of humankind
stretching from prehistory to possible futures. Post-listen that history as
recounted here is filled with both darkness and light, and traces the lines of the
two threads that have been consistently prevalent throughout the existence of
mankind – our ability to create immense beauty and staggering works of art, as
well as the black stain of our tendency to violence that has been ever-present
throughout our time here on this planet.
What we are served up
with are seven tracks of dark ambient, field recordings, sound effects, and
percussion that together stitch a tapestry of darkness, blood, and brilliance.
Starting in the time before writing, ‘Primeval’ is just that, swathes of dark
drones, animal noises, and throat-singing, sending us back to when we lived in
dark caves, hunted for sustenance and survival, and we experienced the world as
a magical, frightening place. It is a dark, unsettling, and at times unpleasant
world, one where the difference between life and death is but a sliver of time,
but is also thrilling: phenomena we now know to be natural was the work of
gods, and the rivers, plains, and forests were full of plenty.
Eventually, of course, we
gravitated towards each other and created the idea of community, and from there
grew civilisation. ‘Ancient Egypt (3100)’ outlines one of the most famous of
those ancient civilisations, obsessed with the afterlife and ritual, and
responsible for the creation of a plethora of gods and goddesses that we still know
the names of 5000 years later. A haunting flute refrain segues into deep
rumbles and gargantuan percussion, while a voice emerging as if from the depths
of time annunciates, a portrait of a bright civilisation nevertheless replete
with a very dark undercurrent running beneath the finery, the golden funeral
masks, and the huge stone monuments they left behind. Theirs was also a society
of conquest and warfare, of cruel punishments, and of slavery and degradation.
All the mythical and legendary glories pertaining to them doesn’t hide the fact
that, like most ancient societies, they
were capable of cruelty and barbarism.
‘The Sun God’ could refer
to the Aten, the ‘god’ of Akhenaten, the pharaoh (and father of Tutankhamen) who
instigated a religious revolution which swept away the numerous deities of his
antecedents and replaced it with a complex concept of the sun disk being an
avatar of the one god, Aten (Akhanaten could be said to be the father of
monotheism – in fact, the Lord’s Prayer of Christianity [which post-dates
Atenism] bears a striking resemblance to ‘The Great Hymn to the Aten’, written
by him). And here, in Tell-el-Amarna (Akhetaton), the new capital he
established in the heat of the Egyptian Desert not far from the East bank of
the Nile in the modern province of Minya, Egypt, we experience the dawn of a
new dispensation in the searing desert sun, along with the isolation and the
dangers inherent in adopting a heresy. The ruins are still extant, although no
more than foundations. Here, mysterious rites were conducted, rites that were
anathema to the old order, and which instigated religious turmoil for decades.
This, again, is another arena for strife and combat – the marked tendency for humans
to insist that their religion is the
one and only correct one, thus initiating conflict and violence.
‘Sueno’s Stone’ is a
Picto-Scottish standing stone, located on the northern edge of Forres,
Morayshire, Scotland. Scotland is a vast country, which was inhabited by the
Picts, who were a proud tribe who were willing to fight for what they regarded
as their home and for their own independence (much like the Scottish today).
The Romans attempted to subjugate them, but to no avail. This piece, resonant
and descriptive of boundless horizons, impassable mountains, expansive lochs,
and deep glens, is entirely reminiscent of the magnificent Highlands of their
homelands – deeply mysterious, staggeringly beautiful, and completely worth
fighting for.
‘A Dystopian World
(2049)’ is, on the face of it, misleading – we’re treated to almost harmonious
drones on this one, a sign perhaps that, while everything appears to be fine, it
is in fact nothing more than a clever façade, one that hides an uncomfortable
truth. Even so, this composition appears to be a turning point, a springboard
for hope that we may shake off our shackles and free ourselves. And the
following track, ‘Final Frontier’, appears to confirm that – we have not only
freed ourselves from our socially restrictive bonds, but also our ties to
Mother Earth herself. The track explodes into existence, the starting point of
our rocket-assisted journey into the unknown, the prelude to our travels
amongst the stars. There will be wonders, but there will also be dangers – both
sides of that same coin are exhibited here, soaring drones underscored by
thrilling undercurrents of disturbance and peril. It is where our genetics has
pointed to ever since we came into being – we were never meant to be children
only of gravity, of rock and soil, but also of the stars. After all, as Carl
Sagan said, we are made of star-stuff.
Indeed, at some point we
will end where we began – as ‘Stardust’. In the far distant future, the
universe will itself cease to be, and we will disappear along with it. Life is
an endless cycle, on the universal scale as well as the human. The final track
tells the tale of our future, as we navigate the invisible lanes between stars
and galaxies, the silk roads of the never-ending sky, in our caravans of
starships in the mapless depths of space. Distant drones ebb and flow, as our
tiny existences are highlighted by gargantuan nebulae and even larger galaxies,
amongst which we may find a new home. We must overcome our fear of time and
distance if we are to survive as a species. We can never go home.
An entrancing album,
veined through with the very essence of the human spirit, both in the spiritual
and the material senses, as well as the positive and the negative. As pointed
out earlier, we can create beauty and we can visit destruction upon ourselves.
That constant has remained with us ever since we climbed down from the trees,
and wherever we may find ourselves in our future, we will continue to carry it
with us. This is an album that doesn’t shy away from looking at our faults, but
it also celebrates our best attributes. This is an album of hope overcoming our
natural tendencies to wage war against ourselves, and to unite in survival.
Wonderful.
Available as a download,
as a CD in wooden box containing the CD, an actual ammonite fossil, a pouch
containing golden sand, and a set of photos. A golden audio cassette version is
also available, housed in a plastic J-box complete with a booklet and cardboard
packaging. Order from the link below:
Psymon Marshall 2019.
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