Album: Modern Bön III: Rechaka [Exhalation)
Artist: Various
Label: Modern Bön
Catalogue no: MB///0003
Tracklist:
1. Nastika
– A Place Among Them
2. The
Nent – Vacuum (Vu Remix)
3. Restive
Plaggona – Normal is Perverse
4. Skrei
– Akos (E. I. N. remix)
5. Korse
– Tengu
6. Holotrop
– Liquid Slow Dream
7. IlSantoBevitore
– Rosso Ocra
8. SR60
– 25 Days
Bön, for those not in the
know or who haven’t encountered the word before, is the original indigenous
religion of Tibet before Buddhism entered the country from India at some point
in the 8th century AD, where the latter absorbed many of Bön’s
particular traditions, giving rise to a distinct form of Buddhism. Modern Bön
is a series of compilations, three so far, which have encompassed the phases of
Puraka [Inhalation], Kumbhaka [Contemplation], and this one, Rechaka
[Exhalation]. As far as I am aware, there will also be a fourth phase, Nirvana
[Eternal Grace], to complete what is effectively a ritual. You will find
reviews of both previous volumes on this site as well.
This differs somewhat
from either of the foregoing entries, in that here we have a selection in which
rhythmic elements appear in some of the pieces, indicative of the incoming
Pranayama, the pure energy which moves and animates life. As such then, its
vitality needs to be received, absorbed, and understood on a fundamental level,
and rhythm, the essential beat of life, must necessarily become part of the
music of this particular stage. However, Nastika’s ‘A Place Among Them’
continues on where the last volume left off, in that here we once again
experience the higher planes as vast carpets of drones and emanations, a slow
massing of energies that threaten to overwhelm but somehow manage to be
contained. ‘Vacuum’ by The Nent is the first to introduce a rhythmic element, a
huge pulsing backbeat playing host to short stabs of drone and a repetitive
electronic figure. The energy is gradually coming through, circuits are being
established, conduits being created, and the spiritual arteries spider-web into
every part of body and mind.
Dimitris Doukas’ Restive
Plaggona (I reviewed his Matriarchy Roots début some days ago), is up next with
‘Normal is Perverse’ and again we are treated to strong, insistent rhythms that
evolve and build constantly during the track’s running time, as the energies
released radiate and fuel the adherent. The pulse is quickening and the mind is
opening to the full panoply of the reality behind Maya, the illusion of the
world we live in, and perceptions are being sharpened as a result – ‘normality’
is perverse, in that it hides truth
and blinds us to it.
Skrei’s ‘Akos’ (E. I. N.
remix) returns to more ambient beatless territory, sending us instead on a
drone and noise high, as full realisation dawns and the whole of creation
stretches out before us in all its multi-dimensional and technicolour glory.
It’s all here, every molecule and every conceivable nuance that ordinarily
would remain imperceptible and hidden. The beat returns, pulsing with life and
vivacity, on Korse’s ambient ‘Tengu’, a syncopated beat set against drones and
shimmering sheets of sound. It’s a purified kind of whirling dance being
performed here, an alchemised and spiritual paean to the underlying pulse of
life and all being, the incarnation of the highest essence into the material
plane. Holotrop’s drone immensity, ‘Liquid Slow Dream’, descends like a
physical manifestation, accompanied by thunder and lightning, a harbinger of
something vast and all-encompassing until another syncopated beat fades in
along with an electronic bass sequence. Of all the tracks so far, I think this
is the one that has hooked me completely, an unstoppable monolithic force
intent on breaking falseness and deception.
IlSantoBevitore’s ‘Rosso
Ocra’ (Red Ochre) starts with a sub-bass drone before complex rhythms, tribalistic
in tone and execution, impose themselves upon the bass backdrop. It’s a short
piece, but somehow bringing the energies of the higher realms down to a human
level – a necessary reducing mechanism to transform those powers into something
useable. SR60’s ‘25 Days’, perhaps an indication of how long the ritual has
lasted, begins with a drone which oscillates along with more rhythmical
percussive punctuations, as the adherent fully absorbs and transmutes the
spiritual energies into elements that he can infuse into his own body. His
body, while still composed of flesh, has perhaps itself transformed into
something beyond human and crass, invested with powers that have taken off the
edge of his flesh’s coarseness and refined his mind a little. He still has a
way to go, but his feet are already firmly on the path.
This is a shorter album
than the other two compilations, but in some respects that is descriptive of
the quickening of life and perception consequent upon the dawning of
enlightenment. The energies are boundless, limitless, and will not be
constrained. As I said, this is different from Volumes I & II, an upbeat
mirroring of the adherent’s new-found state. If you have I & II, then three
is an essential addition, a completion of the process started on Puraka and
continued on Kumbhaka: however, it is itself only a prelude to Nirvana [Eternal
Grace], the endpoint of a monk’s spiritual and esoteric practises. I find
myself pondering what wonders the next release will bring us – but patience,
like in meditation, will be a requisite.
Available from Modern
Bön’s Bandcamp page:
Psymon Marshall 2019.
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