Album: Inter-Dimensional Interference
Artist: SINIUS
Label: Self-released
Catalogue no: N/A
Tracklist:
1. Demonic
Possession
2. EM-Interference
3. Erratic
EMF Fluctuations
4. Esotericism
(featuring Atmospheric Research)
5. Hillcrest
Sanatorium
6. Imaginary
Friends
7. Increased
Kinetic Activity
8. Perceptual
Isolation
9. Physical
and Emotional Disorientation
10. Seeking
Forgiveness
11. The
Black Hen Planchette
12. The
DOPler Effect
13. Waverly
Hills
14. Residual
Haunting (featuring Atmospheric Research)
Judging from this album
and SINIUS’ previous release The Ossuary,
British photographer and composer Daljit Kundi really likes his creepy, dank, and deeply occult atmospheres. While
The Ossuary was inspired by the
mysteries surrounding the Paris Catacombs, this one is based around various
paranormal occurrences experienced in abandoned places. And you know what,
whether you believe in such phenomena or not is irrelevant: I am a sceptic but
when I once walked into an abandoned hospital in my hometown I have to say that
it was the creepiest experience I’ve
ever had, even in broad daylight. The sense that in that place people had been
born (like I had been), had suffered illness (some terminal), and died, gave
the place a decidedly eerie, cold, and depressing atmosphere. The same can also
be said of this set of fourteen tracks: whatever occurred at the locations in
question doesn’t really matter, it’s the atmospheres elicited by the music
that’s most important.
And SINIUS heaps them up
in huge ladles on Inter-Dimensional
Interference. Deep bass drones, sweeping winds that appear to blow from
some unknown source, strange noises emanating from walls and empty rooms, and
cold whisperings and susurrations all converge into a singularity of infinite
loneliness and sadness. These are all the memories that have been left behind,
remnants of a life that for one reason or another refused to let go and remain
earthbound, perhaps searching for that one thing that will give them peace:
that someone will remember them. Perhaps they died alone and afraid, or that
they had no one who cared about them. Perhaps they suffered terrible deaths at
the hands of terrible people. Whatever happened, it was enough for them to be
trapped by the gravity of the life they were torn from.
I can say with absolutely
certainty that SINIUS has a knack of creating dense creepy atmospheres without
resorting to clichés or time-worn stereotypical sound-effects in composing any
of these pieces. Going back to my one and only eerie experience in the
abandoned hospital, the drones employed by this project immediately bring to
mind the shivery frigidity and oppression I felt while walking down dark,
silent, empty corridors, my quiet footsteps still managing to echo hollowly.
Sounds, no matter how minute, were amplified tenfold, and even innocent sounds
like scratching animals, or birds, were automatically invested with a sense of
dread unease. All the sounds you expect – voices, the noise of continuous
activity, and shoes on tiles – were loud in their absence. Is it any wonder
then that people claim to experience paranormal phenomena in such locations, as
well as the feelings of physical dislocation and disorientation?
All fourteen compositions
are finely layered and yet complex in what they describe. As mentioned, the
palette used is composed mainly of subtle, sweeping drones, upon which more
drones are sometimes layered, while at other times they’re interspersed with sounds
that are strangely familiar yet, because they lack a proper context, take on an
aura of the supernatural and otherworldly. Perhaps this is why some have taken
the idea that the Afterlife is a variation of the life we lead now, with very
much the same attributes – any communications from the ‘other side’ have a ring
of comforting familiarity about them, and thus we are reassured. Thankfully though,
as noted above, we are saved from samples of voices purporting to be those of
the dead or of knocking recorded at séances, which I think would have cheapened
this release had they been included. Instead we are treated to some wonderful
spine-tingling atmospherics, some deliciously shivery moments, and some
sonically descriptive passages that delineate that curiosity that most of us
feel when we hear about such things – are they real experiences, or just wild
imaginings sparked off by weird atmospheres?
There’s so much here to
imbibe: this is what I would categorise as a pure noise/drone ambient album,
and the lushness displayed is absolutely on the nail. I don’t have any
hesitation in declaring that all
tracks are recommended, so I suggest that you listen to this on a quiet evening
while just letting yourself wallow in the ghostly textures and spectral
atmospherics on show. However, I recommend that you don’t do so while prowling
around any abandoned buildings – that’s one paranormal experience you might
want to miss.
Available as a download
from SINIUS’ Bandcamp site:
Psymon Marshall 2019.
