SUMMER SALE 2023
To give you that chance to get updated with your music collection, we’re doing a Summer Sale on most of our bandcamp shops. 20% off of any digital or hard copy (or use it as an extra discount if you want to buy the full digital discography).
Code : Summertime2023
Valid through August 31st, 2023 or while stock lasts.
dirkserries.bandcamp.com
vidnaobmana.bandcamp.com
dirkserriesmicrophonics.bandcamp.com
fearfallsburning.bandcamp.com
streamsofconsciousness.bandcamp.com
This incredible reissue of VIDNA OBMANA’s swansong : a trilogy of albums inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno poems which originally was released on the legendary metal label RELAPSE RECORDS / RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT got the ZOHARUM treatment with this fine reissue, fully remastered and with the breathtaking photography by Martina Verhoeven. Belgium’ SIDE-LINE magazine just reviewed this 3 CD set and gave it a 8/10 rating ! Get your copy here.
Background/Info: Polish Zoharum label moves on re-releasing albums from Vidna Obmana’s back catalog. Belgian artist Dirk Serries started this legendary project in the 80s and the “Dante Trilogy” belongs to the latest productions of the project. “Tremor” 2001), “Spore” (2002) and “Legacy” (2002) were originally released as separate albums by Relapse Records. Zoharum brings this trilogy now together in a massive, single, and remastered, work.
Content: There clearly is a connection between the 3 records. The albums can be described as an offspring between Dark-Ambient and Cinematic music with Tribal rhythms on top. Serries mixed electronics together with real instruments like overtune flutes, percussion, guitar, ebow harmonics, dreampipe ao. Several guest artists also contributed to a few tracks on the different albums. One of the most renowned artists was Marc Verhaeghen (The Klinik) who played trumpet on a song featured at “Spore”.
+ + + : This trilogy remains to me the most accessible and best work ever composed by Vidna Obmana. The artist composed a very unique sound experience which you can’t compare to any other artist. He brought genres together creating his own style and sound DNA. The slow rhythms definitely inject something special while the mysterious atmospheres created by overtone flutes were just like the red line throughout this trilogy. Sometimes anguishing and characterized by a strongly inhibited approach this work still sounds accurate today. It’s really great to see this trilogy being released as one album featuring a great, artistic, digipak. Zoharum did a great work on this.
– – – : The single reproach I would make is the rather repetitive and predictable sound which comes true after a while.
Conclusion: Back to the mysterious sound of Vidna Obmana which found its apotheosis by this magic, conceptual, trilogy.
Best songs: “Mindtunnel”, “The Seeker And The Spell” + Skin Strip”, “Beyond The Shaman”, “Resonant Gore” + “Bloodshift”.
Rate: 8.
DIRK SERRIES will do a last-minute added SOLO AMBIENT concert at the STRUPPIGTANZEN concert event series (KAW/Kulturausbesserungswerk) in Leverkusen, (Germany) on June 30th, 2023.
The extraordinary Polish webzine, from the mind of Andrzej Nowak, just wrote a beautiful article on DIRK SERRIES recent albums : two solo’s : FLUCTUATION OF BEING and NOCTURNAL DISCORD, and his collaboration with JUSTIN K BROADRICK : LOUD AS GIANTS.
Belgijskiego artystę Dirka Serriesa uwielbiamy na tych łamach niezwykle intensywnie, zarówno jako swobodnie improwizującego gitarzystę (akustycznego i elektrycznego), jak i szefa fantastycznego impro labelu A New Wave Of Jazz. Tego samego muzyka po prostu kochamy, gdy dźwiękami swojej gitary zabiera nas w bezmiar mrocznego ambientu, który jak zawsze nie ma początku, ani tym bardziej zakończenia.
Z ogromną radością donosimy, iż w ostatnich tygodniach ukazały się aż trzy albumy Serriesa w ambientowej estetyce – dwa w pełni solowe, choć każdy powstały w innych realiach producenckich oraz jedno poczynione w duecie ze starym kumplem, z którym muzykował onegdaj choćby pod wspaniałym szyldem Fear Falls Burning.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dirk Serries in dark zone! Welcome!
Dirk Serries Fluctuation Of Being (Midira Records, CD 2023). Nagrane w różnych okolicznościach, 2019 – 2022: Dirk Serries – gitara elektryczna i efekty. Pięć utworów, 55 minut.
Fluktuacja bytu, to niemal klasyczna pozycja w dark ambientowym portfolio Belga. Gitarowe pasaże od lewej do prawej, od nieistniejących narodzin do zapomnianego bezkońca. Nagrania powstałe w trakcie czterech lat brzmią bliźniaczo, pięknie kołyszą nas egzystencjalną trwogą i wszechobecnym smutkiem. Tytuły utworów pełne są niemal metafizycznej pustki, zapewne obrazują dźwiękiem czasy covidowej beznadziei. Piękny album wprost do galerii wzorca gatunku!
Pierwsza z pięciu kilkunastominutowych ekspozycji zdaje się płynąć strumieniem o umiarkowanie mrocznej proweniencji. Budują ją pasma brzmiące czystym ambientem, ale także strugi bardziej zabrudzonych fonii. Całość sprawia wrażenie bardziej tęsknej niż konającej w trwodze nieskończoności. Raz po raz flow zdobiony jest bardziej masywnymi, basowymi pasmami, które brzmią dość syntetycznie. Narracja z czasem rozlewa się coraz szerszym korytem, nie szczędząc nam emocji. Druga opowieść brzmi niemal polisyntetycznie, bardziej wszakże relaksacyjnie, z głęboko skrywaną melodyką rezygnacji. Kolejna narracja wydaje się lżejsza, kreowana z większą swobodą, ale uformowana w dość płaskie pasmo. Czwarta opowieść płynie zarówno bardzo łagodnym strumieniem, jak i basowym kontrapunktem. Z czasem nabiera pewnej śpiewności, budując klimat mniej ponury, jakby na horyzoncie pojawiało się mgliste światełko nadziei. Finałowa historia pięknie wieńczy dzieło. Przypomina leniwy strumień, który nabiera mocy i zamienia się w rwący, emocjonalny potok dźwięków. Znamiona silnie mrocznego nosi tylko jeden z wielu wątków tej niekończącej się opowieści.
Dirk Serries Nocturnal Discord (Cloudchamber Records, Kaseta/DL 2023). Nagrane w czasie rzeczywistym, studio domowe, styczeń 2023: Dirk Serries – gitara elektryczna i efekty. Pięć utworów, 49 minut.
Druga z solowych nowości gitarzysty powstała w czasie rzeczywistym, z czego wnosić można, iż jest realnym zapisem procesu twórczego bez specjalnych ingerencji post-produkcyjnych. Nagrana na raz i udostępniona w formie pięciu improwizacji, budowanych surowym brzmieniem gitary elektrycznej, szumem gitarowych pick-upów, nasączona brudem analogowej metody realizacji. Nowy, ciekawy wątek w twórczości muzyka, silniej osadzony w żywych dźwiękach, poniekąd nawiązujący do gitarowego projektu życia artysty, czyli Fear Falls Burning. Płyta wszakże zdaje się mieć nieco punkowy anturaż, jest chropowata, jakby klejona taśmą malarską, nie zwiewnością elektronicznych obróbek, daleka od ambientowej płynności i dramaturgicznej zwinności typowej dla gatunku.
Nocturnal Discord budowany jest na ogół metodami dość minimalistycznymi. Gitara pracuje tu częściej krótkimi frazami niż dźwiękowymi plamami typowymi dla ambientu. Wokół niej wszystko zdaje się szumieć i skwierczeć naturalną analogowością. Narracja incydentalnie potrafi zgęstnieć, ale też niemal momentalnie rozmyć się w chmurze szumu. Ów czerstwy post-ambient ma, co do zasady, powolne tempo, porusza się niemal ceremonialne. W kolejnych opowieściach gitara żyje pełnymi emocjami – czasami przypomina niedostrojone organy, czasami moduluje dźwięk, czasami fałszuje niczym pijany wokalista lokalnego bandu. W trzeciej części narracja wydaje się wyjątkowo rwana, niebywale nerwowa jak na kanony ambientu. Dużej w niej szorstkich, męskich zapachów i siermiężnej subtelności. W czwartej opowieści przywołane wyżej charakterystyki zdają się nasilać. Całość przypomina elegię na śmierć ambientu. Finałowa opowieść znów brzmi organowo, tworzą ją mgławice dźwiękowych plam z wolna umierającej gitary.
Loud As Giants Empty Homes (Consouling Sounds, CD 2023). Czas i miejsce akcji nieznane (jakkolwiek pandemiczne): Justin K. Broadrick oraz Dirk Serries – wszystkie instrumenty, żywe i syntetyczne. Cztery utwory, 45 minut.
Jeśli we współczesnym dorobku artystycznym Serriesa mielibyśmy szukać pozycji o największym potencjale … komercyjnym, to popełnilibyśmy błąd najmniejszy wskazując na nagranie Empty Homes! Oczywiście mamy tu gitarowe, niekiedy post-rockowe frazowanie zanurzone w oceanie gęstego ambientu, ale każda z narracji doprawiona jest perkusyjnym beatem, który nie rzadko nabiera syntetycznych barw i haczy o niebanalne electro, tudzież estetykę drum’n’bass. Album dostarcza naprawdę dużo wrażeń, choć całość dramaturgicznie i narracyjnie wydaje się być dość łatwo przyswajalna, nawet dla nieobytego w mrokach ambientu odbiorcy.
Początek każdego z utworów zdaje się być typowy dla gitarowego ambientu, aczkolwiek brzmienie bywa tu gęste, chwilami wręcz ciężkie. W pierwszej odsłonie, po rzeczonym wstępie, perkusja zaczyna bić prosty rytm, czyniąc ambientową introdukcję elementem rockowej piosenki, szczególnie, gdy frazowanie gitary na froncie robi się nad wyraz spokojne. Dodajmy, iż brzmienie duetu jest dość niechlujnie, brudne, ale całkiem ożywcze. W kolejnej opowieści mamy podobny schemat, ale rozwinięcie wątku gitarowego idzie tu w masę i brzmi niczym klasyczne riffy Black Sabbath. Całość niesiona jest pasmem basowym o zdecydowanie syntetycznym brzmieniu. W trzeciej części ambient otwarcia wydaje się bardziej mglisty, z kolei gitarowy wątek główny przypomina nasączone silnym echem produkcje Cocteau Twins, odgrywane wszakże tuż przed nuklearnym atakiem wroga. Beat utworu dość szybko przyobleka tu szaty drum’n’bass. W ostatnim utworze szyk narracji kreuje elektroniczny beat, niczym perkusyjna stopa na bębnie basowym. Gitara wydaje się tu wyjątkowo rozkołysana, na poły post-rockowa, na poły ambientowa.
Chile’s LOOP MAGAZINE just published a brand-new interview with DIRK SERRIES about his recent solo album FLUCTUATION OF BEING on MIDIRA RECORDS.
In the early 80s the Belgian composer Dirk Serries began to work in the industrial scene with the alias of Vidna Obmana with whom he released more than 140 solo albums and in collaboration with other artists such as Steve Roach, San Rosenthal, David Lee Myers, Asmus Tietchens, Steven R. Smith, Aidan Baker, Celer, Scatterwound to name a few.
In 2005, Serries decided to finish with Vidna Obmana, while he had other projects like The Fear Falls Burning and Microphonics, the latter is still active. In addition to playing with several bands. Meanwhile he founded several labels such as Mechanical Orchestration Music in which he released the music of Vidna Obmana. In recent years he has developed a great interest in free-jazz and improvisational music, founding the A New Wave Of Jazz label.
Serries is a multifaceted musician who works both with metal and post-metal, as well as free improvisation, avant-garde jazz and ambient music under his name, with which he has just released the album “Fluctuation Of Being” (Midira Records, 2023), an album that features long guitar drones that float in a sea of uplifting tonalities. On the occasion of this new album, this interview is carried out.
Thanks go to Ed Benndorf, from the Berlin distributor Dense, for arranging this interview and to Dirk Serries for sharing his experience.
You work in a wide spectrum of music. Can you tell us what you find and appreciate in ambient music and free-jazz/improvisation?
“Almost from day one when I started to experiment with sound in the early eighties my goal was to look forward, to learn and grow as a musician and a human being. So, I never shied away from pushing myself and trying different combinations, genres and even instruments. Apart from a brief industrial phase in my early existence as a musician, I got extremely fascinated by ambient music and I still am. Over those past 3 decades I was able to fine-tune my own style in this genre, over the course working with synths and computers till purifying my sound to work solely with an electric guitar and a few pedals. Although I’m not that intensely active any more, the focus lies way more on the free improvisation nowadays, ambient music is what I breath and it’s actually thanks to being involved in the free improv scene I managed to apply a working method for my ambient music that is equally on the spot and surprising than any of the improvised music I do. It still is course a different music style so naturally it requires different playing techniques but both sides of the spectrum I just love to be in.”
What do you mean when you say “vintage ambient music”?
“The term is a wink to the old-school ambient scene in which I was active in the late eighties till the late nineties. Much changed over time, going from outboard hardware instruments like synths, sequencers, mutli-track recording on tape, analog mixing desks to the younger generation that works solely on a laptop computer. I am happy that I was able to perform a technique for myself that still resembles the style of ambient music I created with Vidna Obmana while trimming down the set-up to just one Carefully selected electric guitar and a handful of pedals. The way of playing, layering the tonalities and having them shift slowly over time is just that what I did with Vidna Obmana on synths and all the tools in my studio. Therefore, the reference to the vintage style of playing the ambience”
What do you like to explore with your side-projects Fear Falls Burning and Microphonics?
“Microphonics is definitely a closed book but with Fear Falls Burning ideas are forming to do another record and it surely will be the ‘band’ approach again. Hopefully I’ll be able to record some material over the course of this Summer.”
Which bands/labels/music magazines would you highlight from the early 80s?
“There are plenty as the eighties were just such an inspiring and creative period. To highlight a few musicians and bands: Giancarlo Toniutti, Joy Division, Test Department, early The Cure, Maurizio Bianchi, Chris & Cosey and even early Simple Minds. Labels like Factory, Broken Flag, RRRecords, Sub Rosa, Staalplaat and Projekt.”
Which were the sources of inspiration for the making of your latest “Fluctuation Of Being” album?
“Being here and now. I mean, despite still a lot of people will probably deny or refuse to accept it, we are living in an intense period and already for a long time. Absolutely don’t want to go politically here but the pressure ‘On us, all the impulses we’ve to digest is just sometimes too much to handle and makes you shift your life almost constantly. This album is just about that, the constant twists of the mind under impulse of daily life.’”
On Fear Falls Burning’s Bandcamp page you pointed out “a musical meditation on purity and subdued power” What does it mean?
“Wow, that’s a long time since I read that definition but back then after completing the Vidna Obmana story I really wanted to pursue something different. Fear Falls Burning still has connotations to what I did previously but the approach was different, less studio-oriented but real-time guitar manipulations through a vast array of pedal effects. The focus was on playing simple motives on the guitar while the effects brought everything into play and constructed the full guitar soundscape. Fear Falls Burning was way more powerful than Vidna Obmana ever was, louder and more intense but at the same time it was about the detailed research in what the electric guitar could produce, from the tiniest sounds to the full-on wash of tones. That said, Fear Falls Burning slowly over time, due to My ongoing urge to experiment, turned into a band project that features several key players from the metal, post-metal and free improv. scene. More to come for sure.”
What would you highlight the most from these 30 years dedicated to music?
“It’s difficult to pick one but generally seen I’m most proud of how I have been able to create my own identity while maintaining my independency. Nothing is original but in this all you can still work and make the efforts to realize your own voice and this is what I’ve done from day one. Of course, I always have been ambitious to share my music with as many listeners possible, this is something you decide upon when you start releasing your work but never, I wanted to follow the straight path and rely on a particular success. The number surely dropped when the highly successful cd retail collapsed in the late nineties, due to the arrival of streaming, but luckily there’s still a dedicated audience adventurous enough to follow me on this journey of constant exploration. And the fact that I’ve been able to work together with such talented international musicians, through various genres, while others seem to follow that and be inspired by, confirms that I probably am doing some interesting stuff. From my solo work, the free improv band KODIAN TRIO (with Colin Webster and Andrew Lisle) to the culmination of all YODOK III (with Tomas Järmyr and Kristoffer Lo).”
Guillermo Escudero
May 2023
Buy FLUCTUATION OF BEING here. Visit the MIDIRA RECORDS website here.
DIRK SERRIES, in promotion of the LOUD AS GIANTS’ EMPTY HOMES album, has been doing several interviews as well these (video) podcasts. Some of them brief, another lengthy and very detailed on lots that has been part of Dirk Serries’ 3 decades plus repetoire.
COUCH RIFFS with MIKE SQUIRES :
VEIL OF SOUND :
CHILL DUDE ON A COUCH :
Last Thursday LOUD AS GIANTS (JUSTIN K BROADRICK and DIRK SERRIES) premiered their debut album EMPTY HOMES (Consouling Sounds) live at the annual Belgian DUNK! Festival. It was a blast. Check out a few photos…
photos by Christian J.
photo by Jan Kees Helms
photo by Richard Irving
Justin K. Broadrick and Dirk Serries talk to us about how their experimental musical minds came together for their crushing new project, Loud As Giants.
If you’re a fan of really experimental, niche extreme music, then the names Justin K. Broadrick and Dirk Serries should be very familiar. The former has a musical CV which includes industrial heavyweights Godflesh along with Jesu and Final, while Serries can be heard on Fear Falls Burning and Vidna Obmana.
It was inevitable that these two musical minds would cross paths at some point throughout their careers. Finally, after multiple delays, scheduling and COVID, the pair have dropped the crushing Empty Homes EP (out via Consouling Sounds) under the moniker Loud As Giants.
In our latest Cover Story, we speak with both Justin and Dirk to find out about the project, the inspiration behind the music and what their future plans are for the heavy beast that is, Loud As Giants.
Thanks for your time; let’s get talking about Loud As Giants, then. Justin said now is the right time for the project. Can you expand on why you think that is?
Dirk Serries: “If you look at both our busy work schedules, it’s never the right time, but for us both, it was though the best moment in our extensive careers to work on this one. Like I said many times before, we both are musical chameleons with several different projects under our wings, so most essential was to finally come up with a consensus in which direction we would focus. From there on, it went fast and smooth.”
Justin K. Broadrick: “It was really the right time to finally release it. It has taken a long time to release this project, and it went through a number of different concepts over the years, but when we hit this sound, we both knew this was it.”
“It has taken a long time to release this project, and it went through a number of different concepts over the years, but when we hit this sound we both knew this was it.”
Loud As Giants has been on the backburner for a while. How much did COVID and the lockdown affect the timelines you had for releasing Empty Homes?
Dirk: “Absolutely. Despite Justin and I still had quite a lot of work on our hands during the two years COVID took over, but it definitely gave us both some extra space to finally start working on our duo collaboration.”
Justin: “Yes, the lockdowns actually made this happen. Fortunately for us; I personally was able to focus on the beat and bass aspect, which we agreed could centre the project, so to speak, without having to perform this gave me the time to work this without the draining performance aspect obstructing me. Of course, the pandemic was entirely destructive, so there wasn’t much to be gleaned that was positive from that whole experience.”
Musically, the EP fits with the isolation of the past few years. Did your feelings and experiences of the past few years inspire the four tracks?
Dirk: “I think every bit that happens in your life triggers the music you want to make or are creating. While it definitely refers as well to the era of music in the early eighties we both like so much, somehow the current predicament the world is in is quite similar and strangely inspires. It’s like Winter vs Summer.”
Justin: “I agree, and I feel like this album will remind me of the emptiness and sadness of that universal isolation, but regardless of that of that being enforced, I was happy to not engage with the outside world nor travel it suited the fact that I am autistic perfectly.”
You both obviously have a very strong creative connection but has Dirk shared similar feelings of isolation with Justin during the pandemic?
Dirk: “Oh yes, like I said before, I think both are very passionate musicians who get influenced, inspired and motivated by the circumstances around us. Not per sé that our music is politically or socially motivated, but surely it all gets in there, and that level, we both are quite alike. And also, we walked almost the same trajectory, so that makes us more alike than with most collaborators.”
Justin: “Yeah, we are both very much aware of our environments and reflect and express this through our art; we create environments for people to inhabit.”
Justin talked about his love of the night, empty streets, the quiet. What is that puts you at your happiest in those settings, and do you share those feelings, Dirk?
Dirk: “Oh absolutely, maybe strange to write here, but I like the secluded and abandoned, less people, the better J and nights trigger that even more while it also changes your senses too. Everything gets accentuated.”
Justin: “It has been a thing for me since I was a child, but it also is common among many autistic people, which I found out once diagnosed; being so attuned to our immediate environments mostly means overload, and being constantly overwhelmed on the day time, the night affords me this space – I am very aware of the streets being empty and people being in their homes asleep, I love this feeling and feel more undisturbed – I am completely aware of this emptiness and revel in it.”
“For Empty Homes we really wanted to pay tribute to the old school industrial and electronic albums with blurred black & white pictures and a sort of vintage character in the printing.”
Do you feel those are the best settings for someone to fully appreciate the experience of listening to Loud As Giants?
Dirk: “Loud (laughs).”
Justin: “(laughs) Yes! I agree with Dirk, but a dark, dimly lit space, very little distractions, would be best, I feel for total immersion…”
Going back to the start of the project, how did those initial conversations between you both come about, and what was the early vision for Loud As Giants?
Dirk: “Of course, we worked together before so no surprises there, but I think the complexity of starting with a brand-new project is to decide whether this is a genre-based project or just a collaboration that can go into multiple directions. We first talked about an industrial project, and while I still think you can hear a bit of that still in our first outing, Empty Homes is a culmination of many impulses. And in the end, we didn’t talk about the style after all and just recorded the music.”
Justin: “Yes, as Dirk says, we discussed many options instead of working through them; eventually, Dirk sent me such beautiful guitar work that it inspired a whole ’other’ direction, so to speak; setting this to rhythm and bass was a not-so-obvious route we felt, usually guitar drones of this calibre will exist in an beatless and bassless state, we wanted to turn that stereotype on its head.”
You say that Loud As Giants doesn’t want to reinvent music but is more like a trip down memory lane. What memories did working on this project conjure up for you both?
Dirk: “For me, definitely the philosophy and character of the eighties and the cassette network Justin and I played an active part in. The no-nonsense character, everything goes, and the pure DIY style of releasing music. It was just a very inspirational period, and I think our duo just somehow reminds me of that. I mean the respect between us is a vital part of what our collaboration is about. Just passion to share sounds and create something together we both can be proud of. Exactly like it was back then. The rest was and is all incidental.”
Justin: “Yes, we’re tapping into all our resources, but it naturally moved into a timeless area of the 80s somehow, when music felt really creative and moved in many ways without the conventional trappings; less formulated and conservative, free.”
Do you remember the albums and bands that brought you both together creatively?
Dirk: “On a personal level, Justin’s FINAL has been the first project I got introduced to back then and through what he released on Post Mortem. It was only later on I found out that Justin was behind Godflesh, etc.”
Justin: “I purchased an album that I’ve loved ever since by Dirk, in 1992 – Vidna Obmana, revealed by composed nature – I was thrilled to meet him and work with him many years later! We share many of the same tastes – Industrial music of the ’80s, free jazz, ambient, and so on…”
Throughout your career, your music has always carried an equally harsh visual element – is this something that you will bring into Loud As Giants?
Dirk: “Also, here, I think this can really vary from album to album. For Empty Homes, we really wanted to pay tribute to the old-school industrial and electronic albums with blurred black & white pictures and a sort of vintage character in the printing. Who knows what the next one will be about?”
Justin: “Somewhat, whereas the beautiful visuals that Dirk’s partner supplied for this debut album are far from harsh and more representative of the neighbourhoods we inhabit, but without us/humans.”
What about a live show? Do you see Loud As Giants touring, and if so, how do you visualise that live show?
Dirk: “Personally I don’t see Loud As Giants as a touring band. I think it’s vital for us both to keep the music fresh and something that sits and breathes next to our other projects, without any kind of pressure. However, we’re playing DUNK! Festival (in Gent, Belgium) next month, so pretty excited about that, and we’ll see how that one goes.”
Justin: “We will play one-off performances; I particularly cannot tour; it doesn’t work for me, I can do small strings of dates but never a full tour, thankfully those days are gone for me due to it causing me such huge personal problems associated with my autism, but we will perform if the offer and setting is right for us, selectively.”
As two people who have many musical projects on the go, have you talked about future LAG releases?
Dirk: “No, absolutely not. Let us first enjoy this one, but I’m sure we’ll grab the chance of a follow-up when we’ve free time. There’s a lot of musical ground to cover.”
Justin: “For sure, as Dirk says, this took so long. I think we’re surprised we even got this out in the end! But we have no immediate plans, but we both love this trajectory and feel we can explore it much further.”
Thanks for your time; I appreciate you talking to us and want to leave it up to you to wrap up this conversation…
Dirk: “Thank you for the opportunity and for sharing Loud As Giants.”
Justin: “Thank you very much for the interest.”
Read the interview on V13.
VIDNA OBMANA’s latest reissue on the lovely Polish ZOHARUM label is receiving nice reviews. Here’s the latest in Gonzo Circus (printed magazine from Belgium/The Netherlands).
The album itself is still available from bandcamp :
“Slechts een handvol Belgen wisten zichzelf binnen te krijgen bij het gereputeerde Amerikaanse metal-label Relapse en/of sub-label Release Entertainment, maar Dirk Serries is het gelukt. Tussen 2001 en 2004 slaagde hij er namelijk in om er niet minder dan drie albums – deel van een trilogie gebaseerd op ‘La Divina Commedia’ van Dante Alighieri – uit te brengen : Tremor, Spore en Legacy. Serries toenmalige project kende in die periode duidelijk zijn hoogtepunt. Dat valt niet alleen vast te stellen door de muziek op zich – een geperfectioneerde mix van mysterieuze en hypnotiserende soundscapes en subtiele tribale ritmes – maar ook door de aanwezigheid van een aantal tot de verbeelding sprekende gasten zoals Steve Von Till (Neurosis), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) en oude kompaan Marc Verhaeghen (The Klinik). Serries bedient zich op die trilogie, naast E-bow, elektronische effecten en allerhande percussie-instrumenten, ook van flink wat exotische fluiten, zoals de fujara. Vanaf 2009 zou Serries als Fear Falls Burning zijn focus verschuiven naar de exploratie van de mogelijkheden van heavy gitaardrones. Tegenwoordig is hij een graag geziene gast in het internationale milieu van zogenaamde vrije muziekvormen, waaronder freejazz en improv. Het Poolse Zoharum is al een tijdje bezig met het heruitbrengen van de indrukwekkende discografie van Vidna Obmana. Zo ook deze trilogie. Volledig gemastered in een driedubbel overzicht, inclusief mooie foto’s van Martina Verhoeven. (swat)”
LOUD AS GIANTS – EMPTY HOMES (cd & lp, Consouling Sounds 2023)
“Loud as Giants to projekt znanych person ze świata muzyki niezależnej, Justina Broadricka (Godflesh, Jesu, Final) oraz Dirka Serriesa (Vidna Obmana, Fear Falls Burning). Myśląc o nich mam wrażenie, że panowie ci w ogóle nie śpią. Trudno nadążyć za nimi w odsłuchaniu ich kolejnych albumów i projektów. Informacja o ich wspólnych nagraniach bardzo pozytywnie mnie zaskoczyła. Artyści ci współpracowali już ze sobą remiksując swoje projekty, a także Fear Falls Burning otwierał koncert Jesu podczas trasy. Mówiąc o Loud as Giants, Dirk twierdzi, że zarówno dla niego jak i Justina, projekt ten to jakby podróż w przeszłość. Ma on symbolizować ich wzajemną fascynację kulturą lat 80., w której dorastali, oraz wszystkimi istotnymi i przełomowymi gatunkami, które wywarły na nich wpływ. „Nasza współpraca w LOUD AS GIANTS nie ma na celu wymyślania nowej muzyki, ale po prostu połączenie muzyki, przy której dorastaliśmy, byliśmy/jesteśmy inspirowani i którą po prostu lubimy sami tworzyć”. – wyjaśnia.
“Empty Homes” to album pełen rozmytych dźwięków wypełnionych melancholią oraz tęsknotą. Może ten „powrót do przeszłości” artystów spowodował o zabarwieniu ich muzyki nostalgią. Te, cztery utwory skonstruowane z gitarowych dronów i powtórzeń, zatopione w chłodnych tłach z dodatkiem minimalistycznego zbasowanego rytmu brzmią fantastycznie. Właściwie gra Dirka jak i Justina jest tak charakterystyczna, a ich brzmienia rozpoznawalne, że od pierwszej melodii możemy odgadnąć kto jest ich autorem. Faktycznie, tak jak stwierdził Dirk, tutaj nie ma nowej muzyki, nowych gatunków. To raczej dźwięki przestrzennego pejzażu zakotwiczonego w latach osiemdziesiątych jednak zrealizowanych w nowoczesny sposób. Słuchając Loud as Giants mam wrażenie przeniesienia się do czasów albumu “Garlands”, gdzie dominowały właśnie rozmyte gitary, które stwarzały też hipnotyzujące i chłodne tło. Oczywiście ta analogia jest tylko domyślna, a nie dosłowna. “Empty Homes” posiada całkiem inną strukturę utworów oraz jest to twór instrumentalny. Nagrania te jakby płynęły i rozpadały się w powietrzu, delikatność brzmień gitar przepięknie nawarstwia się w głęboką plamę. Jest to muzyka bazująca na granicy jawy i snu, a mocny, głęboki beat czasami budzi nas z dźwiękowego zawieszenia.
Loud as Giants i ich “Empty Homes” to kolejny album świadczący o wielkich zdolnościach Broadricka oraz Serriesa w przełamywaniu wszelkich barier w muzycznych gatunkach. Album ten zabiera nas w dość czarujące i hipnotyzujące krajobrazy. Wchłaniajcie jego oniryzm i senność, wsłuchujcie się w rytm brzmiący niczym kamienie uderzające w skały.”
dirkserries.com 