Empusae & Onasander - Umbrosyne
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To encounter a new work by Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe is to step into an artist’s meticulously crafted dreamscape, where sound becomes a vessel for transformation and immersion. Having followed his solo endeavors and collaborations for years, I remain enchanted by his rare ability to create sonic worlds that transcend mere listening. His art, a masterful interplay of suggestion and intuition, unfolds like a pilgrimage into the vast terrains of imagination, where thought and sensory experience merge into a singular vision.
With Umbrosyne, Van Meirhaeghe, known as Empusae, teams up with Onasander to conjure a hauntingly beautiful sonic tapestry. This collaboration is more than the sum of its parts—it is an intricate dialogue between shadow and light, desolation and beauty, introspection and transcendence. The album compels not just passive listening, but an active, all-encompassing experience. The richly textured soundscapes demand stillness and surrender, evoking a synesthetic journey where music becomes both mirror and guide, allowing fleeting images and emotions to cascade through the mind like fragments of a dream.
The tracks, each steeped in mythological and historical resonance, weave seamlessly between Empusae’s dark ambient and industrial layers and Onasander’s cinematic, narrative-driven compositions. From the foreboding elegance of "Nyxtelios" to the sprawling depths of "Stygionix," the album balances its disquieting energy with moments of profound serenity. The music is at once intricate and expansive, a sonic cosmos where every sound feels deliberate yet untethered, flowing with an organic vitality.
What sets Umbrosyne apart is its ability to occupy multiple realms simultaneously—the ancient and the modern, the corporeal and the cosmic. It taps into the primal depths of human consciousness, where memory and resilience intertwine with shadowy mysteries. The album’s title, evoking both shadow ("umbra") and mindfulness ("syne"), encapsulates this duality, a meditation on the light that shapes even the darkest corners of existence.
The visual elements accompanying the album are no less captivating. Christel Morvan’s artwork, complemented by NIHIL’s intricate layout, mirrors the album’s sonic ethos. Described as "cosmic body horror," the art fuses the grotesque beauty of human form with the infinite vastness of the universe, creating an uncanny yet mesmerizing visual counterpart to the music. This symbiosis between sound and image deepens the album’s immersive quality, pulling the listener further into its layered narrative.
Umbrosyne is not merely a collection of tracks; it is an ecosystem of sound, thought, and emotion. It challenges, provokes, and transforms, leaving the listener with a lingering sense of awe and introspection. Empusae and Onasander have created something truly remarkable—a work that doesn’t just reflect the artists’ inner worlds but invites us to traverse our own.
Mastered by Frédéric Arbour, Umbrosyne is both an indication and a redefinition of what collaboration can achieve in experimental and atmospheric music. It’s an album that lingers in the mind long after the final note fades, a journey worth undertaking.
TracklistWith Umbrosyne, Van Meirhaeghe, known as Empusae, teams up with Onasander to conjure a hauntingly beautiful sonic tapestry. This collaboration is more than the sum of its parts—it is an intricate dialogue between shadow and light, desolation and beauty, introspection and transcendence. The album compels not just passive listening, but an active, all-encompassing experience. The richly textured soundscapes demand stillness and surrender, evoking a synesthetic journey where music becomes both mirror and guide, allowing fleeting images and emotions to cascade through the mind like fragments of a dream.
The tracks, each steeped in mythological and historical resonance, weave seamlessly between Empusae’s dark ambient and industrial layers and Onasander’s cinematic, narrative-driven compositions. From the foreboding elegance of "Nyxtelios" to the sprawling depths of "Stygionix," the album balances its disquieting energy with moments of profound serenity. The music is at once intricate and expansive, a sonic cosmos where every sound feels deliberate yet untethered, flowing with an organic vitality.
What sets Umbrosyne apart is its ability to occupy multiple realms simultaneously—the ancient and the modern, the corporeal and the cosmic. It taps into the primal depths of human consciousness, where memory and resilience intertwine with shadowy mysteries. The album’s title, evoking both shadow ("umbra") and mindfulness ("syne"), encapsulates this duality, a meditation on the light that shapes even the darkest corners of existence.
The visual elements accompanying the album are no less captivating. Christel Morvan’s artwork, complemented by NIHIL’s intricate layout, mirrors the album’s sonic ethos. Described as "cosmic body horror," the art fuses the grotesque beauty of human form with the infinite vastness of the universe, creating an uncanny yet mesmerizing visual counterpart to the music. This symbiosis between sound and image deepens the album’s immersive quality, pulling the listener further into its layered narrative.
Umbrosyne is not merely a collection of tracks; it is an ecosystem of sound, thought, and emotion. It challenges, provokes, and transforms, leaving the listener with a lingering sense of awe and introspection. Empusae and Onasander have created something truly remarkable—a work that doesn’t just reflect the artists’ inner worlds but invites us to traverse our own.
Mastered by Frédéric Arbour, Umbrosyne is both an indication and a redefinition of what collaboration can achieve in experimental and atmospheric music. It’s an album that lingers in the mind long after the final note fades, a journey worth undertaking.
1. Nyxtelios
2. Astronyx
3. Ereboskai
4. Stygionix
5. Phobeleos
6. Hadeskai
Release Date: December 21, 2024
Label: Cyclic Law
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/umbrosyne
