This is, as far as I can tell, the first duo album from experimental ambient purveyors Tsarewitch & Brooddark (Russian Alexander Yordaki and Belarusian Yaroslav Gavrilyuk, respectively). Moreover, these two appear to be relative newcomers, each with discographies that only go back a few years. As such, one might expect a combining of the established approaches with new ideas – and that is what Supra Memoriam provides.
The music consists of hazy, suffocating layers of drones with sound processing and/or field recordings. It drips with density, as surface-level fuzziness gives way to exquisite detail when a high enough volume is applied. The grittiness varies from track to track.
The aforementioned framework is not new, but Supra Memoriam‘s overall sound is novel. Earlier tracks include blasts of shorter-duration chords among the drones, as well as distorted subharmonics, shimmering constructs, and background crackling. The sound gets slightly more monolithic as the album progresses, aside from a few notes that sound as if they come from an ancient aerophonic instrument. These are accompanied by unobtrusive synthesized beats. The final track is centered around a two-chord pattern with airy yet menacing foreground elements.
Thematically, the album revolves around the resurgence of ancient, mystical forces in a war-torn industrial society where people, disillusioned by progress and ideology, seek something beyond their reality. As they abandon modern constructs, a forgotten power reawakens, symbolized by the rebirth of witches and the unleashing of hidden forces. This is perhaps a statement on modern times.
But music is open to interpretation. My initial reaction is that Tsarewitch & Brooddark were attempting to capture violent sounds of the cosmos – collapsing black holes, collisions between stars, and leftover chaos from the big bang. If either of these descriptions catch your fancy, don’t hesitate to give Supra Memoriam a try.
