by VITRIOL
Country: 
Bandlink
Label: Alchemic Sound Museum
Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone, Electronic, Neoclassical, Experimental, Noise
01 Préface Au Néant
02 Les Derniers Spasmes D’une Humanité Refoulée
03 Adieu Comptines
04 L’architecte du Corps De Destruction
05 Dans La Nef D’un Chaos Organique
06 La Brisure Du Premier Touché
07 La Haine Primordiale
08 L’ébat Prophétique
09 A L’horizon D’un Maelström Psychique
10 L’ultime Vision D’un Ange
Nors’ Klh is one of the most interesting projects I’ve ever listened to. Cedric from France is behind it, and has been doing an excellent job of combining several musical genres to produce a most extraordinary result. This is the fourth album he has released, preceded by “A Vision Of Nothingness ” in collaboration with Nausea (2009), “La Montagne Vivante” (2009) and “AnT.2” (2010).
Some years ago, when I first listened to “Le Devoreur”, a track now included in the album “AnT.2” I told myself: now here’s something exciting – this artist is going to be known very soon . Fortunately enough I was right, and a wider audience can now enter into the unique experience that is Nors’Klh. To have an inkling of where you are travelling – as only an inkling will be available when one is bold enough to travel to the nether regions of the universe – a few words from the artist will serve to illuminate the darkness: “Nors’Klh is not a group, it is a experience … a fantasy. During the darkest periods of my life, I wanted to disappear. I don’t mean suicide … I am speaking of a powerful desire to withdraw mentally and also especially physically. In the depths of my being, I had this burning desire that were consuming me. During a rough night … I had incredible visions of sprawling spherical entities, cities engulfed by tidal wave of death, living mountains, endless columns of desert plains. Alongside the star, I found myself a “life” in these visions. I had been left in a state of mind one may call a “bad-trip” In the end, I saw myself implode and disappear. Since, I am trying to recreate the sound of those visions. Intense, horrible and beautiful”.
“La Haine Primordiale” is described in the label’s website as the nightmarish growth of the psychosis of a humanoid, who has murdered his wife and child. His disease becomes material. In a semi-demonic state, he descends into hell where the soul and the flesh become one, lost in a maelstrom of primordial hate. The key phrase in this description is “his psychosis grows and becomes organic matter”. From the first track he has released, Nors’Klh has tried to reconcile the vast expanse of space, the mysteries of matter in its primeval state, the eternal reciprocity of energy in a macrocosmic scale, to its reflection, the microcosm that is the human being. The tension derived from that effort, the agony descending mercilessly on the weak, powerless human existence, is the main theme of his music. The harmony of universal law is chaos when filtered through our understanding. The justice of the gods is cruelty to mortals. When we look into the mirror of our soul, the nightmares emerge all-powerful, consuming every notion of the Self. The symbolic, initiatory suicide is in truth the elimination of that very Self, only to come forth from the ordeal transmuted, in possession of its higher equivalent.
The path begins with “Preface au Néant” (Prologue to Nothingness), a dark ambient track with neoclassical and electronic elements, properly setting the stage for what is to follow. A desolate, esoteric, futuristic landscape where the voices of unspeakable things haunt the mind. In “Les Derniers Spasmes d’une Humanité Refoulée” (The Final Spasms of a Suppressed Humanity) the confinements of civilisation give way somewhat resignedly, in a slow, heavy track characterised by its dramatic tone, neoclassical elements and rock guitars, while “Adieu Comptines” (Goodbye Nursery Rhymes) is apparently the point where the main character murders his child, but also the symbolic landmark of the loss of innocence. The same atmosphere continues, with its melancholic violin,beautiful piano melodies and electronic sounds, with the addition of noise elements to signify the chaotic state of mental and physical deconstruction the character now finds himself in (“Dans la Nef d’un Chaos Organique” – In the Nave of Organic Chaos).
Electronic industrial artist Loki Fun Lilith does the vocals for the next track, which apart from some heavily distorted vocals and noise elements is mainly a psychedelic rock guitar track, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Careful With That Axe Eugene” at some points. After wandering freely in the chaos of his obsession, comes the time for the humanoid to acknowledge “La Haine Primordiale”. The acoustic guitar of the first steps menacingly leads to a noisy climax, but next comes yet another track of atmospheric psychedelia, with the electric guitar, violin and synths leading away to the prophetic visions that come after man has overcome his very nature. Nothing remains but to enter the maelstrom, to be annihilated. “A l’Horizon d’un Maelström Psychique” is my personal favourite and one of the best tracks of the album. A masterpiece of black metal noise, merciless drums and neoclassical grandeur, designed to leave you terrorized and awestruck, in a classic lovecraftian manner. Close your eyes, feel the Great Old Ones project into your mind, succumb to the sacred madness of Abdul Alhazred. Where everything is lost, and humanity surrenders to the powers of the universe.
Where does the universe originate from, if not our own being? The unconquerable urge to know it is in truth the suspicion of the divine spark within our nature. The desperate need to know ourselves. In order to achieve complete self-knowledge however, it is necessary to accept and embrace our inner darkness. To surrender to it entirely, plunge into the abyss, and allow it to show us its visions. Should we manage to climb up from it, the duality will have been extinguished. We will be ready to take on the new vessel of our Higher Self, no longer a reflection as before. After the “Psychic Maelstrom” follows the “Final Vision of an Angel”. Rid of our fears, free to enjoy things from a new perspective, we fill with the light of creation and truth. “Alongside the star, I found myself a life”, proclaims the artist. Follow this prophet into the portal, to find your own star – if you dare…
Rating: 5/5
