Innerst i Mørket begins and I think “is this the soundtrack to Hukkunid Alpinisti Hotell”? And then it goes Vemod – so basically yes, yes it is.

I did choose a very opportune time to listen to this album. On a 3+ hour flight with a child screaming bloody murder behind me the entire time, it almost sounded like a horrifying backing track (the child, not the albu). Quite Begotten-esque, but, you know, if Begotten wasn’t a silent film.

I do really love one track albums. The way they create a poetry of sound, an elegy and an epic, a liturgy of atmospheric complexity. It gets me every single time. Innerst i Mørket is no exception to this. It’s the perfect level of dissonant, the perfect level of icy, and even the perfect level of warm. Think crisp sunny January morning followed up by an ice storm. You are observing it from within your cold yet secure room, cocooned under a myriad of blankets, admiring its brutal yet simple beauty. You’ve nothing else to do but wait it out, and yet you find yourself so immersed in it, that you don’t want it to end. This is Innerst i Mørket.

Manii, the entity emerging as Manes split up and then re-formed, truly knows how to create a unique atmosphere. Intensely threatening but hauntingly beautiful. However, my favourite bit of it is the distortion. It’s used so deliberately, so precisely, that it really showcases the technical ability and musical genius behind Manii. While the base level of distortion isn’t quite that high (there’s more feedback than distortion), it’s increased tremendously during more intense passages, no doubt to layer up the disquieting atmosphere. This is all the more prominent towards the end of the track, as it progresses towards it’s natural culmination. In passages where others would employ a wall of sound type layering, Manii resolves this by first and foremost upping the distortion. It’s so effective, and hits the spot just right, particularly in regard to the vocals, which turn from oppressive to ghostly with the speed of light.

All jokes aside, this album saved my sanity during my flight, and for that I’ll reward it with many a further listen.

(7/10 The Flâneur)

https://www.facebook.com/ManiiOfficial

https://terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/track/manii-excerpt-from-innerst-i-m-rket