ΣΑΛΠΙΓΞ - ΛΙΘΩΔΙΑ
This is the first time we get to review something released on Black Death Industry. A label that has been around since 2014. Started as a net-label, but then in 2024, the label began to release limited physical CD releases. I received some to review, and the first one I will start with is the most mystical.
Sálpinx – Lithodía, the band name Sálpinx is a trumpet-like instrument used by the ancient Greeks. I am not sure what Lithodía is, other than being an extraterrestrial race that looks like the stone-faces on the Eastern Island (Marvel Universe). The cover artwork clearly shows a kind of temple-like building inside the mouth of a cave. You also see on the front cover a drawn map of the interior of the temple. Turn the sleeve around, and you´ll see the temple more upfront. Open the booklet and show a collage picture of the various instruments being used in the creation of the album itself, and some various photos of the temple as well. The album has 3 tracks on it, 28 minutes in total.
The first track, Σπήλαιο Αμώμων (Ammon Cave), starts with a low-fi and fragile synth-drone combined with deep ceremonial primitive drums from deep within a temple. It all has that early kind of NON sound to it, with a touch of early Mouthhond and Archon Satani as well. Highly esoteric and archaic sound. A melancholic and meditative dungeon-synth melody helps the listener get back to ancient times, where rituals were as important as life itself. A rattling and rolling sound of a stone inside a metal cup, and the drums getting a bit more martial. Is that the sound of an ancient stone mill grinding? Lovely raw and dusty echoed sound to it, the recordings sound like a lost wax tape from some hidden basement of Aleister Crowley.
The second track is called Νύχτα (Night). Continue where the former track ended, with a higher focus on a repetitive melody with that ancient grinding stone as well. There is a haunting synth melody in there, which sounds more like Pan playing on his flute in some caverns deep below. Like how the whole thing has been put together, there is a deep understanding of the mood and how the night (itself) affects our minds here...and the way we are thinking (when it is night). The night is mystical and opens up ways of deep thinking that the daytime rarely offers.
The third and last track, Λιθωδία (Lithodia). The grinding stone continues, while (at this point) it becomes quite clear that we are dealing with real flute playing (not a synth). This ritualistic flute playing also teams up with a repetitive and hypnotic dungeon-synth´ish melody. The whole will work on the listener. The circular sound of stone on stone, the wind from a human throat blowing through a flute made out of bone, and that primitive synth doing its work... I feel like being hypnotized by Medusa here, almost a seductive sound.
I really have to remember to catch my breath here. This album is absolutely fantastic. Not in the over-the-top sort of matter, but more subtle, focused, and cool. The creator has conducted some kind of research to locate the desired sound for this release. Although it has an esoteric and escapistic feel to it, everything sounds incredibly natural and convincing. I could imagine that the artist behind this project lives and breathes for the history of ancient Greece, and that enthusiasm can be felt by a guy in a cellar in Denmark. Do yourself a favor and seek this release out! For only 4.50 euros, this physical thing can be yours. And it´s bloody marvelous!
Bandcamp (label):
https://blackdeathindustry.bandcamp.com/album/-
