Avskedsrum - Villospår
Avskedsrum is a new project by Per Wistbo Nibell. He had a former project called Simply Dead, with a debut that was released on Fluttering Dragon back in 1999. This one is also released on Fluttering Dragon. Comes as a shiny digipack sleeve. 9 tracks, almost 70 minutes in total.
Cover artwork clearly shows a sign at a hospital (In Sweden), with a sign saying Ingång 72 Avskedsrum. A room, or should we say section of the hospital, where people can say goodbye to a newly departed individual. Yours truly has experienced that, not in Sweden but in Denmark. It is called the same thing here (Afskedsrum). In English, a hospital chapel. The title of the album is Villospår, which can be translated into a Wild Goose Chase or in Danish as vildspor. A track or path which misleads the unlucky individual to the unknown.
The first track is called Bortom Räddning, roughly translated to beyond redemption. A cold and shivering wind-drone from a bottomless mineshaft, distant TV voices talking in a fuzzy sort of blur. A sound of a pibbing telegram, and then a beautiful and highly melancholic synth-melody sweeps over the dreamy soundscape. Kind of epic and filmic 80s touch to it. Very movie-theme-driven intro. Definitely a track which lures the listener to listen more closely.
Duvkullen is the second track. Duvkullen is the name of a historic canal lock in Linköping, Sweden, dating back to the Iron Age. A historic spot with a mysterious vibe to it, maybe? Heavenly drones like floating liquid, with some interesting surreal samples layered in. Getting the impression of finding that specific mental frequency/mood to tune into the vibe of a certain location. I will say no more to further describe the track; something good for the listener here.
The third track is called Mörk Materia (Dark Matter). So far, the tracks are perfectly faded into each other. So when u get into a new track, it feels as if the track starts with being the end of the former track (if that makes sense). The chirping noise of short-wave radio, angelic choir-drone... and a strange analog-sounding sound going up and down. Surely the kind of soundscapes which makes the listener float. I´m feeling that I am getting transported on a weightless train through time.
Rymdskrot, spacetrash is the Fourth track on the album. It goes further into that filmic 80s synth sound. Kind of getting back to the soundtrack for Manhunter for some reason. Lovely kind of weightless sensation with this, perfectly illustrating how it is up there... in space. Fans of Steve Roach would love this track!
I would like to jump further into the seventh track called Spökskepp (Ghostship). The stuff that has worked with the former tracks- otherworldly radio chatter and surreal soundscapes... although here, we get mixed into a sort of Middle Eastern vibe. Exotic Arabic-sounding chants and nomadic desert rhythms, almost like Muslimgauze in his late 80s period. Interesting wake-up call of a track.
Villospår is an album which lives up to its name. U do get transported into another place, and feel the sensation of being lost in the woods. The album works as being seductive, and luring the curious into its sound-based web of layered sounds. There are moments of unsettling tranquility, but also moments of comforting chaos. The whole album sticks together; every track is stitched in the same way pages are in an old book. It´s a journey worth taking, believe me.
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