Rymdborg - Utvalda Medeltida Rymdtragedier
I did a former review for this excellent cult project, which was an (I thought) self-titled cassette. Turns out that the first Rymdborg cassette was part of a greater picture named Utvalda Medtida Rymdtragedier (Selected Medieval Space Tragedies). In physical terms, that means 4 cassettes and a fxxxxxx nice esoteric-looking booklet with surreal collage work. The whole thing/recording works like a bloody well-oiled Tardis machine, u never know where this strange space-traveling machine can take you... a safe journey (back to your comfortable home) is NOT guaranteed. Being really cosmic, surreal and larger-than-life! Space might be even stranger (and bigger) than we ever thought, and Rymdborg are here to prove just that!
The style of Rymdborg ... Well... It´s ambient-music based. Sound elements like warped drones, evocative wind instruments, scary synths. There is a certain focus on a kind of... vintage ambient sound. Take early kraut-rock heroes like Cluster and Tangerine Dream, later Brian Eno and further on with some of the ambient-recordings by industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle. THAT sort of sound!. It also has that kind of aesthetic to it which you would find on some of the early recordings by Brighter Death Now (Pain In Progress era), or some ritualistic act on the legendary cult label Slaughter Productions (Megaptera, Die Sonne Satans etc). It´s a place where an almost archaic, forgotten and ancient sound (the late 60s to late 70s) meets up with a kind of later-nostalgia sound (Late 80s to early 90s). It´s utterly enjoyable and utterly unique!
And while we are at it, we might as well try to contact this far gone space-traveler /cowboy what Rymdborg is all about!
Q: How did this project come to be?
I was recording some sounds together with my daughter. She was pulling the trigger on this rather advanced sci-fi toy gun and I was blowing in a birch trumpet (Trælur). I mixed that with me playing the didgeridoo and then just pitched it down and ran it through some echoes and reverbs. It sounded great and this is the first track on the first tape. When it was made I could not really use it for any of my other projects since the sound was not fitting for Fåntratt or Erdig. And the method did not fit my Digre or Redig line of work. It sounded more like some space noise and I remembered this discussion between two of my very close friends of mine. They were arguing about how to relate to life beyond our planet Earth. I do not remember if they even mentioned the idea of living in space other than from Earth. They were both against the modern popularity, enthusiasm, and excitement over the notion of aliens and extraterrestrials. I do not remember most of it but they did both, in the end, agree on the necessity to build, what they called, space castle bases orbiting the earth and a big asphalted letters on the moon facing out to space with a message like "GO BACK!" (actually it was something even more hateful but this is the internet and we should not use to offensive language or phrases. The same words have been at the entrance of a well know place and this sign has recently been stolen) or something to tell these supposed aliens the earthlings attitude towards them. All this was, of course, a drunken joke at the time but the name "space castle (or fort) bases" stuck with me. That translates into Swedish "Rymdborgbas" and I shortened it to "Rymdborg" (rymd = space, borg = castle). That is it and I put that name to the project and started recording tracks. Another thing that inspired this or what made me release it when I did was that I did listen to a Weress album on the Dungeon Synth Archives at youtube.
Q: What are the origins of the ideas/elements of Rymdborg?
The book "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future" by Father Seraphim Rose is the cornerstone of this project. This book talks about, in the west, new spiritual moments like Yoga and New Age and even Sci-fi as the same various spiritual deceptions that have existed since the beginning of the Church. Or to make it short and easy: extraterrestrials are demons in disguise (I urge everyone who reads this to get a copy for themselves). With this in mind, I get inspired by whatever that fits like comic books, movies, tv-series, and history. In my mind, I have merged fantasy with sci-fi and got this idea of a very primitive space adventure and timeline. I understand that if you add fantasy to sci-fi you get Star Wars but this is nothing like that world. Also, I think that this is the same world as for where Fåntratt roams but in the unknown cosmos of space
Q: Medevil space-travelling, why?
It is all about venturing into the unknown. I have restricted myself to space travel possible in a medieval fantasy or historical setting so I can distance this project from the imagery of common sci-fi rockets and spaceships. It might be a little misleading then with the silhouette of a spacecraft against the moon's disc, which appears on the cover of the first cassette but the idea is to restrict me or expand my own views on interplanetary travels. There are many more ways of travel into the unknown and misleading cosmos and beyond. Astral travels, magic teleportation, the summoning of extra-dimensional demons, visions given by angels, fantastic portals and whatever out of body method you can think of.
Q: The idea of doing the beautiful booklet, how did this came about?
When listening to music I enjoy walking about along tracks close to nature. This makes the music stand out and I can venture deep into my mind. Even more so than when I am relaxing on the couch or in my bed. But something that I do miss from my youth days is getting a record and reading the booklet and looking at the pictures while listening. Also, I love being at friends listening to their tapes and records while looking at the artworks. So I made this for others that enjoy that too. The artwork made for Rymdborg is made so that it can complement the listening without telling too much. There are a few texts telling stories hinting to some past event of this Astro amoeba harassing the population of the earth but apart from that I think the music can tell its own stories. The college style I use is very inspired by the early artwork made by Kristian Olsson for Survival Unit at the beginning of this new millennium. I started making artwork in that style back when I was involved with the noise scene. I made posters and inlays for gigs and tapes back then. I thought the style fitting for Rymdborg. I often collect magazines, books, and paperclips from second-hand thrift stores and earlier from when it was working different caretaker cleaner jobs. Every page in the booklet does have a theme and I put them together while dubbing tapes
Q: Is there a specific story being told in your music?
No, not so specific. I try to play deep and abandoned ambient walls that paint the image of ever-increasing distance between home security and the abyss loneliness and vulnerability. The samples can tell a clear language but I try to use them without filling the gaps in the story.
Like when you think you are having a great time dropping acid och doing mushrooms but you suddenly realize that you have glided far off, so far off so that nothing is real and you feel that you have abandoned yourself and you fear that everything that was is just a false memory and not only your self and person but even the complete creation is starting to fall apart. Or as a friend of mine once described this feeling: You are on the dance floor with the sweetest moves and the music is pumping and you feel awesome and adored as the center of attention. Then you open your eyes and understand that you are the last man on the dance floor and Satan, the Lord of Deception, as DJ is smiling and pointing at you with mock hate. So more than telling a story I try to bring about this feeling.
Q: Are you planning to do more Rymdborg releases in the future?
Yes. We are going live! Me, Fåntratt and Rymdborg will play live together this September. I will release something before that or around that time. The only thing hindering me to release more tapes and music more frequently is time, family and occupation. The time I have for music is divided among my different projects and I make music as often as I possibly can. Yes. There is more coming.
Q: Any last words?
I saw this X-files episode the last night where Mulder said: "we send those men up into space to unlock the doors of the universe, and we don't even know what's behind them...". Rymdborg is the answer to this question. Behind these doors is a vast emptiness of dread, death, and despair. But all this, of course, is just fiction. The truth is that Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!
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