Cymphonic - Phonema Sacrata

[abasio]

Cymphonic

Phonema Sacrata

DataObscura

April 2006

Tracklist

 

1 The Longest Night (9:22)

2 Creatura Aeterna (3:42)

3 Levarian Time (6:04)

4 Unbestimmt (5:06)

5 Empty City 2012 (6:50)

6 Submersion (3:37)

7 Mountain Stairway (6:58)

8 Cloaked Personality (11:33)

 

 

Cymphonic’s 2007 release Strataradialis was in the end my favourite release of that year. The ambient was among the most descriptive I’ve ever heard & when I saw this earlier release on the DataOscura label I knew I had to have it. I was treated to an amazing story.

 

The Longest Night

Starting off the journey walking briskly under a clear night sky. The stars rain down in the sky like it’s on fire. Next to my path is a forest of tall trees. From inside the trees I can feel a presence, something big. There is something else in the forest people in a ritual of some kind, celebrating the dark malevolent force. As they dance, the power grows and grows. Almost oppressive sounds come out of the forest to one side but to my other there is the pure calm of the night. Overhead the stars seem to be moving in time to the dance in the forest. As the tribal drums start the sky explodes with cold light then fizzes back into nothingness only to explode again in a crescendo of drumming & chanting coming from the forest. All of a sudden the world is open to me, the trees, the grass, the rocks even the night dew seems to have come alive for the first time.

 

Creatura Aeterna

One voice from the chant has singled out into a clear solo. It feels dangerously close now. The sound of a guitar that is not a guitar sounds throughout the air seemingly coming from every direction. The stars are falling all around me like a shower of fire but it does not burn only enlighten. As I lie on the grass now, unable to stand I notice the steady hum of the insects tonight. The air seems thick with them but I can only sense their sound, they remain invisible to me but their presence is thicker than I’ve ever experienced.

 

Lavarian Time

I manage after quite some time has passed to stand & continue on my journey. I have forgotten where I was going but I feel the need to get there. The forest has quietened down but now from the other direction, over the river I can hear the faint sounds of a piano being played. I try to cross the river but as I set foot on the bridge a voice sounds from behind me in a strange foreign tongue. I turn around but there is just a puddle of brown water on the ground behind me. Turning back to the sound of the piano I make my way over the bridge. The river is running high tonight & water splashes up onto the path in front of me. As I walk over the bridge I can hear muttered conversations coming from underneath me but as I look down I see that the water comes right up to the bottom of the bridge so I can’t see what is talking. I make it to the other side just as the piano stops.

 

Unbestimmt

The grass is always greener on the other side & it looks so green from where I’ve come from. The river is so high no it covers the bridge, my only way to retreat back to whence I came. The beautiful sound of the piano was nought but a psiren’s call to get me over to this side. No I am here it is cold & dark & the stars are obscured by ominous clouds. The air feel oppressive & the sounds of the insects is less a harmless swarm nearby but that of many single insects hell bent on biting as much as possible. Through the sound of this I can slightly hear some human interaction but it is all blown away by an alien melody that seems to come down from the sky, like a white night come to rescue my sanity. It destroys all the bad feeling as it comes dissipating all but a few of the bugs.

 

Empty City 2012

The white knight turns out to be an alien spaceship. Failed attempt at human language come through to my brain but in my ears is just the oscillation of the spaceship. The ship gets bigger & bigger in my vision until it fills everything. Legs extend from it creaking as they go & more alien voices come from within, not trying to sound human this time, this time it is purely extra terrestrial. The ship continues to oscillate as they try to communicate to me again through some sort of telepathy, I cannot hear the sounds but garbled messages get through and slowly make more sense, not fully but a few words get through. Suddenly the ship starts to buzz with an intense noise like it’s about to explode & the voice still making no sense seems more hurried to get it’s message across.

 

Submersion

Finally the ship stops moving and becomes quiet. A few final noises burst out of the ventilation shafts but other than that is just the dull roar of the river behind me & the biting sound of the insects that have enveloped the alien spacecraft. The roar of the river becomes more intense as it bursts it’s banks and comes slowly this way. The pops in the air are that of the insects exploding as they get to near the craft.

 

Mountain Stairway

The overflowing river is worsened by the sudden downpour. The rain is so strong it melts away the alien ship. Slowly before me the metal runs like a water painting. In a matter of minutes it has completely bled into the surrounding mud & I feel as if I am myself blending into the countryside. My physical body is being washed away by the water pouring down from the heavens & being collected by that covering my feet. I feel peaceful with my body disappearing, I feel like my mind is sharper & all the elements that seemed so alive for the first time have burst into my senses even more. The colours seems to be only the beginning as now I feel at one with everything understanding it to it’s core.

 

Cloaked Personality

I wake to the smell of grass, inside though I am I can smell the grass & the trees all around me. A whispered voice seems to come from too far away to understand & I fight my awakening. Somewhere someone is playing some traditional Asian instrument but I struggle to recall which one. The fight against my awakening is a losing battle & all that preceded it feels like so long ago. I open my eyes & gaze upon the strange room I am in. Only straw mats on the floor & wooden walls surround me. The howling wind outside is not masked at all by the walls, although I do not feel it’s cold bite the sound of it is as strong as if I was out in it. As soon as I feel I am fully awake from my dream state the walls of this new home come melting down & I am stood right back where I started, the forest to my side has a dark ominous presence & the stars are shining brightly down. A woman’s voice comes to me from everywhere & echoes in the air. I wonder briefly where or what it might have been before the forest comes alive with the dance once more. The tribal beats are this time accompanied by a female chant & again the stars are in sync with the dance. And as the dance fades into my memory so do the stars leaving me with cold nothingness.

 

Even better than Strataradialis as this has much more of a story element to it. All tracks blend into the next & it creates a very special atmosphere like that of unnatural nature. A think this is a must in any ambient fan’s collection. Fantastic album.

[qa2pir]

Yes but how does it sound?

[abasio]

The musical elemnents are incorporated into the story. The water sounds, the oppresive drones, the piano, the tribal drums etc