“…For the first time, in a long time, I wasn’t really sure where I was with this record. Some tracks wandered down the angelic path of neofolk, others tread perfectly to produce something breathtaking…”
(November 2010) Back to Brooklyn. Sean Ragon’s Blind Prophet Records returns for its second release. This time minimal synth is side-stepped for some industrial neo-folk. Now, I must admit, such a style I rarely find myself listening to, but Art Abscons and their Der Verborgene Gott LP did open my eyes a crack.
“Morgendämmerung” opens the LP. The track blends an array of traditional sounds to create a neofolk cocktail, one with quite a strange taste with German vocals to accompany. What follows, “Ahndung (A Travers Les Collines)” doesn’t seem like it could belong to the same record as its predecessor. Chilled french vocals, later turning Deutsch, are mirrored by cold sounds a breezes. The record seems to have wandered into an Anne Clark like minimal poetry, this time coupled with unnerving ambience and lonesome compostions. “Liliensonne” is a track with a sound I can’t remember last coming across. It has a heady mix of folk with broaching orchestral strings. The track comes together to produce a strange and wonderful scape, one that borders on organic linked with some hints of the soundtrack genre. Laid back strings and drums, in a sombre rock motif, follow with “Erscheinung!” before the the brief nymph like “Es is Zeit” gives up its pipes and lute strings to bring the a-side to a close. “Effigy (Im Abbild Verbrannt)” opens the flip with a cacophony of traditional tones and haunting vocals. “In Ruinen Geboren” has a penetrating warmth, coupled with an innocence. Some of the sounds on here remind me of 555 Recordings, with their charm and unsettled sweetness. The album comes to a close with the lounge like sounds of “Magik (Une Autre Transformation.)”
For the first time, in a long time, I wasn’t really sure where I was with this record. Some tracks wandered down the angelic path of neofolk, others tread perfectly to produce something breathtaking. The album hasn’t made me a convert to the neofolk style, but it has opened by eyes to it. One thing the LP has done though, it has made me an advocate and fan of Arts Abscons and their multi-lingual multi-faceted sound. If you’re in the mood for something new, you’ve found it.
Der Verborgene Gott is out now on Blind Prophet.
