Okay, this is not going to be a review about one release only but about two – both involving Treha Sektori from Paris, France. Both somehow connected in all their ambiance, but at the same time also very different because of the participation of Russia’s Cross Bringer on one of them. May we present you: Masked God and Rejet.
In early November, Treha Sektori released their sixth full-length (not counting their collaborative albums and longer EPs) and this record follows the earlier releases even though, there is a little difference on this one. This project by Parisian visual and musical artist Dehn Sora is the most ambient out of his three major projects (Throane and Ovtrenoir being the other two) and that is also the path that Rejet is following. Musically it is somewhere between the soft elegance of Hammock and the ambient nature of Machinefabriek, the tribalism of Dead Can Dance and the industrial ideas of acts like Throbbing Gristle. But on this record it all flows together in a form of early pagan industrial – as if Heilung all of a sudden spawned a highly electric version of their music with the help of mid-era Nine Inch Nails (think of a record like Year Zero). And this tribalism is surely something that suits Treha Sektori really well – for example in tracks like ”Devarhahn” where vastly spread ambient beats and a synth-space that sounds a like didgeridoo are accompanied by disembodied, nearly inhuman chants. Generally the playing with human chants, vocals and moods is interesting on this new record as the next track ”Sehanh Teh Veriah” uses some very hard, rhythmic breathing as the basis for the whole track, as its beat somehow. This play with the human element is very intriguing because it embodies the idea of the record very well – the rejection of the idea of being in one certain “phase” (chained to time and place) itself. Treha Sektori tries to enable the human spirit to transcend that phase and arrive at another level. Something that goes very well with the idea of tribal rituals, where beats and chants were used for the very same thing. If these lines spark your interest in the record, make sure to get it in its physical format from Norma Evangelium Diaboli (or short NoEvDia) as the CD comes in the form of a wonderfully laid out book.
And a few days ago, Treha Sektori released a split with Russia blackened screamo-outfit Cross Bringer via Consouling Sounds, which has a history of releasing some of the most awesome splits. The combination seems quite difficult at first thought and when the intro to the sole track ”Masked God” starts, Dehn Sora and the project go “full Dead Can Dance” so that one might think so even more. How shall a track like that work? But when the harsh, screaming middle section begins after roughly three minutes there is something about that contrast that makes it really stand out among the splits from 2021. The near-unbelievable mastery of the drumming which is destroying everything in its way by sheer force will blow your mind and the transitions within this part are really well placed. Cross Bringer’s “second half” is much slower and gives way to a more “doomy” approach and then fades into the outro with heavy female breathing before Treha Sektori’s ambient world music passages take over again and bring the 8:25 minutes to an elegic, vast end. It is the copious amount of time that Treha Sektori is given within this track that is so important because the time is set around the Russian outburst and it creates a framework for the whole track.
No matter how “closed” your 2021 mind is – you should give both these releases a listen if you want to a) find an awesome split or b) are interested in ambient world music and can even imagine that with a strong industrial touch!
You can order the split via Consouling Sounds.
You can order the split via NoEvDia.
