Sarvok is a new cryptic music/art project founded by m.Sarvok, known for his work on the recording of Dødsferd’s 2020 “Death Shall Purify the Wounds of Your Fragile Mortality” compilation (and many other bands under different names), but the idea for this project started to form many years before that and which he likens to “a meditation to esoteric occultism” as it is the product of forty days of meditation and experimentation in the studio and is only now finally being made available.
“Cabin in Space,” a well filled, sixteen-minute, four track instrumental EP is, I believe, the first outcome of this meditation and experimentation, it makes an interesting listen, very ambient but there is a blackened undercurrent. The lack of lyrics isn’t an issue for me whatsoever, there is so much going on already in this work it would be an unnecessary and distractive addition.
The esoteric nature of the work also manifests in the track titles which are just number and letter configurations, which, I’ll be honest, is a point I haven’t pondered too long on, I figured names were deemed unnecessary, it does at to the air of mystery and puts the focus more on the musical content.
Opening track “SA4d79” manifests as a haunting reflective drone, building in waves, hypnotically sonic and certainly has you wondering just where this musical journey will take you, this is full of intrigue from the offset.
“SA54686f75676874,” is the longest and most complex track, opening on acoustic guitar over lapping waves and what starts off sounding like whale sound becoming more bestial and distressed as the track moves from relaxing to slightly tortuous as the sound turns to a more sonic drone and synthesised sounding, momentarily becoming very hard on the senses but it does pare back to the more hypnotic waves, whales and acoustic guitar with a hunting synthesized melody weaving through, I particularly liked the percussive elements which sounded like random objects where used to achieve the sound.
The haunting and spacy “SA43616d652066726f6d” is a meld of synths and whispers, very reflective and very eerie. The album then closes on “SA746865206162797373” with its beautiful reflective acoustic guitar over building sonic pulses, contrasted with searing strings and distortion, which ebb and flow, full of unnerving intrigue.
Several listens have left me pondering the title “Cabin in Space.” Personally I’m visualising more of an internalised scenario, a cabin in “inner self” space, particularly on “SA54686f75676874” which made me think of how it might sound if you were in one of those new age flotation/immersion tanks where people go to “enjoy” sensory deprivation and self-reflection. Listening to all of these tracks they do mostly relax you into a self-reflective meditative and mindful way of thinking, although sometimes it takes your mind to places you don’t want it to go, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
A digital copy is available at https://sarvok.bandcamp.com/album/cabin-in-space
Or email wrath_dodsferd@yahoo.gr to order a limited tape (only fifty will be made available and which includes stickers and a patch that has been buried in the ground for forty days, the duration of the creation of the project) and there is also a puzzle on this cassette; an answer to a question! Anyone who will be able to answer this question by sending it through Sarvok’s email or by sending a private message through the official Facebook site, will get a special gift; a key to the next puzzle!…. all very intriguing. I hope there are further instalments to come.
msarvok@gmail.com
Rating – 4/5
The Metal Wanderlust 