System Morgue - Feu

Posthumous Remorse
"Ah, when thou shalt slumber, my darkling love,
Beneath a black marble-made statuette,
And when thou'lt have nought for thy house or alcove,
But a cavernous den and a damp oubliette.

When the tomb-stone, oppressing thy timorous breast,
And thy hips drooping sweetly with listless decay,
The pulse and desires of mine heart shall arrest,
And thy feet from pursuing their adventurous way,

Then the grave, that dark friend of my limitless dreams
(For the grave ever readeth the poet aright),
Amid those long nights, which no slumber redeems

'Twill query " What use to thee, incomplete spright
That thou ne'er hast unfathomed the tears of the dead"?
Then the worms will gnaw deep at thy body, like Dread."

Charles Pierre Baudelaire

I have to confess. My life flows under the sign of a constant hunt after new musical experiences. Nothing can stop me from discovering new boundaries through the art of music. However, this hunger cannot be separated from other conceptual arts as a part of cultural heritage where poetry is one of the most important milestones that has an enormous influence on the human race. I do love poetry, especially the one that can be easily reflected in music that I love as well. That's why Symbolism as an ultimate aesthetics and fundamental aspect is important for a highly abstractive genre such as dark ambient. The new album of Russian based resident System Morgue echoes the same view when choosing the poetry of Charles Pierre Baudelaire as its central leitmotif. This highly acclaimed poet is indeed considered to be a founding father of this art movement against naturalism and realism, anti-idealistic styles which were attempts to represent reality in its gritty particularity, and to elevate the humble and the ordinary over the ideal. Symbolism was a reaction in favor of spirituality, the imagination, and dreams.

Thus, Baudelaire's most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the 19th century. Those visions influenced many followers during last two centuries, and it goes without saying that it was only a matter of time when some dark ambient artist turns his attention to this theme. "Feu" was created under the deep impression from "The Flowers of Evil" that is why it is really important to keep in mind the images of poetry to dive into the music as much as possible.

The music of this album is completely built from heavy bricks of droning ambiance generated from guitars. An opening track "Garden De la Porte des Tenebres" presents heavy walls of bass with a slowly drifting melody on top of the structure which are quite typical for drone ambient genre. Soft splashes of magnetic echoes join leisurely dynamics of imaginary movement by the end of this composition. Keeping the obscure atmosphere alive, "Miroir du Vide" (Mirror Vacuum) enlivens the hypnotic tones with some guitar vibrations and tragic melody. The fluids of constant sound envelope a brittle shell of the listener's soul creating quite meditative and even spiritual connection to the music.

The special techniques used in Symbolism art come to allow greater room for "fluidity" of images, to evoke them in associative memory instead of just describing those images of actions or events. Therefore, the power in droning pulsation of "Moulin des Etoiles" can definitely fortify the faith in ability of music to carry messages of symbolic value. Meanwhile, "Tranquille" changes the mood a little bit to become more static and truly hypnotic allowing the listener to embark on the journey through self in search of some impossible satisfaction that forever eludes the traveler. The atmosphere transforms into a really tragic sound with the last composition "Octobre" while guitar passages become a dominating force that drives the music to its logical conclusion and I cannot stress enough how crucial the element of the background voice reading one of the poems of Baudelaire (I assume) during this specific track.

One of the milestones that determined Symbolism in the world of art is considering this genre as a contemplative refuge from the world of strife and will. Desire for an artistic refuge, exploitation of themes of mysticism and otherworldliness help System Morgue to create a very special journey lasting forty five minutes. I feel that the music of this Russian resident is convincing enough even without inventing the wheel, proving the fact that usage of the right combinations of minimalistic sounds can be successful in describing really complex themes. Another quality product from Zhelezobeton label during 2014. Jan 20 2015