Grieve by Sylvgheist Maëlström
SYLVGHEIST MAËLSTRÖM . Grieve . cd/digital . HANDS D326
cd in Hands Paper Pack
With “Grieve”, Sylvgheist Maëlström presents a deeply personal and conceptually rich follow-up to his earlier works, reflecting on memory, loss, and transformation. While “Skaftafell” and “Pripyat” emphasized the forces of nature and environmental disasters, “Grieve” shifts inward, delving into the fractured nature of recollection and the torment of impermanence.
Inspired by Milan Kundera’s notion that memory is a form of forgetting, “Grieve” unfolds as a sonic exploration of distorted memories and the melancholic weight of lost moments. The album navigates the duality of personal grief and historical rupture, marking an awareness of remembrance through sound. Each track functions as an anchor in time, carving spirals into the ephemeral, leaving indelible marks of emotion.
Musically, “Grieve” embraces a stark contrast between dense, textured soundscapes and fractured yet deliberate rhythms. The tracks oscillate between haunting atmospheres (“Cascade Dark Water”, premiered at Ombra Festival 2024) and moments of raw intensity (“Pipeline Texas”, “MC Euroshima”). From the desolate echoes of “Marée Noire” to the brittle, pulsating energy of “Avalanche”, the album weaves together melancholic harmonies, mechanical pulses, and deep-seated unease. The mastering by Eric Van Wonterghem amplifies the album’s immersive depth, while Mathieu Orioli’s artwork visually translates the album’s themes of fragility and remembrance.
As a whole, “Grieve” is both deeply unsettling and profoundly cathartic. It challenges the listener to confront the ghosts of the past while embracing the inevitability of transformation. Through its intricate layering and unrelenting emotional weight, Sylvgheist Maëlström delivers an album that lingers long after the last note fades - a testament to the power of sound as memory, as loss, as reinvention.
Tracklist
| 1. | Memory | 5:11 |
| 2. | MC Euroshima | 6:32 |
| 3. | Pipeline Texas | 10:45 |
| 4. | Marée Noire | 8:25 |
| 5. | Grieve | 6:24 |
| 6. | Mouvements Premiers | 3:58 |
| 7. | Wet Desert | 4:16 |
| 8. | Avale | 4:24 |
| 9. | Cascade Dark Water | 5:14 |
| 10. | Instabilité Fragilité | 6:33 |
| 11. | Zaporijia Version | 5:48 |
| 12. | Avalanche | 4:10 |
Credits
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HANDS - label for electronic music and art since 1990. HANDS is a pioneering label for contemporary electronic music, presenting artists from all over the world. The covered genres extend beyond the core business of Rhythm'n'Noise into the areas of IDM, Drum & Bass and Breakcore, Minimal Techno, Ambient, Electronica and Sound Art.