Dyatlov by SANA OBRUENT

Sana Obruent is Paul Lopez.

From the release "Dyatlov" by Sana Obruent

All tracks were recorded and mixed at TSC studios somewhere in California - 2015 - 2017.

The Dyatlov Pass incident is the mysterious deaths of nine ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains on February 2, 1959. The experienced trekking group, who were all from the Ural Polytechnical Institute, had established a camp on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl when disaster struck.

During the night something made them tear their way out of their tents from the inside and flee the campsite inadequately dressed in heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures...

To this day their deaths are still a mystery.

Dyatlov Photographs used by permission.
All Rights Reserved.

Liner Notes:

With Dyatlov Sana Obruent made a concept album about the mysterious deaths of nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains on February 2, 1959. During the night something made them rip their tents from within and flee the campsite inadequately dressed in heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. Sana Obruent from California manages to create a menacing atmosphere that perfectly fits to the mystery.

When the crackling noise of the 15-minute opener The Preparation sets in, you can almost smell the snow, while the hint of instrumentation coming from the top of the mountains disturbs from the start.

For the unexperienced listener The Departure may be the best track to access the world of Dyatlov, it’s also the one that comes closest to Sana Obruent’s classic Prince Of The Air which seems like bright daylight compared to the heavy darkness of Dyatlov which crawls under your skin. It’s like the moment you recognize that the suppressed thought you fear the most has suddenly found a way to get inside your
mind permanently. After the first listen it may be a challenging album for some, but once you let it sink it’s highly addictive and you begin to long for the melodies that you can find underneath the veil of terror.

With Dyatlov Sana Obruent is on top of the game. Take The Journey for example which involves arrangements of classical music, but buries it under a haze of drone, nightmare, and interfering sound sources. In the beginning parts of it may even sound peaceful, then again the increasing and decreasing volume with its variety of noises that resemble Geiger counters, the howling of animals and scraping of metal make you realize that at some point you didn’t recognize that the avalanche is not approaching, you are waking up recognizing you have already been buried under it and are now unable to escape.

When you find yourself at the bottom of this black hole that is Dyatlov, the closer End is no knockout, moreover it’s the aftermath of a disaster that already happened. The stuck loop feels like brain damage, and the crackling snow noise makes it clear: we’ve come full circle, and you’ve reached the verge of insanity. Dyatlov does harm in the most brilliant way.

Norman Records UK - Album Review of Sana Obruent - Dyatlov: April 19, 2017:

I'm scared.

The new album by Sana Obruent is a soundtrack to the terrifying true story of some skiers who went missing in the Ural mountains in 1959 never to return. The music is typically spooky and on opener 'The Preparation' manages to crackle with anticipation and you can almost hear the crunch of the skies on snow. 'The Departure' is a lovely warm slice of drone as if Paul Lopez has found the loveliest thickest drone piece and just allowed it to sit there and rust. 'The Journey' has something of the Caretaker in its spooky fog of half heard sounds from times gone past - at once soothing and unnerving.

These are six slices of prime drone music which gets darker as it progresses - the GAS-like textures of 'The Departure' are replaced by low end growling notes by the time of the penultimate '2-2-29 Kholat' and by the time of 'The End', the flickering crackles of 'The Preparation' have returned and the sound could almost be an ancient record left on the turntable, spinning away forever with no-one around to take the needle out of the groove.

Stunningly atmospheric slow moving blurry ambience. Do not play when out in the woods on a freezing night.

Tracklist

1.	The Preparation	14:43

2.	The Departure	13:39

3.	The Journey	8:51

4.	The Final Campsite	10:05

5.	2-2-59: Kholat	9:28

6.	End.	9:32

Credits

released January 23, 2017

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