vidnaObmana’s ‘The River Of Appearance’ turns 30
Projekt Records marked 30 years of vidnaObmana’s ambient album ‘The River Of Appearance’ with a new Dirk Serries interview on Opus Zine.
Projekt Records marked the 30th anniversary of vidnaObmana’s ambient album “The River Of Appearance”, originally released in 1996, with a new interview in which Opus Zine’s Jason Morehead spoke to Belgian composer Dirk Serries about the album’s recording, its 2006 rework by Oregon ensemble Dreams In Exile, and its Zoharum 25th-anniversary edition. The interview, “30 Years of Serenity: Dirk Serries Reflects on vidnaObmana’s The River of Appearance”, is available on Opus Zine.
“The River Of Appearance” consists of eight pieces built around sparse piano lines, drifting keyboard loops and organic rainstick sounds. Alternative Press critic Bryan Reesman described it at the time as music in which “sparse, pretty piano lines float over shimmering walls of electronics, evoking a melancholic yet romantic feeling,” with “cyclical melodies” interweaving “in a slowly moving stream of sound.”
“The River Of Appearance” is available as a name-your-price digital album, and as a 10th-anniversary 2CD edition (which adds a disc of the album reinterpreted on traditional instruments by Dreams In Exile) for $15, both on Bandcamp.
About vidnaObmana
vidnaObmana was the primary recording name of Belgian composer Dirk Serries, used across a body of ambient and dark ambient work that included “The River Of Appearance” in 1996. Projekt Records released a 10th-anniversary edition of the album in 2006, pairing the original with a reinterpretation by Oregon ensemble Dreams In Exile performed on traditional instruments; a 25th-anniversary edition followed on the Polish label Zoharum.
Side-Line has previously covered Serries’ work on the 1992 vidnaObmana album “Terrace of Memories”, remastered in collaboration with Projekt founder Sam Rosenthal, including the Kickstarter campaign that funded its physical formats.
Thirty years on, “The River Of Appearance” remains part of Projekt’s active catalogue, with the new Opus Zine interview placing the album’s recording and its various reissues in Serries’ own words.
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