Genre/Influences: Ritual, Dark-Ambient, Drone.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Greek sonic project Shilbalba has been active since 2009 and has released an impressive number of works. The band progressively evolved in style; moving from Metal-inspired creation towards Ritual and Dark-Ambient influences. This new opus has been introduced as ‘a ritual deriving from the darkest corners of the mind, the deathlike spheres of the Netherworld and the truest essence of the Afterlife, to become a homage to the Force of Life Eternal.’. It’s the first release ever released by Cyclic Law.

Content: Shibalba doesn’t really change the sound formula from previous works; we’re visiting a dark sound universe mixing Dark-Ambient atmospheres, Ritual, obscure, elements with Drones and Mystic chants on top. The work has been accomplished by multiple traditional, acoustic, instruments plus hand-crafted instruments empowering the Ritual side of the work.

+ + + : Shilbalba reminds me of the magic of 80s Industrial/Experimental projects -think to Zero Kama, for the use of real instruments and self-made equipment like bones and skulls, percussion instruments, Tibetan Horns, Tibetan Singing Bowls, bone & horn trumpets, Darbuka’s (goblet drums) as well as ceremonial bells and gongs. All together these instruments are injecting authenticity but also this obscure, Ritual, spirit to the work. It resulted in a atmosphere which is hard to catch but definitely awakening dark images and thoughts. The work has been slowly built up reaching an ultimate level of terror at “Te​λ​eth VI” and “Te​λ​eth III”.

– – – : Maybe not the most accessible release but you definitely gone like it if you’re into this kind of sonic experiences.

Conclusion: This work is touched by graceful obscurity.

Best songs: “Te​λ​eth VI”, “Te​λ​eth III”, “Te​λ​eth I”, “Te​λ​eth IV”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/ShibalbaHalls

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Ritual, Drone, Dark-Ambient, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD. 

Background/Info: “The Circular Shades Of The Equinox” is a split album between three projects; Shibalba from Greece/Sweden, Dead Man’s Hill from Belgium and Deathwalk from Norway. They each released three songs ‘dedicated to the circular shades of the Equinox.’

Content: Shibalba takes off with the most explicit Ritual work of the album. The tracks are accomplished with chants while supported by an extremely dark sphere accentuated by field recordings and passages with slow heart-beating rhythms. 

Dead Man’s Hill excels in a more Epic approach, the songs being accomplished with bombastic arrangements and deep, vibrating vocals.

Deathwalk moves on with bombastic passages, but the work is more into drone mixed with overwhelming, shrilling noises.  

+ + + : I’m not a huge fan of split releases, but those three bands clearly have  something in common. I like the deeply Ritual side of Shibalba, which is mainly created by the chants. There also is a great passage with organ and harpsichord sounds. Dead Man’s Hill impressed me with its bombast. “Showers Of Golden Stars” is a masterpiece piece for the mix of heavy orchestral arrangements, the vocals and Eastern-like flute sounds. I also recommend listening to the excellent Drone/Ambient “Nexion Overhuman Threshold” by Deathwalk. 

– – – : This work is better than a compilation, but I would have preferred to get an entire album from this quality level by each of the artists.

Conclusion: A great conceptual work revealing a harmony between the three artists. 

Best songs: Shibalba: “Akashic Visions 1”, Dead Man’s Hill: “Showers Of Golden Stars”, “My Body Is The Universe Is My Body”, Deathwalk: “Nexion Overhuman Threshold”.

Rate: 8.

Artists: www.facebook.com/ShibalbaHalls / www.facebook.com/deadmanshill / www.facebook.com/deathwalk.official

Label: www.facebook.com/ZazenSounds 

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Grande Loge is a French project set up in 2017. By the end of 2020 they released their debut album “Mantras” on Cyclic Law. The work reveals a mix between clearly Ritual- and Dark-Ambient music styles. The songs have been composed by an impressive arsenal of traditional instruments, reinforcing the Ritual aspect of the sound, but still injecting an authentic touch to the composition. “Mantras” is a great and accomplished album, which incited to get in touch with ‘Nostra’ and ‘Flexor’.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I noticed you guys have been involved with Black-Metal music before setting up Grande Loge. Tell us a bit more about your music background and how did this switch from Black Metal to Grande Loge happen? And what inspired you to set up this new band?

Nostra: We like a lot of music genres. In the past, we have played not only Black-Metal, but also Neo-Medieval music and even Funk for example. But yes, Black-Metal is by far the genre we have been most involved with, and for which we’ll always have particular affection.

Grande Loge was created at a time when our band Malepeste was quite active. It was during our rehearsals that we used to end our sessions with improvisations, which was the opportunity to try something different.

We had accumulated some interesting acoustic instruments for Malepeste’s Ambient interludes, but they had been playing a minor role until then. One day the idea of experimenting more freely with this acoustic material appealed to us.

Q: The name of the project might be a bit confusing because of the strong connotation with Freemasonry, but on the other hand the ‘ritual’ element between your music and Freemasons makes sense. What did you try to express by the band name and what have the experiences/confusions been so far?

Nostra: Initially I chose this name quite spontaneously, rather in reference to the Grande Loge Blanche that Helena Blavatsky imagined, because I thought that her syncretic vision of the different traditions could lend itself (in all modesty) to our music with influences that are quite distant from each other. Honestly, I did not think about Freemasons at all originally, but we are now systematically confused with them… We regularly receive messages from people fantasizing about Freemasonry and ready to do anything to become our disciples.

I imagine that these people send messages to every Facebook page that seems mysterious to them until they end up with a guru/pastor/marabout/life coach who will then be happy to take money from them. It really blows my mind…

Q: Let’s talk about your debut album “Mantras”, which has been released for some months now. What can you say about its production and the concept, which is clearly driven by ‘mantras’? And can you tell us something about the production of the vocals, which are really essential for the album?

Nostra: With other musical projects, we used to write the structures of the songs fairly precisely before we performed them on stage, but with Grande Loge it was different. At the beginning, almost everything was improvised, and it gradually stabilized during the performances. It’s particularly visible at the beginning of the album where we take a moment to settle into our songs before we get started.

Flexor: About the production of the voices, we consider them as instruments in their own right; they’re grafted onto the music and occupy their own place in the instrumentation. They are built up like a phat layer to finally form a large choir with different timbres and changing sounds. Because of their linearity and as the repetition progresses, they embody the concept of mantras in two ways: by the words they convey of course (apart from the phonemes assembled for their sound), but also by the cycle of their melodies, which creates a bewitching and meditative cocoon.

Q: The use of traditional/folk instruments has a real strong impact on the production. How did you come into contact with all these instruments and what makes their magic? In which way are the instruments part of the concept?

Nostra: Nothing is off limits to us. For “Mantras” we didn’t want to use synthesizers in order to preserve these ancient atmospheres, but later on why not? If tomorrow we find by chance a berimbau, a kalimba, a kotsuzumi or a hulusi and we manage to make something that creates an attractive atmosphere, that will be fine to me… For this we are lucky to have the famous world music shop Pick & Bock in Lyon. To be honest, what I do with my tanpura is probably disastrous for a real musician, but playing it with an intuitive approach gives me interesting sensations. That is what makes this music enjoyable for us, those feelings and the possibility of being able to accompany it with a strong emotional involvement; that’s why we insisted on recording in live studio conditions.

Q: I noticed there are several French projects (like Stille Volk, La Breiche, Camecrude, etc.) that share a similar passion for traditional instruments and ritual music. Do you feel related with other artists and/or festivals, happenings, and so on? What are your sources of inspiration?

Nostra: There are so many great bands in France that inspire me. I’ve been listening to Stille Volk for so many years, they’ve obviously influenced me in one way or another.

So in which ways do we feel connected? We’re isolated groups observing each other on the internet rather than being a large community. And for me many bands are simply unique and musically inimitable. It’s hard to find who else can play like Rosa Crvx or Gaë Bolg for example, so I don’t see us pretending to make art in the same way.

However yes, many events and festivals interest us. The bands you mention have performed at the Nuits Dark Ritual or at the L’Homme Sauvage festival. These are very good projects, we would like to play.

To mention also non-French musical inspiration, I think of bands like Heilung, Shibalba, Danheim, Nytt Land, Wardruna, Nyiþ and Emme Ya.

Q: The ritual aspect of your music also seems to be very important during live shows. What did you try to express on stage and how do you transpose the music into live shows? What are your plans for live performances now that live activities are finally possible again?

Nostra: Recording an album in our home studio (Studio Akashik) has allowed us to add extra vocals in post-production; but the way we play for the album, in rehearsal, or on stage are actually quite similar.

The decorum of the ceremonies are just a few tricks helping us to get into a proper and receptive state of mind, but yes it’s important. Without this state of gnosis our music would lose its strength.

Among the  other projects, we’ve the recording of the next Malepeste album that we would like to finish for the end of this year. For Grande Loge, there’s a collaboration with the writers Oksana & Gil Prou coming up next year, a work of Sci-fi literature accompanied by our music. There is also a concert with Trientale in Chambery. Things are slowly starting up again…

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient & ritual music.

Background/Info: Shibalba is a Greek band that has been active since 2009, which originally was inspired by metal music. They progressively moved into other influences and mainly released split albums together with renowned formations like Puissance, Arditi, Emma Ya ao. They now joined the established and recognized Tumor/Malignant Records roster to unleash a full length album.

Content: “Samsara” sounds like an imaginary sound bridge between dark-ambient and ritual music. Next to the typical, but alluring and freaky cellar-like atmospheres the work has been accomplished by transcendental liturgical chants and overwhelming ritual passages.

From drones towards bombastic rhythms while using an impressive arsenal of noises and electronic manipulations, this work reflects a mature production. Buzzing passages and mysterious chimes plus distant spoken voices are accentuating the intriguing atmosphere hanging over this opus maleficus.

+ + + : “Samsara” is an elaborated and somewhat atypical release in the dark-ambient vein. The work was accomplished by an impressive sound canvas while the ritual elements are totally transcendental.

– – – : The opening cuts are pure magic getting you the impression that a climax will be reached at the end of the work. Both last tracks are cool, but less poignant so the awaited and ultimate climax is not coming through.

Conclusion: “Samsara” is a successful ritual-minded work, which can’t leave listeners unaffected. This work is an invitation to join an endless and obscure sonic experience with no established final point.

Best songs: “The Magick Of Mirrors”, “Stellar Oracle”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/Shibalbahalls

Label: www.malingnantrecords.com / www.facebook.com/malignantrecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com