Dereleech - Downstream
Downstream

by Dereleech 

 

ambient darkambient minimal drone ethereal

 

7 tracks

52:44
 
 
 

Album description

Concept:
The ancient fictional story of "Downstream" takes place during a massive outbreak of a mysterious illness that awakens a great nation from its bliss of welfare and happiness. A rebellion flares up as a result of the king fleeing down the river towards the sea on his royal flagship, leaving the rest of the nation to struggle on its own. People outraged by the betrayal set out in pursuit and discover dreadful things about the plague that surpass their thirst for vengeance. The further they drift downstream the more it becomes apparent that the ship under their feet might be serving them their last journey.


Artist’s comments:
Musically "Downstream" is for the most part abstract and beatless dark ambient with soft drone layering and some occasional rhythmic elements. The mood is centered around feelings of fear and isolation but also weird sensations of irrational relief and inner peace.


Credits:
Matti Tolkki - All compositions and arrangements
Ville Kytömäki - Cover art design


Additional notes:
- Composed and recorded during 2007-2008.
- Release date: November 11, 2008.
- Tracks 1 and 4 were recorded as improvisation with minor post-processing.
- Track 5 uses samples from Breeze (an early unfinished track).
- Influenced by Mark Morgan, SleepResearch_Facility, Aeoga, Jääportit, Karl Sanders, Jeremy Soule, Phil Thornton, Bear McCreary and many other great artists.

 



Reviews on Downstream

Order by
 
 

We followed each other down to the river's bank
there was a desert, and all the people were silently grim,
some whispering as we wandered, sadly, slowly,
and the hot windless air oppressed our bones
as we walked single file down to the boats,
through the silent shushing of the reeds,
where we floated along for a very long time,
down an endless and mesmerizing river . . .
the air was searingly dry
and the river was putrid and we could not
sooth our dry throats
while our thirst for violence
disappeared like the shadows in the noonday sun,
nor could we staunch
our misery, our fear and our hunger for life
but we could see it all
floating away
on the tides of this deadly river. . .
this death of a river
lovingly washing over our aching bones
and we drift . . .
and we float . . .

20/02/09

The evilness of this music is enough to leech the marrow from my ear bones

Aching drones like great drifting icebergs of beauty . The music acts like one giant backdrop
against which the concept story is painted . Great desolate plains and the silent horrors that float down the river and through the ship crew's minds are revealed . The thin layer of sonority on Passage of Kings I imagine to represent the only bit of divine consciousness left in this barren , diseased wasteland . Is this what the plague would sound like !! The darker tones are dominant on this CD but there are just enough lighter tones to inject life into this music , making sure you yourself don't fall victim to this terrible event !!!!!!

A dosage of music that infects your brain and slows down all thought processes . . .. mmmmmmmarvellous

10/01/09

The Desert Calls My Name sounds more solitary than collective, and is as I could imagine such a geographical feature beckoning one. As for awakening an entire, great nation, it must be serious, but then how big is a nation and I would imagine such virulence knows no boundaries as such. And, as I listen I can't help but think of Palestine and Israel and the modern day disease of war. However, in its more ancient setting, hysteria was more likely perhaps.

Passage of Kings has a suitable solemnity to its sense of movement/escape/abandonment. The suggestion seems to be that the King becomes a scapegoat in being attributed with the blame of causing the disease, hence the 'thirst for vengeance'. Downstream is more open and engenders a sense of realisation that a boundary is manufactured politically and although geographical features (rivers, mountain ranges) do contribute to such delineation, the case is not the same biologically.

Floating Bodies and Rotten Shorelines sort of proves the point, that no where appears to be safe from this apparently ubiquitous disease. Where is the point of escape, especially as the King's ship is more than likely going to further the spread of illness to anywhere it might disembark.

Fever Dreaming is more active in its expression, feverish indeed. Dream or nightmare? Sounds quite menacing, as if even the royal entourage has been captured by the bug rather than the crowd that pursues it. A realisation of the end, at the end.

Which leads us to the Graveyard at the Delta, an untimely end seeping its poison into the very ocean that lies beyond the final resting place. Leaving all At Serenity's Edge, where they lie down to die and fly freely into the aether, heaven bound. The ultimate, and perhaps only sense of escape from the epidemic.

 

Album information

FIN
Genre dark ambient
Release November 11, 2008
Published December 31, 2008
Listens 3491 Downloads 489
Starred 23 Playlisted 11    
Reviews 5 Rating 8.8/10

Post this widget on my blog!


Copy and paste this HTML code onto your blog :



Your rights on this album

(cc)
You can copy, distribute, advertise and play this album as long as you:
 
  • Give credit to the artist
  • Don't use this album for commercial purposes
  • Distribute all derivative works under the same license
It's possible to benefit from rights other than this license, with jamendo pro.
Jamendo Pro

In playlists

 
PlayPlay
3 tracks
PlayPlay
22 tracks
PlayPlay
22 tracks
PlayPlay
20 tracks
PlayPlay
13 tracks
PlayPlay
49 tracks