 |
| Realm & Ritual, 2020 |
I am always alone
no matter what."
Stripped to what could be the genre’s absolute minimum in terms of instrumentation and composition, is Pafund’s opening of its latest release Til rigets ende. This 30-minute track has been broken up into two separate ones, and takes its time to slowly but steadily creep into the listeners head.
Do not expect Til rigets ende to instantly provide you with multi-layered bombast, pounding drums or catchy melodies. Instead, the record’s first half chooses to spread its atmosphere carefully by building passage upon passage that is rich in texture, yet poor in diversity. This way, Pafund manages to successfully mimic grey and beaten pathways, long-abandoned corridors, and the dreading feeling of actually being alone.
When after 14 minutes the album’s first melody kicks in, it is not one of relief. Rather, the distorted and muffled sound of the tones enhances this feeling of forsakenness that has been so carefully build-up. As the intensity of the music slowly starts to rise, Pafund allows color to enter its spectrum and unexpectedly opens up to what is its first embracing moment.
The way Til rigets ende provides a sonic narrative is worthy of praise and many, many repeated listens. Do act fast though, because Realm & Ritual will release an extremely limited cassette later this month - and I expect it to be gone real quick.
TL;DR: Beautiful, lo-fi Dungeon Synth that transcends the creation of mere atmosphere and enters a realm of compositional story-telling.
Pafund on Bandcamp | Pafund on Facebook
