Pafund - Til rigets ende

Realm & Ritual, 2020

"I am alone;
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

Apoxupon - How The Garden Grows

Mystic Timbre, 2019

“Pan, who and what art thou?" he cried huskily.
"I'm youth, I'm joy,
I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”

How The Garden Grows + Influences / Inspirations is a Spotify playlist that - as the name already explains quite clearly - contains said record and Apoxupon’s musical inspirations. I was delighted to find Vali’s Forlatt in there; an intensively beautiful album that managed to drag me through my angsty teenage years. Markus Stock’s Empyrium is also included, together with the rather unexpected Ben Frost, whove’s all-consuming liveset still holds a special place in my heart.

Knowing his peers, Apoxupon sets out to find a balance between the more introverted, nocturnal and melancholic tunes from his influences, and a sound that could be described as brave, hopeful and sunny. Throughout approximately 45 minutes we roam in the greenest, overgrown gardens, accompanied by soft harp melodies, meandering flutes and the occasional, upbeat-pounding percussion instruments. From time to time I feel as if Koji Kondo has taken the steering wheel - which strongly underlines how catchy and accessible this entire effort is.

In its core, How The Garden Grows aims to make the listener at ease through its engaging melodies, smooth pacing and playful nature samples. Mixing this with the post-impressionist painting The Snake Charmer by Henri Rousseau, makes for an incredible package that is as mysterious as it is alluring. Consider this snake charmed.

TL;DR: A bright, green light.

Refreshing Forest Synth that craftily avoids worn-down aesthetics.

Apoxupon on Bandcamp | Mystic Timbre on Bandcamp