Published by Davide Pappalardo on May 2, 2018
Nam-Khar is a ritual/drone collective characterized by the union of ethnic instruments and synthesised material within its works. They are active since 2009, with already eight works under their moniker, be it singles or full albums, in which they have shown their evocative and mysterious kind of ambient music with droning sounds and ritual atmosphere .
Now they have released their album Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa under the label Winter-Light , a nine-track work in which they offer very different pieces of ritualistic music, each with the common thread of bringing you to a place of both focus and isolation. Here you will find meditative mantras juxta-positioned with slightly harsher industrial sounds, giving us a sound mad of static moments and sudden changes. Cold drones, warm bass sounds and synth sweeps are the main tools used in their craft, sewing all the different elements together in a coherent sound.
For example, Dri-za is an evocative ambient piece with field-recordings sounds and cosmic soundscapes, a meditative but somewhat dark mantra indulging in seductive droning sounds, while Srinmo engages the listener with creepy industrial ambiances and dark ambient baritones, evoking menacing desert landscapes and distant factories. Bdud builds a crawling track made of subtle effects and sudden severe sounds, not forfeiting spiraling moments and sharper loops, and Shidak is reshaped into an obsessive drone with mesmerizing layers of sound and evocative sparse percussions .
Klu returns to the evocative world of Nam-Khar with eerie soundscapes and mysterious layers of sound, giving us another dark mantra full of majestic effects and enthralling droning sounds. The sonic world of the artists is once again sparse and built on a slow crescendo made of spiraling rituals made music.
A spiritual journey made music, this album is something to be enjoyed during a meditative listening session, far from the world and into a personal darkness opening the mind to other states of existence. An apt state of mind is required for the droning elements of Mam-Khar sound and the ritual innuendos of their music, and while they don’t really change the game in their genre, they surely create a world of their own by the means of their instruments.
Label: Winter-Light
Rating: 7