Asianova, "Magnamnemonicon"

Stefan Knappe's (Maeror Tri, Troum) new label, Substantia Innominata, has released three 10" records, two of them this year. Asianova's creeping, dark drones occupy this particular limited run of pink, red, and white marble vinyl. The music is deep and cavernous, resonating in giant swirls and bringing to mind the most unusual and supernatural of ghost stories.

 

Substantia Innominata
 
Drone Records have always released high quality music with the greatest of care and Knappe's new label, which focuses only on 10" releases, continues that tradition of care and excellence. Asianova consists of Ure Thrall (from Voice of Eye) and Pamela Passmore; this album also includes guest musicians Paul Valsecchi and Marlon Porter. I was happy to see that this quartet got right to the point on their sleeve. Without a doubt Asianova seeks to "create music about the intangible" and to connect the external world with the internal world in a meaningful way. This may seem like an ambitious project, but I've always been of the opinion that music, especially drone and rather non-temporal or anti- temporal music, is capable of exactly this.

The title might mean something like "book of ultra-memory" or "record of high memory" and the washes of rattles, chimes, and low tones that flow out of the speakers certainly sound ancient, informed by a universal memory of the cosmos and the stars. The artwork includes celestial references, further suggesting that the group is trying to bring the universe home to us, or perhaps us home to the universe. Some songs, though they flow into each other on both sides, feature of a heavy emphasis on percussion with synthetic waves groaning over heavily distorted and washed out beats, all of them focused almost entirely on the bass end of the spectrum. Vocals light up the music at various points, though those points are thematically grim sounding and brief. Each side makes sense as a whole, though they start in similar ways. The "Mnemo" side, however, grows in stature much more quickly than the "Magna" side, sounding off with insectoid horns and reversed vocals. The effect is haunting and relaxing simultaneously. Asianova have a tendency to quickly bring new sounds and surprises into their music quickly and without warning, keeping me from calling this album relaxing altogether. There is a palatable tension in the air and the play of deep, low sounds and other effects keeps the record moving at a pace that seems to stop time: the record is over before I know it.

The record has been spinning on the player for three straight rotations, now, and I'm still picking up small nuances the group has buried in their music. There's plenty to hear on this disc and furthermore the entire package is so well defined and so immaculately thought out that I can't help but fall in love with it. Perhaps this is music with a purpose, music not designed solely for entertainment, but that doesn't confine it to purely academic or purely meditative music. It's enjoyable on an aesthetic level, but the personal and spiritual material it brings to the table is the main course that draws me in the most.