I have been a fan of Dirk Serries’ early work as Vidna Obmana for nearly a quarter century. It largely relies on synth-driven ambiance in a similar vein as that of Steve Roach, Alio Die, Robert Rich, and so on. Landscape in Obscurity was a masterpiece.
Here, he returns to that general style but with guitar and effects rather than synths. These five long tracks feature Serries generating slow-moving drone soundscapes. The textures are slightly rough with just enough distortion to be unsettling. With these building blocks, he moves deliberately from chord to chord, each sweeping into phase as a variation of a previous theme or an exploration of a new motif. The result is surprisingly melodic despite the album’s lack of traditional notions of melody, harmony, or rhythm.
When listened to as a whole, Fluctuation of Being has the ability to slip in and out of any incidental background noises in the listening environment. But I also find that it grabs my attention more frequently than most ambient music. But this dual nature of the recording is not surprising, given Serries’ history of mixing passages that evoke relaxation but with dark overtones.
Regardless, this effort is another strong one in Serries’ very long discography.
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[…] AMN Reviews: Dirk Serries – Fluctuation of Being (2023; Midira Records) (4/30/2023) […]
[…] ” have been a fan of Dirk Serries’ early work as Vidna Obmana for nearly a quarter century. It largely relies on synth-driven ambiance in a similar vein as that of Steve Roach, Alio Die, Robert Rich, and so on. Landscape in Obscurity was a masterpiece. Here, he returns to that general style but with guitar and effects rather than synths. These five long tracks feature Serries generating slow-moving drone soundscapes. The textures are slightly rough with just enough distortion to be unsettling. With these building blocks, he moves deliberately from chord to chord, each sweeping into phase as a variation of a previous theme or an exploration of a new motif. The result is surprisingly melodic despite the album’s lack of traditional notions of melody, harmony, or rhythm. When listened to as a whole, Fluctuation of Being has the ability to slip in and out of any incidental background noises in the listening environment. But I also find that it grabs my attention more frequently than most ambient music. But this dual nature of the recording is not surprising, given Serries’ history of mixing passages that evoke relaxation but with dark overtones. Regardless, this effort is another strong one in Serries’ very long discography. ” AMN […]