Secret Pyramid ~ Movements of Night

Ruins, silver stone scarred by the cyan sea, are the only remnants of a once-proud city, left behind by a lost civilization. Carved figures can still be recognized despite their lengthy submersion, and endless waves of drone surge around the monuments. Down here, they still hold authority. The stone palm is splayed open in what may be an invitation, but it could just as easily be a warning. Their presence leaves the onlooker fascinated, as if it were a shipwreck buried in bedrock, radiating out their silent, historic kingship in a banished royal residence, known only as the grave of the sea. The fish flounder and scatter, and the eerie glow of the ocean’s depths reflects a dead light through hollow sockets.

Canadian musician Amir Abbey has produced a transcendental tapestry of drone that, within its tight chambers, conceals cloudy, immortal secrets. The Vancouver-based droner is one to watch; Movements of Night is an intense listen that, through its open-ended mystery, becomes one of the peaks in recent history. First contact is made via a deep, exploratory drone. The sedate heartbeat that gently enters could be the ruin coming to life, rising up like a phoenix.

Those spacious, aquamarine clouds appear to shape-shift under the water, obscured by the heavy camouflage of what used to be an electric guitar. Vancouver may be well versed in heavy rainfall, and the rainy weather sends the shudders of the surface even deeper. Sphinx-like in its roaming mystery, Secret Pyramid takes us through the beautiful, secluded romance of the slow-dive. The drone is an ancient statue, enclosed in an intimate chamber. Drifting through the sedate atmosphere, the drone loosens its beauty; it is incredibly strong, with the sharp bite of white noise dribbling from frothing fangs of distortion. It is contemplative of its fate, longing for atonement.

Secret Pyramid’s music is tranquil to an extent, but it constantly surges with energy. It is a current of raw, undisturbed power. The crumbling monuments cling closely to their structured secrets. Through the music, the beautiful mystery becomes clearer. The drone sends a shock-wave through the atmosphere, one that continues to linger through the ages. The rising tones lift high on the wings of a tidal wave, perhaps the very one that sealed their fate so long ago, pushing through anything and everything. The rhythmic, unstable spiral of drone sends out a throbbing heartbeat that gushes life into the drone. Looping, oozing rivers of deep cherry-red hint at a violent past; the downfall of a city clothed in red, fluid ribbons.

“Quiet Sky” is melancholic and fragile, with a strong emphasis on harmony. “Closer” is deceptive in its beauty. Starting as a deep shudder, the cavernous rumble of the surge can be heard rising to the fore. The two-toned harmony is full of reflection, slowly rotating its blades of distorted drone. Not without its sadness, the music carries a a cryptic creature-call from the depths of the ocean. Broken hearts hang like notes along the black lines of an abandoned stave, left to play the music of the lost.

This is essential listening. Soon, another will be claimed by the sea, the drone coiling itself around the music like the recently discovered serpentine statue; the latest ruin. (James Catchpole)

Available here