Siavash Amini ~ eremos

Having already released the brilliant album Eidolon and the brooding, seething follow-up EP, The Sweat of Earth earlier this year, Iranian composer, musician and sound artist Siavash Amini now releases eremos on the American Dreams label. It’s a stunning continuation of his ever-expanding process.

Amini has never been averse to drawing on the work of other artists to help realize his visions. He has collaborated with contemporary philosopher-pessimist-poet Eugene Thacker and explored the complex 13^th century tuning systems of Safi-al-din Urmavi.  Now on eremos he references passages from 12^th century Iranian philosopher-poet Ibn Sina’s allegory, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (The Improvement of Human Reason). While the range of sources reflects a frustration Amini has expressed with the limitations of standard Western tunings, it also indicates a larger intellectual hunger and restlessness. It’s to Amini’s credit that his reach is matched by his grasp: his engagement with his materials is deep, his willingness to explore is consistent, and his results are boldly challenging.

Opener “Wayward” lives up to its name. Moody and mercurial, the track begins with gentle electric chirps and clicks floating out over an increasingly dense bed of static and humming bass thrum. The static thickens and the bass tone takes on an almost metallic ring before receding. A new granulated swell rises to fill the void – until everything is abruptly cut off, guillotine-like, leaving a resounding silence in its wake. The track gradually resumes and builds in this stop-and-start fashion, progressing in a probing, faltering series of feints and inquiries that continually dissolve before resolving, demonstrating a sensitivity to pacing and dynamics. When the end comes, gently, almost imperceptibly, the listener is left suspended in satisfied anticipation.

The remaining tracks build and recede as they unfold. “The Darkness About The Pole” starts with a cloudburst of thick, sizzling rain. Dense microtonal chords and tubular bell sounds pour in, creating a ritualistic atmosphere.  Coarse, billowing gusts intrude, threatening to sweep everything aside. The scene fades, giving way to an austere arrangement of new microtonal chords. Amini gives them room to roam, phase, flutter and build before pulling them back to make space for another diminished wave. The track undulates and glides toward its conclusion.

Where “Wayward” and “TDATP” seem to plumb psychological terrains, “A Desert of Immobile Winds Pts. 1 & 2” plunges into more emotive territory. It’s a vast, engrossing, unnerving piece of music. Like the other tracks, “ADIW” proceeds in waves and unsteady cycles. The music is more overtly melodic, while not establishing any discernible melody. Pads swell and moan. Wind chimes and steel drum are heard in different sections, anchoring the track in “the real world” without establishing a specific context. Shrill, squealing sounds flare toward the conclusion, like grasping hands desperately seeking purchase on a coldly resistant metal surface. The effect is enveloping and disorienting, saturated with strong destabilized emotions and deep uncertainty.

The Greek word eremos is roughly translated as desolate, uninhabited wilderness. In his liner notes, Amini stresses the word “uninhabited” as a psychic touchstone for the album. That quality of stark desolation and unknowability imbues eremos with a brutal pathos that feels unique to the artist’s oeuvre. After three powerhouse works in a row, one is already excited about his next release. (Damian Van Denburgh)