John Zorn
From Silence To Sorcery

It is incredible how each piece created by John Zorn harbors a concept and aims to explore something that goes far beyond the sound itself, whether the goal is to create a main theme for the album in which the pieces are included or the choice is to maintain a distinct identity for each track (not just musically), even when it becomes part of an album. The fact that this cannot always result in convincing works is an inescapable fact; after all, we are talking about a vast discography, with Zorn engaged as both performer and composer.

For "From Silence To Sorcery," I would say that the shadows far outweigh the lights, and by the end of listening, one is left puzzled. First and foremost because it consists of three songs that are significantly different from each other and share only the will to tackle mystical and magical themes. In the case of "Goetia", we are faced with almost 14’ of variations for solo violin inspired by the connection that has always existed between the aforementioned instrument and the devil; with such an introduction, one would expect something... demonic, but I assure you it is not! "Gris-Gris", for "13 tuned drums", is dedicated to Korean shamanism and Haitian voodoo, but it has no effect, neither ritualistic nor significantly sonic. Meanwhile, "Shibboleth", in honor of the enigmatic German poet of Jewish origin Paul Celan, mixes violin, viola, cello, percussion, and clavichord, but has very little to offer and not only due to its extremely quiet and experimental nature.

For further technical and structural details and on how and why the tracks were structured as such, I invite you to read the comprehensive notes contained in the booklet. However, if we are to speak of listening, abstracting from the theory that underpins everything, then know that the work is weak and certainly not one to support such lofty intents (or low depending on the magical perspective, be it white or black) and profound.

Decidedly a step back from the Zorn who returned to the Olympus thanks to the wonderful triad constituted by "Moonchild," "Astronome," and "Six Litanies For Heliogabalus."