Monastery
Peculiar Storms

“Ferdinando, I see you are quite troubled,
as if dismayed: do not be afraid.
The magic games are over.
As I told you, those actors
were only spirits of the air,
and in the air, they have all dissolved,
into a thin and impalpable air.
And like this performance
- a building without foundations -
so the immense globe of the earth,
with its cloud-covered towers,
its rich mansions, sacred temples
and everything contained within
is destined for its dissolution;
just like that incorporeal scene
we saw dissolve a while ago,
it will leave no trace of itself.
We are also made of the stuff
that dreams are made on;
and within the span and time of a dream
is enclosed our brief life.”

The fury of the waves has now calmed, and Miranda, sitting on a rock, gazes with a glassy look at what remains of her ship. It is the wind that reminds her with cold and sudden gusts of the shipwreck that occurred only a few hours before, with its icy hands insinuating themselves among her fiery red hair, tousling it. Only now, only after escaping death, does the young woman realize what her father has always maintained: life is insubstantial, evanescent like the spirits, and like them, we too will disappear leaving no trace, and this great stage on which we move will not remember even our shadows or the sound of our steps.

“As you fall into sleep
Beneath the trees
Beside the stream
You meander into dreams
Your heart quickens
And you race towards the light
Forever, towards the end of time
And, always, towards the end of mind
There will never be escape
All you know, All you love
All you thought would keep you safe
Burns away and dissipates
And, at the end, all that remains
Is you and The Eternal Storm
You and The Eternal Storm”

Behind the Monastery project is Robb Kavjian, the “other 50%” of 1476, a duo from Salem already featured on these pages. As with L-XIII (the solo project of the other member of the aforementioned band, Neil DeRosa), in this “Peculiar Storms” we are faced with a proposal that is distinctly ambient, yet proudly incorporates electronic inserts, samples, drone, synth, and folk influences. According to the musician, the main source of inspiration for this work was the art of Norwegian Theodor Kittelsen, who along with other contemporary painters enabled him to connect musical suggestions, initially unfamiliar to him, with his love for nature and the overwhelming feeling of the “sublime” it can generate in the hearts of those who know how to enter into harmony with it. Both in the CD booklet and on the Bandcamp page, each track is accompanied by a painting by the Norwegian painter that our artist has chosen as a possible visual reference, but in the end, the impressions must flow freely, and the listener should be free to give the form they prefer to the pieces they hear.
It is worth noting that, unlike what happened with “Obsidian” under the name L-XIII, the atmosphere is much more dreamy, misty, dreamlike, and ethereal: Kavjian recreates a magical world, a cozy and intimate cocoon, where everyone is free to take refuge to find a moment of break from the daily frenzy. It is not the flip side of “Obsidian”, nor an evolution of the themes addressed by 1476: the pastoral setting that I sense in this “Peculiar Storms” is not present in the “mother” band’s productions, at least it does not constitute a distinctive trait, while it is the core of Monastery's poetics. A particular listening, not for everyone, not for every moment of the day, but to be savored with care to fully appreciate its magic and beauty.