The beginning of Vasilisk, a Japanese duo, dates back thirty-eight years, to 1987, following the disappearance of the pioneering noise group White Hospital.
After several years of inactivity, their seven-track album Tribal Zone was released in 2012.
Despite the vague title, Tribal Zone is a concept album dedicated to the Chinese occupation and oppression of Tibet, as evidenced by some quotes and photos scattered throughout the digipak. Even the monk depicted on the cover doesn't seem well.
The album presents a unique mix of neolithically cavernous drones, shamanic percussive rhythms, and compelling ethnic beats.
The musical surface is rough and dark, as in Burning Monk or Into The Circle, permeated by complex and organic sound textures.
Traditional wind and percussion instruments are sometimes used. Electronic and organic sounds merge equally to create a post-industrial atmosphere that today almost seems vintage. This album could easily be seen as a sound backdrop for a night fire at a gathering of Tibetan shamans or Native Americans.
We are faced with a true sonic experience that aims to involve the listener in another reality, reclaiming the dimension of the Sacred as an initiatory rite.
Positive waves and vibrations emanate from the vocal registers of tantric singing, which free us from negative conditions and lead us to a suspended state of sensory bliss.
We are oriented within a journey whose celestial transit leads us to the light, to Your Light whether it is radiant or iridescent. And if suffering continues it is because we continue to nourish it.
Tribal Zone makes those travel who are not wealthy enough to spend a summer in Tibet as tourists, or for those who are not like the natives living in the remote plateaus of Tibet, but who appreciate its sounds.
A peculiar album with doses of industrial noise, an enormous amount of active percussion, guttural chants, drones with a sacred formula.
A work not for everyone, perhaps suited for a motivated musical sherpa.
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