Vidna Obmana & PBK
Monument Of Empty Colours / Depression & Ideal

THE REVIEW

Dirk Serries, within his vast and monumental production under the historical moniker Vidna Obmana, has collaborated with various artists, including the great Steve Roach. Now, Zoharum makes available, gathering them in an elegant double CD digipack, 2 of the most significant albums composed at the dawn of his career by Dirk Serries together with Phillip B. Klinger, aka PBK, an American artist who operates in the realms of noise, ambient, and electroacoustic music. Moreover, it must not be forgotten how the Belgian artist originally moved, at the beginning of his career in the mid-80s, within the industrial scene. The albums in question, namely Monument of Empty Colours and Depression and Ideal, were originally released in cassette format. This is not yet, to be clear, the Vidna Obmana of the trilogy, even though this material has its own artistic value and is not simply a historical document. The sound is monolithic and dark, and I believe it might appeal to those who followed certain post-industrial and dark-ambient productions of the North European school. The sounds are extremely dark and minimal, evoking landscapes shrouded in perpetual fog. The sensation during listening is that of constantly being covered by a leaden sky while, on the horizon, the profile of a Gothic cathedral is glimpsed. In some ways, it is an unheard Vidna Obmana (undoubtedly influenced here by PBK) and perhaps still unripe but, in any case, already seems to have a clear direction in which it wants to go. The material has been remastered. Limited edition of 400 copies presented with new graphics. Available on Bandcamp: https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/monument-of-empty-colours-depression-ideal