Zanias – Ecdysis
Zanias – Ecdysis
Fleisch Records/Metropolis Records
Release Date: 16/02/2024
Running Time: 37:00
Review by Metalphysicist
8.5/10
Do you know what music is? I mean, what are the basic abstract structures which make it possible for us to listen to all kinds of songs – from a repugnant song from Mayhem, to Jazz to… Elevator music?
Music is basically composed of the following elements: sound frequency, harmony and rhythm. By definition, the frequency that causes the first resonance of a wave is called the fundamental frequency, and the remaining harmonics come from it (thanks to Wikipedia for the last phrase!).
“Ecdysis”, the album recently released by Zanias, is a follow-up to “Chrysalis” and sounds as music experimentation to build songs through the harmonic field taken from the fundamental frequency through vocal harmonies provided by Zenias’ chants, accompanied by a low beats per minute rhythm here and there. I may be wrong but I think that the album is based on 4 Mhz – a perfect frequency for meditation’s oneiric states of mind. And the low beat, most of the time on slow bpm (very well programmed), which imposes to the listener to compass his breathing and exhaling process according to the song’s proposal. Very relaxing and healing for mind, body and soul, indeed.
Do you know that I have been practising meditation for more than 5 years (or, at least, I really trust that I am meditating…) so I am pretty familiar with that kind of musical experiment. To make it easier, what is heard on “Ecdysis”, is similar to Devin Townsend’s “Snuggles” (2021), with an ethereal and peaceful vibe and yes, there are a lot of Enya and Dead Can Dance influences.
“Ecdyses” is a minimalist collection of fragments of music that works like an oriented meditation training, guided by Zenias – who recorded some samples from a forest in Australia, the place where Alison Lewis felt herself comfortable to whisper a moment of transmutation on her own life (NOTE: the press kit suggests listening to the album with headphones to be in touch with binaural elements).
Alison Lewis is responsible for the vocals, composing and producing process, and even though I always think that it is a good idea to involve someone else on the mixing and mastering process, it is all good on production here. It is obvious that you should listen “Ecdysis” from the beginning until the end, but I must mention ‘Duneskipper’ (transcendental ambience with forest samples) and ‘Swim’ (that takes us to a kind of binaural deconstructed vocal lines with electro-space ambience) as good examples of what Alison Lewis is up to.
So, if you’re into minimalist artistic songs for an ethereal and psychedelic experience, just give “Ecdysis” a chance and introduce yourself to meditation, while Alison shares with you the Portrait of An Artist When Reborn.
TRACKLISTING
01. Earthborn
02. Mara
03. Duneskipper
04. Acacia
05. Bloodwood
06. Habenula
07. Swim
08. Ecdysis
LINE – UP
Alison Lewis – vocals and producer
LINKS:
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