Kyron : Ascending Plume Of Faces

Another stunning album from the always forward-thinking label Library Of The Occult is the recently released Ascending Plume Of Faces by Kyron. In some respects it seems to reside in the same sonic world that LOTO is known for; mysterious, subtle, moody, and engrossing sounds. But Kyron also sounds wholly their own thing; electronics coalesce into a swirl of ambient beauty and darkness just underneath. Part visceral dream worlds, part new age psychedelics, and part spaced-out IDM.

Beautify Junkyards’ João Branco Kyron has made an album inspired by the life and work of English artist Austin Osman Spare. Spare created Gothic art influenced by his interest in the occult and Kyron’s work reflects that. At times ambient and hazy, while other times building a kind of tension and an undercurrent of something sinister just under the surface.

Opening track “Youth Unmasks” is reminiscent of late 60s psych, bringing to mind a pastoral quality while still retaining the promise of something darker. Percussive elements come in to carry the song along to its end. “Stealing The Fire From Heaven” is more sinister, as synths build a wall of sound with wavering, melancholy notes hanging in the darkness. “The Feast Of The Supersensualists” sounds like if Massive Attack and Fabio Frizzi scored a Giallo together. Trip hop meets 70s Italian cinema.

This record feels like heady ideas slowly rising from the ether. Mindful of mood and surroundings, Kyron knows how to bring the listener into their world. Looking at the art of Austin Osman Spare I can definitely hear his work emanating in tracks like “The Dweller At The Gate Of Silent Memory”, “Intemperance”, and album closer “Vision Through The Sense Of Touch”. Ethereal sound collages in the vein of Huerco S, Alone In The Woods, and Mort Garson.

Kyron has built a gorgeous and shaded sound world with Ascending Plume Of Faces. Another dark path well worth walking via Library Of The Occult.

7.8 out of 10