SILENI is an experimental project by Portuguese musician/composer, Valter Abreu. Through Italy's cathartic Eighth Tower Records, the artist gives us "Long Forgotten Bowers": a concept album which, to my ears, captures the evolutionary progression of Stanley Kubrick/Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey", though marked by the cynical acceptance of Nicholas Winding Refn's "Valhalla Rising" and Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner". In other words, it's a journey with significant, developmental swings, but in the end, all grows clear.
Some of the album's portions (the interludes and build-ups) are soothing, but as one grazes the bowers' fringes, the "darker" side of life emerges. Abreu's compositions imply that life is but a search for meaning or more so, the means to know ourselves and therefore our unvarnished stations.
"Forgone Age" initiates this musical adventure with an empathetic allusion: We are characterized by drives and vibes, of which fear is a predominant part. Strange things from the forgone age can still stalk us, even consume us.
Nevertheless, to understand any such threat, we must categorize it. What better way than to call it some "Malformed Creature": a wraith born of our world, which doesn't fit our convenient scheme. That's what fear tells us, anyway. Still, considering the symbol's existence, should we come to terms with it or cower in its wake?
Courage is hard to conjure, after all. Even the bravest might get "Lost" within the process. Through Abreu's bold, bristly notes, one may embark on any number of impulsive paths that our wraith serves, unsure how to survive, let alone conclude them.
Alas, the chance to understand (if ever there was one) has been "Surpassed". This instills defeat, but wait! Around the bend, a hint of salvation shimmers. Into the fortuitous "Unexpected Encounter", we engage.
We relish its reckless tonality. We tickle and tug it as if shaking a "Dimmed Memory": one that contains all the sibilating, bombastic elements that made us walk, talk, aspire and quiver. By golly, it was us all along. We were our own cheerleaders, opponents and moldmakers: each at one time or another, the malformed creature.
With this complacent revelation attained, we can now wallow in our special "Zone", labeling our shortcomings as badges of beauty instead of flaws. Perhaps others will see as we see, hear as we hear. We shall lead the way, riding each audacious chord as a mentor, hero...god.
From our enlarging, meditative glow, we turn "Sentient", awaiting discovery by those who travel the same, inexorable path.
It could be that we are all gods, destined to meet within the great, celestial collective, scattering our euphonious "Remains" like breadcrumbs, if only to perpetuate the eternal cycle that makes us mortal and of course, something beyond...
SILENI's "Long Forgotten Bowers" welcomes thoughts and emotions that we should never have left for dead. Absorb Abreu's revival and venerate your fate.
https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/long-forgotten-bowers
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