Voidwards – Bagulnik (Dark Ambient Funeral Drone)

 

I like when an artist forces you to research their creation. This is entirely necessary when they’re obscure and seemingly refuse to provide any clear presence. They live as more of a shade, so deep in the shadows you barely see a glint from their eyes with light shining upon them. In the era of digital media, that’s an approach that yields lysergic fruit. You find yourself forced to find any scrap of information, relying on old-school tactics close to reading physical media to make some sense out of it. Luckily, as the primary purveyor of strange wares on this site, I got promo info so it took less time. Lol, did you think I researched this? Just a little. And even that led to a deeper experience; fitting, because we’ve got dark ambient funeral drone here.

   

Voidwards come from the depths of Russian folk belief, bringing the darkest entities and leaving them nameless (it’s safer that way). The general premise of Bagulnik is supposedly taken from the “diaries of a rural teacher,” who lived in the early 20th century in an unstated, northern village in Russia. In essence, the claim is that he believed in a mysterious, vile entity living in a local swamp that was possessing his community. Taking this premise, Voidwards craft a tale of the locale using extremely lengthy passages, field recordings, and unearthly electronics, to draw the listener into the same mental despair that plagued the teacher. It’s a conceit, sure, but that folk obscurity they rely on leaves the mystery intact. One strong point is you can’t simply sample the damn thing. Doing so places you smack in the middle of a churning, ambient nothingness outside of the greater story being told. Thusly, you need to listen to the entirety of Bagulnik to get the premise, plot, and conclusion. For those not seasoned in drone, or similar genres, it may prove too dominating, but it’s a treat for the rest of us.

 

Until Death Overtakes Me Official Bandcamp

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Voidwards – Bagulnik
Aesthetic Death
Cover Art: Anna Bespalova
4.3 / 5