Petra Hermanová - In Death's Eyes (2023)
BAND/ARTIST: Petra Hermanová
- Title: In Death's Eyes
- Year Of Release: 2023
- Label: Unguarded
- Genre: ambient, folk, electronic, experimental
- Quality: MP3 320 kbps; 16-44100 FLAC
- Total Time: 57 min
- Total Size: 134; 283 MB
- WebSite: Album Preview
Petra Hermanova and Unguarded announce In Death’s Eyes (UGD-009), the debut solo LP under the artist’s own name. This LP features nine tracks utilizing folk and sacred musical technique and instrumentation which drift between song and heavy distorted drones. In a disciplined display of beauty, pain, and astute musicianship, Hermanova brings forth a notable accomplishment of an album. In Death’s Eyes confronts death from start to finish with a rare fervor that leaves one feeling it was utterly necessary for Hermanova to produce - to survive.
The transcendent impulse, or the influence of religious music, bears heavily on Hermanova’s compositions in her choir arrangements, but is most apparent in her use of pipe organ, opening the record on Black Glass. Having written organ parts for a significant portion of the record, she sought out the renowned organist Denny Wilke to record with her in the Merseburg Cathedral. Captivated by Wilke's profound skill as a player and knowledge of the Ladegast organ, Hermanova invited him to collaborate on Two Deaths where he delivers an impressive improvisation.
While religious music offers spiritual solace from grief, folk speaks to the human and earthly as told by the individual, be they songs of suffering or joy, sin or salvation. To Hermanova, the clean promise of liturgical music is not enough to alleviate the blunt pain of grief. Contrasting the spiritual is the voice of the individual sufferer - the folk musician. For Hermanova, the autoharp embodies this contrast. The autoharp, a familiar sound in Appalachian folk music since its mass production in the late 1800’s, is an affordable instrument designed for the unskilled player. It is the antithesis of the organ which is costly, gargantuan, reserved for skilled players, and quite literally a part of the church. Through In Death’s Eyes the sounds of transcendence blend with the worldly, the tension between them poignantly expressing Hermanova’s struggle for spiritual resolution against the reality of death and loss.
Like Hermanova’s lyrics, the artwork, conceptualized by Enes Güç and Evelyn Bencicova, is riddled with symbolism and allusion. We find Hermanova on the cover, digitally rendered. Reclining like an anatomical Venus, her vital organs are exposed, suggesting she is denied a transcendent death and is instead immaculately human. Bearing a sickle, her legs are metallic like armor, both symbols of protection. We see here in this image, as we hear in the nine tracks of IDE, the metaphoric state of someone ravaged by loss, choosing to tear herself open in an attempt to heal. - Reece Cox
Tracklist:
1.01 - Petra Hermanová - Black Glass (3:54)
1.02 - Petra Hermanová - Two Deaths (10:26)
1.03 - Petra Hermanová - Perforatum (Eyes at Half Mast) (9:03)
1.04 - Petra Hermanová - Here the Harpies Make Their Nest (2:14)
1.05 - Petra Hermanová - Prayer (3:33)
1.06 - Petra Hermanová - Aurochs' Lament (14:59)
1.07 - Petra Hermanová - Marrow Embers (3:51)
1.08 - Petra Hermanová - I Am the Lung (5:09)
1.09 - Petra Hermanová - The Earthly Body (4:03)
The transcendent impulse, or the influence of religious music, bears heavily on Hermanova’s compositions in her choir arrangements, but is most apparent in her use of pipe organ, opening the record on Black Glass. Having written organ parts for a significant portion of the record, she sought out the renowned organist Denny Wilke to record with her in the Merseburg Cathedral. Captivated by Wilke's profound skill as a player and knowledge of the Ladegast organ, Hermanova invited him to collaborate on Two Deaths where he delivers an impressive improvisation.
While religious music offers spiritual solace from grief, folk speaks to the human and earthly as told by the individual, be they songs of suffering or joy, sin or salvation. To Hermanova, the clean promise of liturgical music is not enough to alleviate the blunt pain of grief. Contrasting the spiritual is the voice of the individual sufferer - the folk musician. For Hermanova, the autoharp embodies this contrast. The autoharp, a familiar sound in Appalachian folk music since its mass production in the late 1800’s, is an affordable instrument designed for the unskilled player. It is the antithesis of the organ which is costly, gargantuan, reserved for skilled players, and quite literally a part of the church. Through In Death’s Eyes the sounds of transcendence blend with the worldly, the tension between them poignantly expressing Hermanova’s struggle for spiritual resolution against the reality of death and loss.
Like Hermanova’s lyrics, the artwork, conceptualized by Enes Güç and Evelyn Bencicova, is riddled with symbolism and allusion. We find Hermanova on the cover, digitally rendered. Reclining like an anatomical Venus, her vital organs are exposed, suggesting she is denied a transcendent death and is instead immaculately human. Bearing a sickle, her legs are metallic like armor, both symbols of protection. We see here in this image, as we hear in the nine tracks of IDE, the metaphoric state of someone ravaged by loss, choosing to tear herself open in an attempt to heal. - Reece Cox
Tracklist:
1.01 - Petra Hermanová - Black Glass (3:54)
1.02 - Petra Hermanová - Two Deaths (10:26)
1.03 - Petra Hermanová - Perforatum (Eyes at Half Mast) (9:03)
1.04 - Petra Hermanová - Here the Harpies Make Their Nest (2:14)
1.05 - Petra Hermanová - Prayer (3:33)
1.06 - Petra Hermanová - Aurochs' Lament (14:59)
1.07 - Petra Hermanová - Marrow Embers (3:51)
1.08 - Petra Hermanová - I Am the Lung (5:09)
1.09 - Petra Hermanová - The Earthly Body (4:03)
Year 2023 | Folk | Electronic | Ambient | FLAC / APE | Mp3
As a ISRA.CLOUD's PREMIUM member you will have the following benefits:
- Unlimited high speed downloads
- Download directly without waiting time
- Unlimited parallel downloads
- Support for download accelerators
- No advertising
- Resume broken downloads