SWADHISTHANA

Fourth album by Senmuth (and fourth released in 2004) displays a further evolution in Senmuth's music. The impression is that while "Cognitive Discord" was a good album but without particular highlihts, this one is full of ideas since from the first track. Also the fact that after an album inspired by China, he is now looking to the Indian folk, means that Senmuth is experimenting and researching. Don't expect to find tablas, sitars or other traditional instruments. It's the usual techno instrumentation. The opening track contains unusual vocals, but the surprise arrives with Sakala-jana-kAmyAm (I'd like to know what the capital letters on the tracks titles mean). It's not John McLaughlin, but there really a lot of India here, specially in the first part of the track.

The third track is halfway. The sung part is totally indian, but the instrumental interludes are the industrial techno which Senmuth has made us used to. An alternance instead of a fusion. Not a bad idea. It's a fusion of genres, instead, the fourth track. In this case, the heavy percussions and the distorted sounds play on an indian-like melodic line until the last minute of the track that's is based on percussions only.

"AhoDine" has a post-metal opening, but after few seconds the nice female voice re- appears. There are metal, techno and indian moments in a good mixture. One of the best tracks of the album.

"KadAcit" is an eclectic track: heavy percussions, female vocalisms and a male speaking. I can't either understand if it's Russian or another language, but it doesn't really matter. Also this is a nice track.

"NayanaPatha" is on the same line. Maybe the indian part is more in evidence. I'm spotting now that the track sequence on my download is different from the one on PA.

"PrAsAda antaH" is probably the weakest track, but the following one "AsAram nayanaH" is excellent, instead.

The album is closed by the most melodic and probaly "western" song: "WreNi-ruciraH". I hear also some "arabian" sounds, while the female vocalist may also be traditional Japanese or Chinese. The download contains also an edit version of this track (half the time).

This album represents another progress in Senmuth's development. It's a very interesting work. Not yet good enough for 4 stars, but surely more than 3. I round it down also because I have 74 more to listen to excluding lives and anthologies and higher ratings will surely come.

'Swadhisthana' - Senmuth (4/10)

Four albums into Senmuth's career, and already, this listener/reviewer was been taken to a wide range of vistas through the music. Although he releases albums very closely together, I can see a development of his sound; the man behind the music is certainly not afraid to leave the shackles of heavy metal behind and explore new ways of expressing himself musically. While the album before this may have had a firm basis in the culture of China and Japan, 'Swadhisthana' takes us to the sands of the Middle East, and the spiritual lands of India. While this album may have been the most professional-sounding work he had done to date, most of the music is incredibly derivative from age-old Arabic traditional music and Indian Bhangra; material that we have all heard before at some point, and certainly not a style of music I find a wealth of enjoyment in. While this is one of the less enjoyable albums by Senmuth I have explored, I can easily see anyone seeking to look into the genre of Indian popular music or Arabic traditional finding a good deal of interest with this album.

Despite the fact that the music here is all produced on what the man behind the music of Senmuth dubbed a 'home studio,' things sound very crisp and professional. Also, for the first time in Senmuth history, the vocals consistently fit well into the music, and contribute to the overall sound in a productive manner. What makes 'Swadhisthana' a comparatively poor release in the overall scope of the Senmuth library then, is it's lack of real melody or noticable composition structure. More often than not, this feels like the soundtrack to an educational film on the Middle-East, than an album you would put on the enjoy for the music itself.

While I am (as always) impressed by the sonic arrangements here and the introduction of some strong female vocal work, 'Swadhisthana' is certainly not my thing, and I am under the impression that many listeners that were hoping for an exercise in strong oriental metal here will come out dissapointed. On the other hand, the album makes for some listenable 'background' music, and shows that with each album, Senmuth's execution of his music becomes all the more professional and polished.

Swadhisthana is one of Senmuth's earliest masterpieces. It's a great electronic folk album about Hindu religion, Indian culture and Central Asian lifestyle. Senmuth was influenced by some Indian movies he saw and this album uses some film samples and employs some church choirs and traditional female chants that sound very authentic and fusion perfectly with the instrumental work of our Russian workaholic. It's a majestic album, it has many catchy moments and its also danceable. It has a strong tendency towards Senmuth's experimental ambient works but sounds less overloaded and much more coherent.

From the beginning of the album on that kicks off with the brilliant highlight "Para-Brahma" the music is able to create images of Indian villages celebrating folk dances and chants. You immediately have a smile on your face and go on a cultural voyage of the grandest kind. The great thing about the album is that it sounds coherent from the beginning to the end and has no filler material even though the strongest tracks are probably placed in the beginning such as the memorable experiment with the strange title "Sakala-jana-kAmyAm".

In the end, this is the first record made by Senmuth that truly makes you discover a foreign culture in an authentic way. There are many more albums of that kind to come but this first try is easily among the strongest ones and touches a country that Senmuth didn't touch that often in his discography. It really feels as if he took more time and creativity to create those authentic songs than he did on his previous releases and is intellectually his strongest release of Senmuth's first year of multiple creations. Forget about Bollywood soundtracks or international folk festivals, this release here is all you need for your next curry cook night in candlelight with a beautiful Indian maid.

Originally published on www.metal-archives.com on August 15th of the year 2011.