Plague Recordings : 2009
Format: CD

With previous releases, Martin of Wicked Messenger has explored a style of Dark Ambient that has steered clear of the far too often very insincere sounding, plastic gloominess and darkness so many musicians in the same playground strive for. Neither has Martin toyed with overt ritualistic elements or sought to add a tacked-on sense of mysticism by reciting over-used ritualistic verses or whatnot. In a nutshell, Martin has concentrated on creating good music without caring for going with the flow. Usually the results have been outstanding, but as proved by some of my reviews here on Plague House of Martins’ work, not all have been entirely to my taste. This was an attempt to prove that I'm not totally biased, but you're free to think otherwise if you wish to.

Vision Rites… is a departure from the soundscapes of for example The River Disappeared Sidewards; the cosmic, Aniara-like moods and the waves of sound that echoed the vast expanses of void between celestial bodies with a strange yet (and even more strangely) appropriate warmth are gone. I do not know if I am alone with this feeling, but to me, Vision Rites is the coldest and most desolate material by Wicked Messenger to date; even colder and more desolate than Black Tourmaline, which is saying something. Already the photograph on the cover and the one in the booklet take the listeners mind to where the music will take the listeners soul: into the rotting, putrid and teeming jungles of South America, where the now-abandoned ruins of old Aztec and Maya-pyramids rise above the trees. The listener is taken on a journey through the crumbling hallways of these temples and graves, where time has ravaged the mystic symbols on the walls and the jungle is quickly invading and breaking down what once were holy buildings. But on the journey the listener will find out that the temples are not abandoned completely: the voices of long-gone spirits and forgotten gods whisper dark secrets and their memories of long-gone ages of glory directly into the listeners’ soul, and through the mist the listener can almost see and feel the past when the spirits of those ancient buildings received fresh human sacrifice regularly. The sensations are ones of lost glory, falling into abandon and of being lost to the ages; the powerless anger and pain of forgotten entities that long for their past glory but are doomed to silently dwindle away and decay into nothingness over millennia. It’s cold, desolate and bleak, with distant memories of an age of power and glory.

To me, Vision Rites… isn’t quite as good as The River, and depending on the day and the mood, either an equal to or just a tad below Black Tourmaline. Perhaps it is again a wrongful impression, but to me Vision Rites… sounds a bit more minimalistic than many of Martin’s previous works, or perhaps it is just that the music is harder to get a grasp on than before; certainly, at least I found it considerably harder to get into Vision Rites than Martin’s previous releases. This time around, there is a ritualistic tinge to the music, but not to the point where it would dominate the music too much; to me at least, Vision Rites is, as previous works, still a journey to embark upon rather than an invocation to recite or a ritual to perform. Qualitatively, Vision Rites... is in no significant manner a huge departure from previous releases; it's more a matter of what appeals to you personally more, and to me it's the astral mysticism of The River more than Vision Rites, but purely qualitatively Martin has not let us down with what is on offer on Vision Rites.

Those who have liked Wicked Messengers’ previous releases will need no recommendations from me to buy this latest release, but even so: highly recommended to friends of older releases. However, be prepared for a slightly different Wicked Messenger this time around. Those as of yet unfamiliar with Wicked Messenger would do, in my opinion at least, well to check out the aforementioned The River Disappeared Sidewards before acquiring Vision Rites… but if you dig it, then yes, by all means, get this one as well.

Websites: virb.com/wickedmessenger | myspace.com/wickedmessengermusic