1. It Is Fine
2. Karma
3. Black Hat
4. Wine And Cross
5. Black Umbrella
Free download:
https://ek4t3.bandcamp.com/album/seblack-karma
SeBlack is an alias of Sebastián Quiroga from Chille. His latest EP (4th this year) found its home on Ek4t3, the ever-growing online collective of artists and producers spread all over the world. "Karma", clocking at just under 19 minutes long, took me completely by surprise and blew me away. Not knowing what to expect, as this was my first encounter with SeBlack, I was immediately immersed in his sonic world constructed AND deconstruced over those five tracks.
Intricate textures and shattering bass of the opening track "It Is Fine" bring to mind the soundscapes present on Lorn's "Remnant" album, but with a nostalgic, almost 80s-like twist. The track feels equally familiar and distant, full of hope and artificial coldness, quite similar to sonic explorations of Atilla The Hvn on last year's "The Secret Doctrine" techno pagan masterpiece. "Karma" starts with a heavy dose of synthesized suspense, in the vein of Oneohtrix Point Never's OSTs for "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems", before morphing into a full-blown mutated witch house transmission. Similar approach continues on "Black Hat", but with a slower tempo and more spacious atmospheres, resembling a bit the captivating field recordings from DeepChord's "Liumin" LP. Dreampunk ambience and drones take over the next track, gradually contributing to the uneasy feeling of being faced with a crushing wall of sound, that slowly approaches the listener before disintegrating towards the end. "Black Umbrella" closes the record with a comforting vocal sample layered over a rainy post-dubstep composition.
Overall, the EP may serve as a perfect soundtrack to a dystopian, alien and forgotten world. It might feel scary and strange at first, but with each listen it becomes more and more familiar, and eventually leaves us with a glimmer of hope and a desire for more.