Twelve months after Dødsferd’s Wrath returned to his homeland Crete, G.N.L.S. [Geometric Nictation of Lament’s Space] was created, the newest claustrophobic project between himself and M. Sarvok, with whom he has also worked on Suicide and The Rest Of Your Kind Will Follow pt. II and 2021 Asphyxiating Late Night Sessions: Collaboration with Sarvok by Dødsferd. The result, as far as I’m concerned, has been pretty impressive.
G.N.L.S. – Conspiracy Of Thoughts (FYC Records)
Release Date: Out Now (Digital) – mid-2023 (CD)
Words: Jools Green
The most recent two, this release and Asphyxiating, demonstrate the broad range of their capabilities and imagination and just how far they stretch, to date, because I hope and believe there is still more waiting to be unleashed. Only time will tell.
Wrath explains why they felt compelled to embark on this project, “In the end of 2019, we created a new project, we named it G.N.L.S. (Geometric Nictation of Lament’s Space) in order to satisfy the voices in our heads. Our restless spirits and our long discussions on the constant decay of this world and humanity led us to this bastard creation.”
The six-track, thirty-seven-minute release explores antihuman, anti-cosmic and chaos elements as its sources of inspiration. All lyrics and all main vocals are by Wrath, and all music, backing vocals, guitars, bass, drum programming, samples and sound design are by M. Sarvok.
Beginning with the reflective piano-led instrumental, An Open Wound To Heal The Wreckage Of Humanity, I love how this builds with distorted bursts of bass work and echoing distant indecipherable vocal samples, fading back. It merges into the next piece, Flaming Treasures Of Knowledge And Sin, which follows in a similar mood and style initially, with spoken elements and tortuous vocals turning to acerbic growls as the pace quickens. The intensity of mood becomes more claustrophobic but never quite smothering you, repeatedly ebbing back for another sensory assault. A superb piece that is filled with dark emotion, the mood projected by both the impressive range of voices employed and the musical element becoming darker and more intense, sometimes sonic, as it progresses.
The bleakly named next track, The Youth Of Today, The Corpses Of Tomorrow, opens on the comforting sound of rolling waves and reflectively sparse guitar notes. But it’s not long before the most superbly harrowing, tormented vocals descend upon you, set in the distance alongside spoken elements. The musical element’s intensity builds and ebbs in waves, fading out after a tormented scream. I love this piece. It’s so full of angst, a powerful and decidedly cathartic listen.
Vulnerable Secret begins as one of those wonderful, ambient yet tortuous pieces, a haunting repeating melodic theme, overlaid with soundbites and an impressive range of tormented voices, building gradually in intensity and desperation but never building beyond the oppressively ominous and unnerving, keeping you in suspense right to the end. The video below, for this piece, was created by George Lamprakis (Barking Dog Productions) on behalf of FYC Records in 2020 and is recommended viewing. It’s a brilliantly bizarre, ’50s-style Avant Garde sci-fi style video and suits the music perfectly.
The Frustrating Collapse Of Soul And Body will unnerve the listener from the offset, thanks to the protracted howling scream of pain or despair that this piece begins with and repeats on before expanding into eerie vocal sounds over a simple haunting tune that builds on the guitar elements as it progresses. When the vocals change to echoey whispers and growls, it still has that wonderfully uncomfortable feeling. A brilliant piece with so much going on, yet still managing to feel minimalistic.
The final piece keeps up the eerie mood to the end. The Prosperity Of An Incomplete Burden is a cleverly constructed piece with tortured vocals and screams set behind a haunting dark melody. The echoey reverb on the vocals, as they fade out towards the close, is disquieting, leaving just the unnerving melody played on what sounds like a child’s xylophone. Horrifying yet superb.
Conspiracy Of Thoughts is yet another brilliantly unique work by this hugely talented duo and will be available here.
