Owners Of Knowledge — Punishment For Rebellion

Punishment For Rebellion ( რაჯანყებისთვის სასჯელი) is a three-track album from  Mtskheta, Georgia‘s Owners Of Knowledge, who blend walled noise, dense ambience, and field recordings. As with other recent releases from the project, each of the tracks has a runtime of twenty-five minutes- the sound is set/ fixed

The digital release is on Poland’s Gates Of Hypnos. The cover art is a monochrome picture of what looks like grass/ corn shoots, though it’s difficult to truly make out what it is due to the very heavy contrast.

So first up, we have დუნჯი( Dungeon). Here we find a fairly rapid blend of bass-bound churning/ pummelling, which is surrounded by spinning/ rumbling sub-tones. To me, the whole thing sounds very aquatic, with my mind conjuring up images of underwater footage of either a large speeding boat or a mass of people swimming. There’s quite a mysterious undercurrent(pun intended) to the track- it kept me locked in throughout its full length.

Next is რიული სუნთქვა (Rial Breathing). And this is the most distinctive of the three ‘walls’ here, as it’s built around this almost human voice-like chanting tone, which is a blend of purring hum/ droning, but it’s sped up/ set in its attack. Around this centre, you can just make out this distant blend of repetitive tolling/ringing, and a general rolling /baying quilty. This track again is most hypnotic.

Finally, we have მსვლელობა ( Procession). Here we find a mix of juddering/ thick rumbling bass churn, which is topped off with a line a smaller/ thinner jittering. This track is fine, though maybe not quite as rewarding as the first two, as the bass element feels fairly close to what we got  on the first track.

So, Punishment For Rebellion is another worthy addition to the project's growing back catalogue. To find out more/ give it a play- go here