Peruvian avant-garde percussionist Manongo Mujica is a veteran of various musical scenes since playing in the psychedelic rock band Los Mad's in the 70's.  His newest recordings combine intricate primitivist orchestrations of various percussion instruments combined with elements of dark ambient and folk music.

This album contains some beautiful field recording-based soundscapes, with long, billowing contrails of natural reverb, subterranean and forest atmosphere and general lushness.  Unlike the protracted lengths of many ambient recordings, this album features nine short vignettes, two - six minutes on average.  It utilizes semi-melodic Gamelan percussion, gongs and various other skin drums of all registers amidst the more fluid sounds, for a heavy mystical feeling.

The tracks sometimes climax with moments of heavy drumming and string playing in which the energy level is so high that the album hardly seems to be ambient at all.  Every sound and moment on the recording is a conscious movement in some kind of dynamic arc, a quickly shifting gestural sequence.  Though some of the changes are subtle, it is anything but minimal.  Even in the most ambient passages, new sounds emerge and disappear quite rapidly.  Occasionally, there are big dramatic moments, which I might call cinematic, such as when a crescendo of drums ends suddenly with the sound of a voice grunting "Huh!".

At times Manongo is playing a more traditional drumset, and his skill with odd meters and variation becomes clearly apparent.  The word "ritual" in the title is oft-used, but in this case apt, as his focus is razor sharp and intense.  I am reminded of the esoteric percussion works of Z'EV or the occult-themed John Zorn album "I.A.O.", which included another South American percussionist, Cyro Baptista.

This album has a powerful atmosphere that draws from various indigenous cultures.  Despite likely being arranged and mixed using electronics, every sound on the album seems to be a live recording of some kind, from the huge plethora of instruments used to the natural ambiences recorded.  This results in it feeling convincingly rustic and vintage, and reverent towards its sources.  It would make a magnificent soundtrack to a documentary or historical film.  It is an emotionally rich, dynamic and replayable recording. To find out more