Darja Kazimira is a Latvian ritual ambient artist, from Georgia. Here’s the project's first album- which has just been remastered and reissued by Cyclic Law, following an unofficial release in 2016. 

Monochromia leans heavily towards that death ritual concept, based on the life and work of Kazimira’s great-grandfather, who devoted his life to serving the ceremonial process of death. Furthermore, Kazimira was inspired by ancient Greek literature and tragedies.  

There is a very specific focus in Greek history and folk tradition on the act of funeral ritual and requiem, especially if the deceased followed Christian Orthodox dogma. As a Greek person, I have witnessed the whole process with things getting heavier and more apocalyptic in rural and remote areas. Prior to Christianity, Thanatos was the personification of death in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Thanatos was the son of Nyx, the goddess of night and the brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep.  Greeks believed that at the moment of death, the psyche, or spirit of the dead, left the body as a little breath or puff of wind. The deceased was then prepared for burial according to the time-honoured rituals. 

The album reveals all its shades of darkness and agony instantly, from the beginning to the end, without any needless colourization. The atmosphere is suffocating and lustful at the same time. The conceptualization of the music captures the ear instantly, within an eerie and ritualistic sonic landscape, burdened by the stench of death and the martyrdom of those who stayed behind. Graves are still open and soil is moisturized by the tears of loved ones. 

The album is a  fine example of ritualistic music within the ambient form. With elements of  Dead Can Dance from Toward The Within era, a  more trimmed version of Diamanda Galás from Saint Of The Pit era, with hints of the likes of Troum or Inade. Kazimira incorporates these references- adding her own delicate, sophisticated and beautiful touches. She has a mesmerizing and crushing voice, embracing everything in solid arms! Aesthetically Monochromia is oriented mainly to the western vocal tradition (hence the Dead Can Dance reference),  but touches of oriental elements are present too. 

A megalith of dark/ritual ambient music, the lyrical pessimism and the purgatorial chants, are emancipating the ideas behind Monochromia and transforming them into an astonishing and mournful work of sonic art.