Siavash Amini — Serus
The word "Serus" itself, has Latin origins & means - too late. And so it fits nicely into the theme of the album: Namely the night and all its different definitions.
After hearing the individual pieces, you can clearly hear that Serus is a deeply emotional work for Amini. Tonally, he subtly recounts his own negative experiences of sleepless nights, fears, and even a nervous breakdown that took him into hospital for a few days. Fortunately, Serus doesn't only focus on the depressing, dark sides of the night but also the beautiful and inspiring elements.
I have only heard one of Amini's earlier work 2018's Foras and from a purely subliminal point of view, the individual layers seem familiar and reassuring in their barren beauty. But Serus is not just a simple retread of the sound found on Foras. What was loud and extreme on Foras became more introverted and thoughtful in the new work: Electronics, violin, and bass - merged into a composition of creeping sound.
The opener "A Recollection Of The Disappeared" drags us into the dark, depressing night that separates our minds from the body. After the first half of the piece the atmosphere calms down with the addition of violin (played by Nima Aghiani) and subliminal bass (played by Pouya Pour) leading us back to the safety of our dreams ...
The second piece "Semblance" awaits us with some beautiful ambient textures slowly displacing the rattling drones, as well as some hard synthetic layers that rise like little beacons against the darkness, saving the lost souls out of the mist of dreams.
"All That Remained" is the final two-piece set on the second side- it's is full of daring mood and fears of almost crumbling darkness... Through squeaky noises and echoing drones, the piece reinforces and encourages us to face all the shadows in the night.
Originally, with this release Siavash Amini wanted to explore what the night was exactly, but with the four compositions, he succeeded more than just focused sonic darkness. Serus presents us with four long forgotten and not always harmless sonic adventures- that are worth taking again & again.