Vidna Obmana — Dante Trilogy

Dante Trilogy is the next in the series of reissues of the albums from the important/ influential European ambient project Vidna Obmana by Poland’s Zoharum. As its title suggests it’s a three-album/ CD set- bringing together the following early 2000 albums- Tremor, Spore, and Legacy- all originally released by Release Entertainment, the Sub-label of Relapse Records for ambient, noise, and experimental works.  The vibe over all three albums is decidedly darkly eastern & mysterious- with use of ethnic to eerily dissonating percussive elements.

The three discs come presented in an eight-panel fold digipak. This takes in on its back & front cover a moodily monochrome picture of what looks like a frost-touched strap over aged wood. With dull gold boxes featuring the various texts related to the three albums- as well as quotes from Dante’s inferno. It’s a simple, but very effective-looking package- which nicely enhances the feeling of dark timeliness running through all three of the albums featured here.

So first up we have Tremor- this was originally released in September of 2001. It features eleven tracks- which have runtimes between three and just over eight minutes. We move from “Mindtunnel” with its mix of stripped-back-but-eerily detailed ethnic percussion and broodingly waving flute-like tones.  Onto steady-yet-ghostly drum battering rhythms meets the darkly swelling string-like ambience of the title track. Through to the soothing disorientation of “Descent” with its hazy layer-like shift- which hints at warble, shimmer, and scrape. The whole album really brought to my mind walking the shadowy corridors of an ancient pyramid- as leathery unseen snakes slither, nocturnal insect life scuttles, and maybe even the dead & wrapped human inhabitancy of the place decide to come back to life.

Disc number two takes in Spore- this was originally released in January 2003. It takes in nine tracks- with runtimes of three to seventeen minutes. We go dripping ‘n’ snapping percussion meets buzzing bass line of “Skin Strip” which is underfed by lightly gliding & shadowy ambient simmer.  Onto the tight ‘n’ clipped electro pitter-patter meets drifting & warbling unease of “Creep- Isolation Trip”. Through to the gloomy bass ebbs and creepy guitar picking of the title track.  This album feels less about forming a connected sonic picture, and more about creating separate snapshots of ambient unease, and subtle beat-bound atmospherics.

Finally, we of course have Legacy- this was first released in October of 2004. It’s made up of eight tracks- which have runtimes of between two and eight minutes. We move from the steady almost electro-rock-like drumbeats, shimmer & hazing ambient tones, and broodingly gliding bass lines of “Torment And Resolution”. Through to distant warbling horn unease, stripped back shuffling ‘n’ sliding percussion, and backwards tone disquiet of “The Virtual Insomnia”. Through to the gloomy unease and circling eerier disquieting of the title track- which blends together recycled bass guitar hover, and atmospheric guitar scaping. Of the three albums I’d say Legacy is the most sonically varied from track to track, we also get a few guests too like vocals from Steve Von Till on one track, and guitar from Steven Wilson on another track.

As a whole, I’d say that Dante Trilogy features some of Vidna Obmana’s most approachable, at times darkly majestic work. So this would be a most excellent inroad/ introduction to the project's discography. I can’t imagine this set has got a huge pressing- so I’d most certainly act sooner rather than later to get your hands on this set. Simply put another great addition to this reissue series, and three great early 2000s ambient-electronic albums. Do drop by here to find out more/ pick up directly from the label.