Umbilicus Maris
Not very far from this shore of which we have spoken, towards the western side, on which the ocean main lies open without end, is that very deep abyss of waters which we call 'the navel of the sea'. It is said twice a day to suck the waves into itself and spew them out again." - Paulus Diaconus (Historia gentis Langobardorum)
Umbilicus Maris
We are happy to announce the release on Belgium label Mystery Sea of Gydja's Umbilicus Maris. This release is limited to 100 individually numbered copies with the usual impressive artwork that Mystery Sea has become known for; and i have to say, it's great to not have to do your own artwork... though it kinda looks like what i would have done, am i right, kids?
01. Beyond The Earth's Edge
02. The Wave, With Red Stain Running
03. Snakestone
04. A Siren Stood Hymning Upon Each Circle
05. Cold Water Flowing Forth
Their press release states: On "umbilicus maris", Gydja drags us along a quest for a lost mythic world beyond frontier...
After a dazed drift in a foggy mangrove,
we reach an unmapped region of concentric superimposing circles
& endless ripples
preparing us for a sheer descent into murky waters...
adorning the dive,
huge, drowned thousand years stones
seem to betray an ancient ceremony,
a passage through Time
to a supreme Essence...
Small lights flicker in the cold current,
and thoughts snake along the moss walls
whispering lunar tales...
immersed in this strange universe, we grow
in constant mutation
at the mercy of the waves
towards a better Self...
And who are we to argue with that? Personal interpretations aside (and it doesn't seem that far off), the album, in some ways, reiterates a theme that i've been exploring in my music for years: the division between this world and Hela's. In this instance, though, the journey is a complete one, not simply dancing on the boundaries, and takes that trip through the aquatic route of Hvergelmir and other instances of the gurges mirabilis or horrenda caribdis. The titles are a mixture of Norse kennings and excerpts from Platonist hymns; being somewhat indebted to the work of Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend.
Sound samples and ordering infomation is available from Mystery Sea
***
Interbreeding IX: Kuru
Also out now is the latest installment of BLC Production's Interbreeding compilation series, this time based around the theme of the Kuru disease found amongst the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea. Gydja have contributed six tracks to this release, along with artwork on the same themes (but not the cover art i must add). Not since Skinny Puppy has their been such strong vegetarian music on an industrial compilation, as i took the opportunity to look at the way in which prion diseases (such as the Kuru-like CJD) and the subsequent rise of alzheimers are almost karmic retribution for the mass methods of beef production, particularly in North America, and its attendant religion of meat eating. So, amongst the spooky samples talking about cannibals is a message, or something. Other acts on the two disc set include: Kubix, Viscera Drip, Boundless, Xentrifuge, Werstahl, Prototype, Dvation, Statik Sky, Alien Produkt, Function13, Zauber, The Panic Lift, Stark, Homicide Division, Stigmata, Frightdoll, Cyanide Regime, Run Level Zero, XP8, Asseptic Room, Engelmacher, and Slayv Axis. No, i don't know who half those bands are either.
Available from BLC and sure to sell out as quickly as the previous installment did.
Oh, and Gydja, now with myspace powers: http://www.myspace.com/gydjaa
(The extra A is for "ahhh, fuck, some Christian from Iceland has nicked me name already.")
Umbilicus Maris
We are happy to announce the release on Belgium label Mystery Sea of Gydja's Umbilicus Maris. This release is limited to 100 individually numbered copies with the usual impressive artwork that Mystery Sea has become known for; and i have to say, it's great to not have to do your own artwork... though it kinda looks like what i would have done, am i right, kids?
01. Beyond The Earth's Edge
02. The Wave, With Red Stain Running
03. Snakestone
04. A Siren Stood Hymning Upon Each Circle
05. Cold Water Flowing Forth
Their press release states: On "umbilicus maris", Gydja drags us along a quest for a lost mythic world beyond frontier...
After a dazed drift in a foggy mangrove,
we reach an unmapped region of concentric superimposing circles
& endless ripples
preparing us for a sheer descent into murky waters...
adorning the dive,
huge, drowned thousand years stones
seem to betray an ancient ceremony,
a passage through Time
to a supreme Essence...
Small lights flicker in the cold current,
and thoughts snake along the moss walls
whispering lunar tales...
immersed in this strange universe, we grow
in constant mutation
at the mercy of the waves
towards a better Self...
And who are we to argue with that? Personal interpretations aside (and it doesn't seem that far off), the album, in some ways, reiterates a theme that i've been exploring in my music for years: the division between this world and Hela's. In this instance, though, the journey is a complete one, not simply dancing on the boundaries, and takes that trip through the aquatic route of Hvergelmir and other instances of the gurges mirabilis or horrenda caribdis. The titles are a mixture of Norse kennings and excerpts from Platonist hymns; being somewhat indebted to the work of Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend.
Sound samples and ordering infomation is available from Mystery Sea
***
Interbreeding IX: Kuru
Also out now is the latest installment of BLC Production's Interbreeding compilation series, this time based around the theme of the Kuru disease found amongst the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea. Gydja have contributed six tracks to this release, along with artwork on the same themes (but not the cover art i must add). Not since Skinny Puppy has their been such strong vegetarian music on an industrial compilation, as i took the opportunity to look at the way in which prion diseases (such as the Kuru-like CJD) and the subsequent rise of alzheimers are almost karmic retribution for the mass methods of beef production, particularly in North America, and its attendant religion of meat eating. So, amongst the spooky samples talking about cannibals is a message, or something. Other acts on the two disc set include: Kubix, Viscera Drip, Boundless, Xentrifuge, Werstahl, Prototype, Dvation, Statik Sky, Alien Produkt, Function13, Zauber, The Panic Lift, Stark, Homicide Division, Stigmata, Frightdoll, Cyanide Regime, Run Level Zero, XP8, Asseptic Room, Engelmacher, and Slayv Axis. No, i don't know who half those bands are either.
Available from BLC and sure to sell out as quickly as the previous installment did.
Oh, and Gydja, now with myspace powers: http://www.myspace.com/gydjaa
(The extra A is for "ahhh, fuck, some Christian from Iceland has nicked me name already.")