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http://lnk.spkr.media/illudium-ash-of-the-womb
'Sempervirens' represents the salient connection between human and non-human worlds. It was written during the devastating wildfires that California has endured these last couple of years, and is an attempt at transmuting some feelings of horror and sadness into ideas of reverence and refuge, which these coastal giants (sequoia sempervirens) embody so well. Ash and light fell from the sky, and amidst all this fear and dispiritedness, there was a gleaming newness in the emergence of life all around. Growing up in the Redwoods, these forests were always a haven, ever verdant and brimming with sentient beings. We are not removed from our environment, as we are so defined as humans. Nor is nature rendered mute and revoked of agency, as many systems have led us to believe. It is through our actions with other-than humans and one another that we are woven into continuity, regenerating the world and all of its inter-relationships. This song seeks to imagine a different sort of flourishing in this world beyond the human in which we live, and is a harbinger of hope during these apocalyptic times.
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"Ash of the Womb", the sophomore full-length from California's ILLUDIUM was born in the fiery pandemonium of the burning season of 2020 when huge tracts of the sunshine state went up in flames, while skies glowed orange at night. The many layers of dark and harsh metal shading on this album can easily be seen as a residue from those events. Yet the listener will still encounter those sun-drenched textures and honey-rich passages from the band's beginning on "Septem" (2016) that reflect the beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest with its redwood forests and the blue ocean that also inspire ILLUDIUM. Mastermind Shantel Amundson spent her formative years listening to SMASHING PUMPKINS, ISIS, KATE BUSH, and COCTEAU TWINS among many others, which makes it difficult to pin her own music down. While "Ash of the Womb" clearly builds on and expands "Septem", the new album intensifies the darker and heavier elements, which results in a more dynamic and holistic musical experience that ILLUDIUM elegantly balance against their dreamy and sophisticated side. Taking their name from a concept coined by Mircae Eliade, ILLUDIUM can be seen as the musical embodiment of the religious philosopher's idea of "illud tempus" ("that time"), which is referring to the mythical sacred time of the first creation of this world. With a degree in cultural anthropology and art history, it is hardly surprising that Shantel's lyrics revolve around mystical and metaphysical ideas. With "Ash of the Womb", ILLUDIUM have created an equally heavier, darker and yet more honey-combed vision of their musical exploration that gently asks for extra attention and diligent listening before revealing its true depths.
