Razen Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield 4 Items

Razen's Postcards From Hereafter was recorded using a 17th century organ tuned at 398 Hz (meantone) in a Belgian cathedral erected in 1305. The ensemble explored, with rich results, the organ's strict and limiting tuning with an arrangement that included hurdy gurdy, recorders, chalumeau, violone and nyckelharpa.

The pieces on Postcards From Hereafter explore the crossover between this world and the next with improvised spiritual, religious music.

Brussels-based ensemble Razen use the unique timbral and drone characteristics of their chosen string and wind instruments in improvised, instinctive music that mixes pre-industrial, spectral and ethnic dreamtones with trance and medieval mysticism. The group includes Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour as well as Pieter Lenaerts on 5-string double bass and sarangi, Paul Garriau on hurdy-gurdy, David Poltrock on ondes-Marthenot, Berlinde Deman on serpent and Jean-Philippe Poncin on chalumeau and bass clarinet.

“an intoxicating sauce of stark and tripped out ritual music... which conspires to keep listeners in a semi-permanent trance state” Julian Cope / Head Heritage

“a heady brew of deep listening music that is almost medieval in mood and wholly reverential in technique” Edwin Pouncey / Wire Magazine

“Razen push the drone potential of medieval instruments like hurdy gurdy as well as shawm and recorders... into realms of total sensory overload” David Keenan / Volcanic Tongue

Razen is the collective consciousness of core members Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour, who since 2010 have realized themselves through virtuoistic and highly expressive improvisations with lesser-heard instruments. Experimenting with repetition of tones through controlled breathing and phrasing, Razen arrive at a synesthetic playground of auditory textures and colorful imagery.

The ensemble is carefully orchestrated for every occasion with the intent and desire to escape to environments unbeknownst to them, taking shelter in the fleeting ego-dissolving moments that arise, whether divine or disturbing. While the formula of instrumentation and like-minded peers may appear mundane on paper, it’s Brecht and Kim’s outlook and imagination beyond musical references that’s the immeasurable catalyst to their peculiar pursuits. Conversations about paintings, books, or films ultimately manifest themselves into live performances or album recordings - with the philosophy of embracing playfulness and exploration through the lens of a child’s eye.

Only six collaborators have been invited to their inner circle to date. This is mainly attributed to the rarity of finding spiritual counterparts that are seeking freedom outside the confines of written musical scores. Trading notes and rhythms for strokes and color, the band embodies emotive and meditative drones that demand a deep listening state. Joined by Will Guthrie and Paul Garriau, Razen venture into their vision of Arcadia through Regression, proudly presented by Marionette. On this album, Brecht Ameel turns to his trusty prepared harmonium and celesta, while Kim Delcour controls air and breath on various wind and reed instruments. Featuring Will Guthrie on tuned and melodic percussion (timpani, glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone), the recordings have a distinct flow and fluid movement when compared to some of Razen’s previous works where rhythm is taking a backseat. Hurdy-gurdy specialist, Paul Garriau, plays accompanying melodies and drones on Moon, Aether and Nebula.

The album's earthly elements deal with survival, timelessness, and simplicity; such as the life affirming rewards of finding refuge and the wonders of observing the interstellar. The unearthly elements pitch this narrative into the realm of mythology and superstition, in the hopes of trying to understand our primeval universe and thrive in the unknown. Regression also addresses Razen’s fascination with inhospitable places and how to adapt to the sorrows that come with this sort of brutalism. The resulting destination is a mind and time bending zone - one that can be reached by riding sound waves that transcend the past, future, and present.'

Razen on this occasion is: Brecht Ameel: harmonium, celesta Kim Delcour: winds, reeds Will Guthrie: percussion Paul Garriau: hurdy-gurdy on Moon, Aether, and Nebula

Mastered and cut by Noel Summerville Artwork by Scott Daniel Ellison Recorded July 2020 in two days at two locations Wood, River, Trout, and Sleep: recorded by Christophe Albertijn Moon, Aether, and Nebula: recorded by Niels Latomme

Long after the year 4000, it's highly likely the sun will shine a different light. Equatorial rain belts may have turned into white-ash flotsam. Animal forms will have undergone a major metamorphosis, with only the memories of danger still archaically intact.

Razen tackle the theme of reincarnation hypnosis on Hier L'an 4000, their new album for Hands In The Dark, set for release September '23. Inspired by the writings of Donoso and Slauerhoff, by 1940s SF drawings, sky burials and a fantasy of future music where savagery and sophistication meet, Razen here channel a reverse mesozoic exotica. The music leans on sampled hand percussion (by grace of the legendary Algerian percussionist Abdelmajid Guemguem), augmented by Razen's trademark devotional approach on early music wind instruments and pre-digital keys and synths, each of the 4 tracks falling down its own rabbit hole of repetition and change. Trance-walking in a future of magenta night skies, toxic radiation and hostile flora, the Brussels-based ensemble has never sounded more extatic or disruptive.

Hier L'An 4000 features artwork by contemporary British painter Nicholas William Johnson, who previously collaborated with Razen for his science fiction short film They Regard Us As We Regard Them.