De Babalon, Christoph

A Bond With Sorrow

Tigerbeat6

MP3 $7.99

04/23/2012 751937518884

MEOW188

Christoph de Babalon’s new album conjures up the spirits of melancholy and romanticism in a cold and shallow world. It’s a powerful opus deserving of its own movie about sad love and the wish to give life sense in the absence of a better future.
We all are filled with hope and dreams of love before realizing the futility of life, and it is at this point that de Babalon stands on razors edge. This album harnesses the energy of heartbreak and despair as fuel to create dramatically beautiful music that finds its power inside darkness.
“Is it possible that existence is our exile and nothingness our home?” (Emile M. Cioran)
A mastery of his tools and over two decades of esoteric knowledge of electronic music is applied throughout the album, managing to implement the best aspects of the ever evolving jungle, breakbeat ambient, and modern bass scenes. Standout tracks like “Into The Shadows”, “Traumspiel” and “A Little Less” seem both familiar and futuristic at the same time.
The beatless “Mist Of Life” and “Hunger” are so deep and well executed they could be performed by a full orchestra and will stay fresh for years to come like classic David Cronenberg.
Most artists live in their own self created world of indulgence and delusion, hoping that the audience will be enticed to hop on board for a fun ride until the next distraction comes along, but very few artists are willing to come face to face with emptiness to transcend this cycle of disposable earcandy.
There is no blank eyed randomly programmed post modern nihilism or desperate hedonism here, just a sonic document of living amongst the ruins and a deep contemplative understanding that the only joy is a past never lived.
The cover artwork just as on Christoph’s previous releases Scylla & Charybdis, A World of My Own and Traumspiel is by British visual artist Ian Liddle.