Experimental composer Jason Köhnen has always had a knack for interesting, off-the-beaten-path dark music. From his work with MANSUR and The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble to his new solo outing, The Lovecraft Sextet, Köhnen has always presented dark music in a different way. On The Lovecraft Sextet’s new album Miserere, he continues that exploration via a 40-minute, six-track opus that uses synthesizers, ominous jazz and whisper-howled vocals to create what is best described as a noir soundtrack.
Köhnen explains the album’s concept better than this death metal enthusiast ever could:
“There are two angles in how I approached writing the album. Firstly, taking the concept of Psalm 51, and translating this to create my own prayers of repentance. It needed to omit a sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere, and reflect the sound of burning heretics. The lyrics are naturally also derived from Psalm 51, also known as the penitential psalms. Fascinating to have a concept that inflicts punishment on oneself as an expression of repentance for wrongdoing, I found this a marvelous starting point for composing music with which I could reflect my personal thoughts on the concept in question. Secondly, I wanted to continue my explorations into the realms of Darkjazz. Having experimented with the subgenre for nearly 20 years now, this needed to be the darkest of the dark. A music piece written for inquisitions.
“I purposely did not want distorted guitars as the foundation to the tapestry of the music, but it did need something similar, so I worked to create the menacing synth that replaces the typical guitar distortion. This also gives the album it’s signature sound, and the synth is a bit more flexible for creating specific atmospheres. I wanted to produce an album that is incomparable with any other album, and I’m quite satisfied that it reached a certain level of originality. All in all, the overall atmosphere has managed to create a pretty interesting musical landscape. Tomás de Torquemada would surely have approved.“
The Lovecraft Sextet aren’t due to release Miserere until October 7, but Decibel has an advance stream that you can listen to right now. Pre-orders are available through Debemur Morti.
