Continuum by Inner Vision Laboratory

Inner Vision Laboratory | Continuum
Zoharum (CD/DL)

Karol Skrzypiec‘s vision starts with a narrative about the psychological challenges in the purpose of life, but goes outside the realm with futuristic themes in A Perception Redefined. This is a synthesis of sci-fi soundtracks, a new age twist and open-ended ambient. It’s hazy in this embryonic stasis of his creation.

Along the way he employs croaking effects over silky synths, gurgling over splashing waves, and excessive atmosphere blended from patches and strings, never overburdening the listening experience. The pace is between tranquil and en garde, imbued with looped sonic pulsations and a graceful sense of calm. The lush fully unfolded cover art image by Sabina Leska puts us above the clouds (that look like polar icecaps in a Southwestern sunset), perfectly complementing its contents.

On Hollow is where we sense a distant dread of sorts. The tonal range shifts only a few thin shades towards the dark, and with it has a quasi mid-Eastern theme. The squiggly harmony assuages the forthcoming storm. The calm turns towards a dramatic fusion of leary effects and latent melody on The Night Stays, the peculiar highlight of this record. The strings are elongated, engaged as piano keys seem to play almost as if disembodied. It’s more elusive than creepy, and everything seems drenched in a thick viscose substance.

In the final stages of Continuum tracks like Concealed seem ripped directly from the pages of Eno’s ‘Ambient‘ series, one of those strangely familiar tracks you think you have heard before. The sound pivots back to the first few tracks here, more of an open air set of cadences that infuse the space with drone. On Ended Skrzypiec’s piano playing meets electric guitar, with tiny surges, dancing ’round each other and offering a sound akin to shoegaze glitter. Far more analogue than anything else on the rest of this full-length its stride quickens and dies down in a glorious wash of rhythm and twang, all reminiscent of the culminating scene of a noir thriller.