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Dirk Serries and Fear Falls Burning: Moody Guitar Drones

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Throughout his long musical career, Dirk Serries has gone by many names. As vidnaObmana he crafted ambient soundscapes of a moody nature. As Fear Falls Burning he creates drones that are aggressive yet transcendental. Whatever his persona, though, he is dedicated to generating soundscapes that touch the soul.

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DIRK SERRIES: Microphonics I-V (CD on Tonefloat)

This CD from 2010 offers 49 minutes of dreamy drones.

While this music was never intended for release, functioning more for Serries as a means for rehearsing and developing ideas, he later realized that these pieces reveal his compositional process in a pristine manner. These aspects are as readily evident to listeners, exposing his Fear Falls Burning tuneage in pure models that are quite capable of standing alone.

Basically: soothing guitar experimentations coexists with background tonalities, achieving a dreamy resonance whose beauty is undeniable.

First the guitars are processed and looped to produce luscious sustains that undulate like furry serpents. By layering these treated chords, an interweaving tapestry of delicate sound is actualized.

Superimposing these writhing tendrils of sound over auxiliary tonalities results in a depth that magnifies their initial elegance. The air is transformed into a glutinous ambrosia which serves as an aerial stage for the serene majesty generated by the swaying guitar treatments.

The simplicity of this music literally exposes the melodies' soul, revealing in great intimacy new depths derived from the sparse sonics. As each chord undergoes shifting currents, the fundamental harmonic unfolds without apparent expansion.

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FEAR FALLS BURNING: Woes of the Desolate Mourner (CD on Tonefloat)

This release from 2010 offers 69 minutes of live processed guitar drones.

Fear Falls Burning is Dirk Serries. He plays an Epiphone Les Paul Standard in relation to Contemporary Boss, Danelecxtro and Marshall Effects effects.

There are two tracks here...

The first piece is 20 minutes long and was recorded live at Extrapool in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, on October 7, 2006.

A languid opening eventually musters some teeth in the form of subdued buzzing textures. These tonalities gradually adopt some substance as wobbly edges manage to convey a sense of anticipation. Auxiliary elements in the form of sighing drones enter the flow, delineating a lead layer that takes up position between the listener and the backdrop drones. A vibratory presence haunts these lead tones, an eerie impression that is displayed by additional sounds that sally forth to join the airy mix. Guitar chords are bent and processed to achieve a swaying progression, bestowing introspective evocations to what would otherwise be a melancholic mien.

The second piece is 49 minutes long and was recorded live at Sju Jazz Podium, in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, on January 26, 2006.

Here, recognizable guitar chords are allowed to periodically sneak through and linger against an ethereal foundation. As the piece continues, sustains and looping are applied to the chords, warping the notes into otherworldly resonance. Hints of melody float through the harmonic mix as the notes mutate into grinding drones that deftly approximate a sense of woe. As the piece progresses, density is achieved with the drones marshalling force and volume. At a halfway point, a lull ensues, soon followed up by coherent guitar strumming...and the mutation process commences anew, contorting those chords into growling drones thick with serious puissance.

If you find you've taken too much Prozac, this music will return you to a state of maudlin sobriety.

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FEAR FALLS BURNING: The Rainbow Mirrors a Burning Heart (CD on Tonefloat)

This CD from 2010 offers 71 minutes of manipulated guitar drones.

Fear Falls Burning is Dirk Serries. He plays an Epiphone Les Paul Standard in relation to Contemporary Boss, Danelecxtro and Marshall Effects effects.

Portions of this music were released on a limited edition vinyl album in 2006. This CD reissue features a 33 minute bonus track.

The first two tracks were recorded live at Kulturbunker Mulheim, in Koln, Germany, on October 13, 2005.

Track 1: Guitar chords are processed and sustained to outrageous proportions, generating expansive drones that adopt pulsating textural formations akin to dark clouds. Additional aspects enter the mix, tenuous in character and tempering the flow with softer elements. These auxiliary drones achieve an airier character, contributing a swaying presence to the murky auralscape. Notably, this music bears little resemblance to conventional guitar stylings, often sounding more like organ rumblings.

Track 2: Here, the textural drones are softer, initially gentler and more ethereal. But as the piece progresses, the overall timbre grows darker and grittier with the introduction of guttural guitar embellishments. These new factors manifest as fuzzy growlings that resound as from a subterranean vantage. Metallic scrapings merge with feedback to endow the soundscape with eerie punctuations. This mixture of coarse roars and vaporous drones achieves a spooky bearing that becomes quite enthralling.

Track 3: a bonus track, a previously unreleased studio recording from 2005. Rising from a muted perspective, crisp tones indulge in languid oscillations which gradually swell in volume until they are joined by additional pulsations. A hissy presence creeps in, establishing a foundation of irritated snakes lurking just beneath the main flow. That flow eventually marshals more definition, flourishing into elongated guitar chords of a smoldering luster. Solitary notes sparkle amid the gloomy mien, lending a hint of conventional tuneage that remains suitably mired by the aspirating drones. Everything undergoes an extended deceleration leading to a soft conclusion.

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