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Dean De Benedictis and Deborah Martin are artists who look inside themselves deeply to create work which aspires to inspire higher thoughts in others. As the duo Desensitized their Chaos in Premonition (63'20") succeeds in this enterprise, but may take some getting used to. Deepening the relationship first founded on Hemispherica Portalis (2020) their second collaboration finds De Benedictis & Martin back together building nine additional original transportive fantasies of strange proportions and primeval ambience. The all-embracing sense of beauty and fragility remains, yet somehow this succeeding effort comes across more tenebrous. While one track will challenge with its vast weirdness, others will shock with their perfection. These highly self-styled soundscapes feature mesmerizing figures, forms and color - plenty of wonderful welcome details to grant you entry. Restless meditations shape sound into textures - the atmosphere combining and dividing in fascinating ways. As low drones roll out beneath faint synth chords a sustaining mood arises - resolving soon in an ambient sigh. Time seems suspended. Even under a ticking clock or sacramental drums there is very little in the way to mark rhythm or measure tempo, no landmarks or signposts to indicate direction, or certain tonal center to steady us - leaving the listener to find only themselves within this swirling sonic sphere. For some the effect is surreal, stretching the boundaries of the world while zooming in on the details that matter most, while for others Chaos in Premonition will offer a beautifully unanswered question - a realization which refuses to provide a definitive interpretation, but which we are fully equipped to comprehend. Anyone struck by the intrigue found while driven along paths darker than they foresaw will enjoy this release. Chaos in Premonition is a statement album from musicians with something distinct to say. Yet their work is never finished, only on hold, waiting to take flight again in their next creative session.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 20 October 2022 |
