raison d'être – Mise En Abyme

Cold Meat Industry has died. I mean it was writhing in agony for many months, only now this fact we were aware of for a long time has been officially confirmed. To be honest, I thought that Raison d’être – one of the musicians that remained faithful to Cold Meat until its very end – would rather go to Cyclic Law, a harbour where other famous fugitives like Arcana or Desiderii Marginis have already anchored. On the contrary Peter found his new place under the wings of the Germans from Drone/Transgredient.

Under these colors the new outcome of the Swede, “Mise en Abyme”, has recently seen the light of the day. The project has been active for more than twenty years; my adventure with it is just a little bit shorter… Our romance has had its ups and downs. Peter began with the synth laments of ” Après Nous Le Deluge” or “Prospectus I”. These sounds eventually got old, it’s hard for me to listen to them anymore. Then the golden era arrived, a few albums filled with a solemn, sacred atmosphere coated with rust. The crowning achievement of this period was “The Empty Hollow Unfolds”, one of the most beautiful dark ambient releases in the history of the genre. Yet the next release, so anticipated by me back in the day, “Requiem For Abandoned Souls” was harshly disappointing. It was the poor, boring remains of its predecessor. On “Metamorphyses” a wider range of industrial inclinations came to the fore; the album surely had its moments, but overall I wasn’t too enthused. I was willing to give the project up when the year 2009 came. And along with it “The Stains Of The Embodied Sacrifice”; a sensational album in every way, as if Peter had finally found the golden means to balance all the aforementioned elements in an ideal manner. There was dignity and dirt. Melancholy and gloom.

Five years have ed and we have “Mise En Abyme”. Can’t say I wasn’t waiting for this one. Would it be an eternal return, a fall from a high horse the hooves of which would kick me in the face? Or a sealing of the fact that Raison d’être is simply one of the best projects in the genre? Today I can say that the second option is in force. “Mise En Abyme” is perhaps not the best Raison d’être album, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the most beautiful releases I’ve had the opportunity to engage with during the past several months. The concept is based on the cleansing of the inner self through a journey into its deepest regions. Carried by the sounds, the listener explores his subconscious and reaches the heart of darkness. After experiencing it, he’s ready to return to the light.

We go deep down into the void in the first composition, “Abyssos”. It quickly becomes clear that Peter intends to continue the direction taken on “The Stains Of The Embodied Sacrifice”, as this slowly evolving composition combines mournful and solemn drones and the metallic beast, Shrike crushing anything that gets in his way. When the silence comes to and the following sounds, the echoes of sacred choirs, fade into the abyss, I’m starting to feel just like I did more than a dozen years ago, when first experiencing the music of Raison d’être. I have the impression that Peter also felt those vibes from the past while composing “Mise En Abyme”. After all, time is a flat circle.

The second scene of the album is “Infernos” filled with sombre murmurs, noises and rustles that wane in the cruel iron cacophony – the listener suffers in agony, spiked on the branch of a steel tree. This pain, however, leads straight to purification. It’s one of the strongest pieces Peter has composed within the frames of his main project. At a push one could place “Infernos” on a Bocksholm album for example.

But how insanely beautiful those Greek Orthodox chants sound at the beginning of “Katharos”, in the context of the preceding track. Rapidly blurring in hazy space where they drift alongside the hollow murmurs of the night, bells and sounds reminiscent of an industrial nightmare. An amazing composition, where once again one can feel the spirit of old times. I think in this track can be found the most intense feeling in the whole album. We slowly ascend towards the light. According to the label the concept has a purely psychological basis and is completely detached from history, morality and religion. Don’t believe it, “Katharos” is deeply spiritual, striking the most sensitive strings of the soul.

Like “The Stains Of The Embodied Sacrifice”, ” Mise En Abyme” also ends in a rather quiet manner, leaving the listener in reverie. It isn’t as ethereal a piece as “The Temple is Eternal Sacred”; “Agraphos” just sets extreme emotions aside and allows for a slow return to the mundane world. I can say that the prose of life, which falls on the head after the fading of “Mise En Abyme”’s last sounds is rather tiring and I actually want to go back immediately to those unexplored areas, so close and yet so far away.

A great comeback for Raison d’être. At the same time, I feel that Peter Andersson’s project has reached the end of the road. It has already completed its evolution and subsequent albums will probably be but variations on this and the previous entries in his oeuvre. The Swede has reached the intersection of all the paths that he has followed in the past and I really don’t know what new this project could come up with on another release. But I don’t mind. If the future of the project is painted in pale gray and marked with rust, that’s fine by me. I recommend “Mise En Abyme” wholeheartedly.

–Reviewed by stark