Club Furies

Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, a narrative genre in which the action takes place in imaginary space-time coordinates, different from our own, and which projects possible scientific or social advances and their impact on society. Whereas this sub-genre reflects dystopian visions of the future, in which advanced technology coexists in precarious material conditions. The word «cyberpunk» was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1980. Combining «cybernetics», the science that brings humans and computers together, and «punk», the raucous music with nihilistic sensibilities that became a youth culture in the 1970s and 1980s, it was about combining scientific and technological advances with rebellion and transgression.

Vurt is English writer Jeff Noon‘s debut cyberpunk novel from 1993. It is also the favorite cyberpunk genre book of Finnish artist Empath, our beloved artist who presents his next release. Tribute to Vurt is a collection of fifteen original tracks, four of which come in collaboration with ODJ Pirkka, Emmi, and VhatOut, presented by EABE. Empath reread this novel a few years ago and had a clear vision of what to do.

This visceral, hallucinogenic rollercoaster of a book became sound in my brain and had to be composed and recorded. A correlate of these novels, Empath also loves those weird sci-fi/horror/freaky films of the nineties with eclectic soundtracks that combined industrial, gothic, metal, shoegaze, indie-pop, rap, and electronica. The soundtracks to The Crow 1 and 2, Spawn, Judgement Night, Lost Highway, and Trainspotting were the soundtracks of his younger years. So he also wanted to capture some of that essence, and not be restricted by genre when creating songs as I read the book, chapter by chapter, delving into that sweet chaos. He also wanted to have some interesting collaborations to make the vibe more diverse, like there are a lot of artists on the album.

In Empath‘s own words: «The process took about 3 years, so it’s the most personal project for me so far. I’m very happy that Jeff Noon himself gave me the green light to do it and that ODJ Pirkka understood my vision and took this album under the wings of EABE. A big thank you to Rami Mursula, who also did the awesome artwork on the album.»

What is the best way to be part of what the artist proposes to us? Let the artist himself show us the way and the way to get there. Stash Riders, as the first track, is quite adequate introduction, which quickly plunges us into cybernetic, reticent, mysterious sounds, which manage to open a time gap between the here and now of ours, and the there and I don’t know when it has ceased to be ours. Game Cat already gets us playing, not only because of the title of the track but also because of the way it is put together. In a playful, carefree way and with a very relaxed rhythm, which, nevertheless, is a veil of sounds more appropriate to the general concept, which is revealed towards the end.

The first collaboration of this work is on Skullshit, a piece of drum & bass, and a lot of attitude that Empath presents with ODJ Pirkka. From the initial case of well-polished sounds, not limiting themselves to specific genres, but rather swimming in the vastness of sound, are evident. As the track progresses so does the strength of the rhythm, with which the atmospheres start to become aggressive and quite explicit, a character that coexists very well with the samples of the vocals that seem to be from Phil Collins.

Sleepless becomes a hiatus that widens the space-time gap further into cyberpunk worlds. Sound insomnia that reflects an insomnia that observes how time and space shift to other coordinates, as sound fades into delicate and subtle sounds. And how Vurt’s chaos has to be made into sounds, Good Dreams Of Bad Things is a way to recode that. Primordial sounds that escape from chaos and death, approaching us in the midst of worlds that were. We don’t know if we are in sidereal space or in futuristic earth stations.

And amidst calm tension and latent manifestations, Wearing Dangerous Smiles happens naturally, in a vast temporal canvas of sound that Empath constructs with velvety magnificence. Fine electricity fills the texture with sensual drum and bass and dystopian halos that seem to be more utopian. And so the sound takes us floating through clouds and undefined spaces, in the midst of times that are being, and soon to be, past and futures that become present.

The caos is plunged into a beautiful calm, full of known dangers, soothed by the sound and hopes of what is to come and the nostalgia of what was. In the meantime, the rhythm does not follow pre-established limits, but only the combinations of the Finnish artist’s machines. That’s why Jam Mode becomes iridescent. Mad Max worlds are glimpsed, in the midst of starry, city nights. And so, little by little, time slips away from our hands, like sand that passes through our fingers, and a sound that impresses me again, as much for its quality as for its evocative quality.

The torches Torchers refers to are those of the stardust that time disintegrated by sound design has generated. Pierced by beeps that metaphorize possible times and the reality that is, has been, and will be, they slowly become a mixture of stardust and shining diamonds that form swords in the form of torches, piercing infinite universes.

Blue Lullaby is Empath‘s second collaboration on this work. Together with Emmi, they achieve a sonic idyll that touches the depths of our soul, as when a work of art moves us. This track is one of those. Rooted in the conceptual semantics of this tribute to Vurt, it manages to stand as a track in itself, maintaining its coherence within the album, reaching the sonorous silence in an ineffable way.

Snake Scissors is a techno and house song in deep and hypnotic coordinates, which, together with the proposed concept, becomes sc-fi techno, not without suffering its own variations in the hands of Empath, who imbues it with drum and bass sparkles. It is a complex song, in terms of its design and sound structures. Even reaching the acid drops that remind us of the cyberpunk chaos that crosses us. Dense and fat, can lead us to a mediated delirium.

Contaminated with Bass is both a grip on our reality and the disintegration of it. With this track, we felt more secure in a palpable reality, but as it progressed we became more insecure about what its sound held. In the end, a duality of security/insecurity and present/non-present coexist, which is exciting. Heavy Losses is the logical consequence of one side of the form envisioned by the previous track. Metallic and industrial sounds, almost ambient and drone, that plunge us into abandoned places, where machines whisper and humans barely remember how to speak. And from there to an abrupt silence.

The action and agency of the subject, which had been lost in very powerful structural and temporal realities, is reborn in Tapewormer, a beautiful, exciting, fresh, and electric track that reminds us of the role of the human being in this dystopian society. And like any dystopian society, the darkness has to be echoed in the sound, which Empath does to perfection. Flare continues the fresh and upbeat rhythm of the previous track, and also the third collaboration, this time with VhatOut. Amidst cloudy atmospheres and approaching storms, the sound of this track is an umbrella of imposing attitude.

Death in Life together with Emmi – who returns for a second collaboration – is what every narrative, as well as sound, needs as an ending. It is what we can imagine it in the context of uncertain temporalities. It is a synthesis of the proposed sounds, which in my opinion reaches perfect notes, with a very strong concept behind it that reaches clear sonic realities. It is at the same time the becoming of this cyberpunk reality, as well as the becoming of Empath‘s art, which in Tribute to Vurt achieves a beautiful work of sonic art.

Artist: Empath
Label: EABE
Title: Tribute to Vurt
Catalog: EABE-L
Featurings: ODJ Pirkka, Emmi, VhatOut
Artwork: Rami Mursula

Release Date: August 9th. 2024
Support & Buy on Bandcamp, Beatport, and stream on Spotify

Tracklist
1. Stash Riders
2. Game Cat
3. Skullshit (& ODJ Pirkka)
4. Sleepless
5. Good Dreams of Bad Things
6. Wearing Dangerous Smiles
7. Jam Mode
8. Torchers
9. Blue Lullaby (feat. Emmi)
10. Snake Scissors
11. Contaminated with bass
12. Heavy Losses
13. Tapewormer
14. Flare (feat. VhatOut)
15. Death in Life (feat. Emmi)

Empath

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Club Furies

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