Concerning Time and 'Pure Duration': Part 2... 'This Dark Life' and 'Songs from the North Pole'
Music Journalist Vidion Smythe catches up with Patrik Gryst to talk about his recent releases including: ‘This Dark Life‘ and ‘Sanger fra Norpolen’…
Smythe: ‘It’s only been three months since we last spoke and you’ve released two more albums - you weren’t kidding about being prolific!’
Gryst: ‘I guess not…’
Smythe; ‘You released ‘This Dark Life’ on March 31st and more recently, ‘Sanger fra Norpolen’ on June 8th. Tell me about those albums.’
Gryst: ‘I amassed a lot of material in the twelve months after lockdown started, in addition to the projects I was already working on. In trying to decide what project to release after ‘Pure Duration’, I decided on something more upbeat. ‘This Dark Life’ seemed to fit. I’d been working on an EP entitled ‘Tundra’, which naturally progressed into an album inspired by the artic expanses of Svalbard.’
Smythe: ‘I had images of the ‘Blade II’ when I listened to ‘This Dark Life’. It’s very much of and about the night, especially ‘Nighthauk’ and ‘Vampyrology’. It also reminded me of The Blood Club in the video game.’
Gryst: ‘‘Blood is Pumping’ by Voodoo & Serano is definitely a favourite of mine. The first track I wrote on this album was ‘Defender’ which, has more of a cosmic techno vibe. The rest of the tracks explore that after dark, after midnight side of life. I was was looking for a different angle on the Techno sound; a darker, more hypnotic canvas against which to tell a story.’
Smythe: '‘Sanger fra Norpolen’ is starkly ambient and quite bleak in places. I was intrigued by ‘Fjellström's Messe’. Tell me about that track?’
Gryst: ‘I recently watched the AMC drama ‘The Terror’ and discovered the music of composer Marcus Fjellström, and immediately felt an affinity for his music. I listened to his entire back catalogue and was struck by how unique his style and composition was, only to discover his untimely death. The track is somewhat of an homage.’
Smythe: ‘So far we’ve seen three albums and the single ‘Skala’, not to mention two exclusive Bandcamp releases, one of which, ‘Blad på Vinden’, includes classical piano compositions. One wonders: what else we can expect before the end of the year?’
Gryst: ‘There is a certain element of clearing the decks before the end of the year in readiness to start on fresh projects, and rather than release more albums piecemeal, I’m considering releasing en masse. In terms of what to expect, there’s more techno, ambient and a collection of orchestral pieces. I’m particularly looking forward to releasing a project entitled ‘Early 21st Century History’, which explores the current perspectives on climate change and pollution.’
Smythe: ‘Sound’s intriguing…’