NIHT

The night, mourning and ancient wisdom are among the dark themes of this meditative journey of the soul, a project created by Dutch composer Faber Horbach with an ensemble of “ancestral instruments” with lyrics in Anglo-Saxon. The gathering of harps, Irish bouzouki, bukkehorn, violas and vocals (including throat singing) is an intriguing one and works best when the textures are more sparse, allowing the haunting characteristics of each timbre to come to the fore, which does occur in tracks like ‘Carnyx’, giving the music the spaciousness and mystery it deserves. The pulsing drums are, perhaps, our own footsteps taking us deep into ancient Northern forests, and their myths and legends connecting us with our past and the earth’s own changing seasons. “What lurks in the shades of night?” it asks in this ancient language. That’s for each of us to discover. The music is what every ‘noir’ film needs, compelling and disturbing.