Autarkeia, an industrial label/mailorder from Lithuania, firstly deserves praise for its consistent quality of artwork. They started with cd-r’s, but now they have released their first ‘real cd’s’, one by Ahnenerbe and two by a project called SALA. There are also plans for releases by the likes of Negru Voda and Fire in the Head.
“En-trance” by SALA contains two long tracks, repetitive but with some surprising elements. As you could expect from the title, the music has a strong ritual, trance-inducing character. The rather improvised, free-flowing character of the music is explained by the fact that the two tracks were apparently recorded live (and almost a decade ago). SALA really creates a dense universe which completely surrounds you, with lots of primitive ritual percussion, deep drones, hammering on metal objects, the use of ‘etnic’ wind instruments, strange chanting and other sound sources.
Recommended if you need a soundtrack while performing your obscure magic rituals, or if you’re inspired by projects like Hybryds, Allgrena, Deutsch Nepal or early Allerseelen.