sleepwalker

"Never Through a Threshold": 夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) and Inspiration Ephemera

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A romantic would look at a great piece of art and fantasize about the ephemeral nature of its inspiration. The brief moment when the muse speaks through the creator as they seemingly pluck a daydream from the air and make it flesh. It’s a pretty thing to think about, but this sentimental thought takes all creative power from the creator, instead saying art already exists in the aether and is simply found and displayed. If only it was that simple, everyone would be a timeless artist. What the romantic does understand, however, is ephemera. Inspiration comes and goes, but nothing gold can truly stay without action.

一期一会 — “for this time only, never again.” Mysterious international trio 夢遊病者‘s (otherwise known as Sleepwalker for those of us who can’t read kanji) strange music certainly seems to appear out of thin air and so suddenly vanish once more. On paper, music like this — the unlikely, joyous union of krautrock, black metal, and psychedelia — shouldn’t make sense. In practice, black metal psychedelia hasn’t made sense, either, instead concentrating on one side or the other, seemingly alternating between identities but never finding agreement within its own practice.

What is found here, though, is simultaneous, an instantaneous density of sound both aggressive and distant, airy and full of rage. Music like this is the type of sound found in a fleeting reverie, forgotten before ever fully making sense to this odd thought’s beholder. Somehow acting upon their own ephemeral inspiration, 夢遊病者 seizes the uncapturable before it disappears for eternity.

一期一会 will be released on May 25th by Sentient Ruin Laboratories (US LP/CS) and AnnapurnA Productions (EU LP/CD). Listen to an exclusive premiere of “Never Through a Threshold” below.

Follow 夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) on Bandcamp.