Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This is a score for a "shamanic black metal" piece. But also a score for a band. Performances are by 'Ashes of Burnt Sage' - whoever decides to play it becoming the band. Performers must avoid rhythm. And embrace a moving, chaotic sound. The piece is inspired by extreme metal and shamanic music traditions. Some shamanic drumming traditions have a sense of rhythm that is quite fluid. It has a sense of flux and flow. Constantly changing. I was also influenced by the transgressive and antinomianist aspects of black metal. And wanted to write something exploring those aesthetics, without degenerating into hedonism. Or at least, making space for a multiplicity of hedonisms. The piece is cacophonous and extreme. Dense and wild. With nothing to hold onto. And so, our attention is drawn to the constant changes. The subtleties, the ebbs and flows. The piece can be cathartic for performers. They might loose themself in the noise. Like ritual, they might feel vulnerable coming out of it.

Work Details

Year: 2017

Instrumentation: Vocalists and drummers (any number).

Duration: 20 min.

Difficulty: Text score.

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc in relation to this work:

Improvisation, extreme metal, black metal, death metal, text scores, exploratory music, experimental music, free improvisation, ritual music, meditation music.