The perilous «Voyage» of Spheruleus
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Label: Hibernate
Year: 2011
Format: CD
Spheruleus’ album Voyage for Jonathan Lees’ Hibernate label is the dreary tale of a doomed ship voyage in 8 parts, with the atmosphere of events mapped out in low frequency drones. Initially capturing the air of excitement at charting the unknown and setting sail, the first tracks are filled with promise and a sense of exploratory optimism, however with that underlying insecurity that follows with the vast ocean to every sea expedition that sets out.
Spheruleus is Lincolnshire-based sound designer Harry Towell, and owner of the Audio Gourmet netlabel, and over the course of the 2 years the album was in the making, Towell researched disasters at sea from the past and could take influence from similar works by peer Gareth Hardwick and the older soundtrack by Gavin Bryar, “The Sinking of the Titanic”, possibly also Xela’s “Dead Sea” for the doom and gloom. Immediate associations are of course also drawn to Titanic, but the ship’s hull pictured on the album cover contributes to detach this particular album from one specific disastrous voyage.
At the centre of the recording, is a revised demo from early 2010 on top of which Spheruleus has added elements based on varied instrumentation such as guitar, violin, keyboard and lots of other neat sounds and processing. The result is a sonic journey that captures really well the various aspects of a sea voyage with an ultimately fatal end, and as a listener you feel yourself captivated by the sound’s narrative piquing your interest and conjuring images of a ship at the different stages of its final voyage.
