Release year: 2024
Label: In Illo Tempore/Gladivs Records
To me, neofolk has always been a very European form of music. I say this without any kind of prejudice or bias; just like I’ve always considered blues and country to be thoroughly American forms of music, neofolk has always been European to me. I say this knowing full well that one of the earliest proponents of what was later called neofolk – Changes – came from the US, as well as more than one highly influental act.
Australia strikes one as an odd home for neofolk on first thought. But of course, just like with the US, the European cultural heritage lies at the heart of modern Australia. And apart from being the current home of Douglas P and his Death In June, at least Strength Through Joy and related act Ostara hail from there.
As does Sun Vessel.
Very clearly, it is the European heritage that lies at the heart of this one man project. The snowflake like symbol the act uses as a sort of logo on this, their second album, is made from four Algiz runes; the cover artwork features very European agrarian imagery and, again, runic symbolism: Jera, symbolizing harvest, cyclical recurrence and the year.
Musically, too, Sun Vessel’s quintessence is rooted deep in the traditional, European neofolk sound. This means heavy focus on strumming acoustic guitars, backed by synths and occasional percussion. The vocals are melancholy, somewhat emotionally understated and a tad constrained in their expression. It’s all very traditional and true to the core tenets of the genre.
In other words, A Seed Fallen To Earth isn’t the most original neofolk album around. Which is in no way a condemnation or dismissal of the album; in fact, it’s quite refreshing to hear an album that’s so unpretentious about its core essence, so honest about its musical lineage.
Especially when it’s got other things going for it. In particular, the arrangements, where the acoustic guitar remains as the backbone but synthesizers are given ample room in the centre and various effects and nuances flesh out the soundscape, are a strong point. The vocals, too; in comparison to the debut album Etched In Eternity (also out via In Illo Tempore/Gladivs Records), the vocals sound much more confident and, in their understated nature, stronger.
My major complaint about the first album was that none of the songs really stuck; in retrospect, it was maybe a bit more an excercise in form. On A Seed Fallen To Earth, Sun Vessel significantly improve on this department. Songs like Through The Copse, Through The Meadow (featuring Bleunwenn on atmospheric backing vocals) or Mutinous Destiny or No Mediation; Pure Contact, or a number of others, will certainly leave memory imprints. The first word that these tracks make think of is “beautiful”: there is a deep, spiritual beauty in this music.
Neofolk is a genre and scene that seems to purposefully exist in eternal twilight times, which also manifests in an annoying tendency to perpetually rue the current state of the genre and wax nostalgic on times of yore. Yeah, certainly, there may never again be glory days like when Current 93, Death In June, Sol Invictus, Boyd Rice et al. created their classics in their incestuous little circle and incestuously intertwined bands… but as long as we have artists such as Sun Vessel creating albums such as A Seed Fallen To Earth, I see no need for too much gloom and pessimism.
Only Death Is Real 