Year: 2026
Label: Zoharum

Zoharum continues their forays into the vast archives of Belgian ambient project Vidna Obmana to unearth more rarities and unreleased tracks. The third installment in the series, like the two before it, consists of three CD’s and a total of over three hours of material. Out of the 18 tracks on the three discs, 13 are entirely unreleased hitherto.

Dirk Serries, the man behind Vidna Obmana, laid the project to rest in 2007. This means that Zoharum’s series is starting to reach the end. But, considering there has been some temporal overlap between releases – part one covered the years 1990-1998 (review), part two 1995-2002 (review) – I suppose there might a fourth installment in the future.

Like on the two first installments, Twilight Of Perception Redux: Volume Three consists of predominantly long tracks. The shorter ones are around six-seven minutes, whilst the longest tracks clock in at 15-20 minutes. For the most part, these mix pleasantly in the running order, so that a longer track will be preceeded and followed by a shorter track.

However, as before, this is not about individual tracks. Even though this is a compilation of material recorded over a ten year period, this is to be listened to as a whole. If not all three discs in succession, which is a time-consuming task, then at least a disc in its entirety. Individual tracks will not stand out. Sadly, like on the second volume, there are sometimes lengthy silent sections after some tracks, which negatively disrupt the listening experience.

Musically, Vidna Obmana remains Vidna Obmana. The long compositions consist of slowly modulating, evolving and moving layers of calm, harmonious synthesizer. Unlike the second installment of this series, percussion and rhythmic loops have an essentially non-existent role here. Only a few tracks such as Travelworld on the second disc have percussive elements in a core role.

To me, personally, this makes the third installment preferable to the second. I don’t mind a bit of rhythm in my ambient, but most of the time, the less there is of it, the better. Especially in ambient of Vidna Obmana’s style, which is all about harmony, serenity, peace and calm. The slow, undulating layers of synthesizer lull the listener into a dreamy, hazy state of mind. Percussion only intrudes here.

In a nutshell, the third installment of the Twilight Of Perception series is very akin to the two first in essentially all ways. Like them, though consisting of unreleased material instead of “greatest hits” – an absurd concept for ambient, wouldn’t you agree? – this is a great way to get to know the Belgian project. There is material aplenty to dig into here, and the quality remains high.

If I were to rank the three installments so far, I’d say the first is the best, this comes in a close second, and the second installment lands third. However, if you dig into one, you might as well check all parts out. The prospect of sitting through what currently is a ten hour body of work might seem daunting and, to the uninitiated ambient listener, even pointless, is anything but. These are beautiful compilations, well suited for both background listening when engaging in various activities, as well as music to aid with meditation or other activities demanding concentration.

Visit Vidna Obmana on Bandcamp, or visit Dirk Serries’ website