What a title Where the Dead Flowers Grow is. Morbid, gothic, funereal, and yet ever so slightly hopeful, depending on your outlook. Is the act of growth an inherently good thing, counter to death, or if dead flowers grow, is that the spreading of death itself? It's a question that is perfectly suited to swim around in my mind while I listen to this three track album. That's album, not EP, as these tracks are long, but appropriately so for the music contained within them.
These tracks are long, synthy dirges, and I think Maskinkultur's sense of harmonics really shine on this release. All of the songs are drenched in this digital fuzz that let these electronic hums resonate enough to sound like there's a whole orchestra on board. It's gorgeous.
The opening track, Under the Oak Tree, has a slightly regal medieval feel to it. A feeling of iron-clad soldiers trudging through muddy forests on their way to certain doom. Of grey skies and bare trees and bowed heads. It's filled with drama while still being understated and sombre.
Track two, entitled Döda blommor för dem vi glömt (or "Dead flowers for those we have forgotten" in English), doubles down on the sombreness while upping the energy levels just a tad. This one features some heavily distorted vocal mumbles that give the piece an oppressive and sometimes menacing quality.
The third act in this drama is broadly more positive in tone, or at least as positive as one could expect a piece of music called A Choir for the Undead to be. The chords here often sound triumphant, or even euphoric, as the titular choirs soar above the static hum of the synths below. This is a choir for the undead, however, and so there's still a fair amount of dissonance and dread at hand, too, but overall this one feels notable for its change in tone from the first two pieces.
I really like this album, and it's made me really appreciate Maskinkultur's ability to create dramatic soundscapes with seemingly very little. It's an easy recommend for anyone who enjoys ambient or noise music.
