After months of anticipation, this one saw the light a few months ago. ‘Apsides’— the breathtaking debut from Sydney/Melbourne-based experimental ensemble Black Aleph released via Art As Catharsis (Bolt Gun, Diploid, SEIMS…). A record of rare scope and intensity, the record is not simply an album, but a ritual in sound — a meditation on cosmic cycles, light and darkness, and the elemental forces that bind the universe together.
Drawing inspiration from orbital mechanics and the concept of the ‘apsis’ (the points of greatest and least distance between celestial bodies in orbit), Black Aleph craft music that feels both primordial and eternal. Their sound exists at the tectonic intersection of post-rock, post-metal, and ritualistic experimentalism: roaring like a volcano, whispering like the wind, and vibrating with the very energy of the cosmos.
The trio — Lachlan R.Dale (guitar/effects), Peter Hollo (cello/effects), and Timothy Johannssen (percussion) — bring together a palette as unorthodox as it is powerful. The searing textures of overdriven cello, the ancient pulse of the Iranian daf drum, and the swirling layers of guitar loops create a sonic landscape that is at once crushing and transcendent. Their live performances, often staged in circular formation, emphasize the ritualistic communion of sound — an ensemble facing inward, orbiting each other like planets around a shared center of gravity.
Black Aleph’s music has been compared to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Neurosis, and Sunn O))), yet their debut speaks with its own voice: a voice that is elemental, spiritual, and uncompromisingly ambitious. The album was recorded by Tim Carr (We Lost The Sea), mastered by Mell Dettmer (Earth, Sunn O))), and features guest contributions from Jessika Kenney (vocals) and Natalya Bing (violin).
With ‘Apsides’, Black Aleph do more than introduce themselves — they carve out a place among the legends of experimental and post-rock music. This is a debut of seismic ambition and celestial scale, a record that invites listeners to step beyond the terrestrial and into the infinite cycles of sound and silence, light and darkness, creation and decay.
For those who seek music that is both cosmic and deeply human, ‘Apsides’ is a revelation.
