There is a penumbral zone, a subtle threshold between fading light and the gathering of darkness, where sonic matter becomes almost tactile.
It is within this crepuscular space that Hìeratico, the new work by percussionist Nicolas Remondino, unfolds: a nocturnal percussive ecosystem where prepared drums converse with fragments of spoken word, acoustic instruments and electronics shaded in muted tones.
The roots of this work extend into a constellation of influences that weave together spiritual minimalism, timbral research and contemporary soundscape aesthetics. In the suspended tension between silence and resonance one can sense the rarefied mysticism of Arvo Pärt, while the attention to sound as an immersive environment recalls the ambient sensibility of Brian Eno. Alongside this, the electroacoustic stratifications of Tim Hecker and Björk meet the textures of a certain experimental electronic lineage — from Giuseppe Ielasi to Jan Jelinek, through to the Nordic resonances of Mika Vainio and Vladislav Delay — interlaced with the sacred imagery of ancient choral music. What emerges is a language that does not quote but absorbs, transforming these influences into a personal voice where secular spirituality and the physicality of sound coexist in a delicate, unstable balance.
For Remondino, the word hieratic becomes a “black and gold” concept: a polarity charged with tension and secular sacredness. The music of this album does not simply flow; it seems to surface from an elemental underground, inducing an almost hypnotic sharpening of the senses. In the title track, metal appears to melt onto the drum skin in a liquid reverberation, while in episodes such as “litho non-danse” percussion sheds its rhythmic function to become living substance — the creak of branches, the crunch of dry leaves underfoot, matter breathing.
The textual dimension also unfolds in a fragmented and visionary register. Among its resonances one can perceive echoes of Tarantula, Bob Dylan’s feverish and surreal book of writings, whose imagery drifts through wandering visions, unexpected associations and poetic flashes. Within this verbal landscape emerges a form of secular spirituality that recalls the universe of Franco Battiato, where philosophy, mysticism and poetic intuition coexist in a rarefied language.
Born from a recording session at Giuseppe Ielasi’s studio in Milan and developed through an international network of collaborators, Hìeratico stands as a manifesto of sonic hybridization. Limpe Fuchs’ voice in “blue hymne” carries a ritual aura suspended between celebration and unease, while the Carnic dialect whispered by Massimo Silverio in “Tombal” carves deep traces into a sonic landscape shaped together with Marco Baldini and Pierre Bastien.
At the core of the work lies a metamorphosis of the drum kit itself. Drawing inspiration from nature and its elements — stone, wind, wood and rain — Remondino transforms the instrument into a generator of textures and harmonics, exploring the vibrations that inhabit the darkest corners of sound.
Listening to Hìeratico is the sonic equivalent of entering a forest in the middle of the night and waiting for one’s eyes to adjust to the dark: a lightless void that slowly reveals itself as a striking landscape of shadows and glimmers. A work that crosses boundaries, searching for points of light in the oblique sky of night.
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