Darrin Verhagen: Soft Ash
- Soft Ash - Origins 5:56
- The White Death Part I 5:12
- MIC 7:05
- The Plague Wind 8:04
- Chernobyl 4:54
- The White Death Part 2 6:23
- Fragments 10:51
Shinjuku Thief member and Dorobo Records owners Darrin Verhagen embarks on his
first true solo effort with "Soft Ash". Yet, like many of his previous
collaborations, "Soft Ash" is a concept album. This time around instead of
focusing on certain Ethnic or Tribal elements upon which to build a common
theme, Darrin has chosen to focus on a handful of environmental disasters.
Utilizing themes from such well publicized disasters as Chernobyl and Bhopal
along with less well known events like the 1930 Meuse Valley, Belgium gas cloud
or the 1871 London plague wind Darrin has compiled a number of events which all
share a common link. In each case he has attempted to incorporate both media
coverage, in the form of radio telecasts, combined with certain conceptual
elements to attempt to recreate the aural mood that might have occurred during
the event. In essence, he is trying to place the listener at ground zero during
the aforementioned disasters to force them to experience the event for
themselves. Musically this is done through a variety of musical treatments and
samples, which when pieced together exude a very frightening atmosphere.
Overall, "Soft Ash" is a very intriguing body of work, albeit viewed through
the eyes of someone with quite an obvious environmental bias.
Contact:
Dorobo Records
P.O. Box 22
Glen Waverly, Victoria 3150
Australia
E-mail: dorobo@darkwave.com
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