Catharsis – Terrifying Shadows [Zhark Recordings]

Voidloss, Dirty Bass, Heretic and Catharsis are four names that embody the artistic figure of British producer Steve Loss. With the first two aliases he already treasures a great musical rootedness, as they are two decades at the forefront of these projects, however, that a project is fully consolidated is not enough reason for an artist like Steve to settle in. Catharsis and Heretic emerged in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and with both projects he maintains a style between industrial and techno that identifies his work as a whole, as well as the sonic quality that each track he produces gives off.

Catharsis recently released his most ambitious work to date, a concept album based on introspection and acceptance of the weaknesses and dark aspects of an individual’s character. Terrifying Shadows refers to this aspect and names as a reference to the depth psychology of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, according to the artist himself this album represents what Jung called The Shadow, the morality of being aware of and acknowledging the dark aspects of one’s own person. For Loss, Terrifying Shadows is a representation of what Jung called the Shadow, through the lens of shadow work via Integral Zen, and the realms of dark Buddhism while brushing against the nihilism of atheistic stanism. This album explores the inner clashes and tension generated by these philosophies.

This eight-track, released on double vinyl, opens with Awake Asleep, a cut in which the author aims to confuse between reality and illusion from a disturbing point of view for the mind that suffers from it, with syncopated rhythms, tension, a tenebrous voice and a depth that engulfs you into the abyss. Into The Warm Embrace Of Deviancy shows a defiant, rigid and impassive attitude, facing life with conviction and from evil, in this case sonically illustrating a firm rhythmic sequencing with superb dynamic work that instantly places each element in a space inferior to the one it occupies when it is incorporated. It’s So Easy To Corrupt A Soul speaks of weakness, of the fragility of the human being to make wrong decisions, in this case Catharsis perfectly exemplifies the process of this idea with a sonic trajectory that moves from firmness to confusion. Silent Riot can be perfectly extrapolated to the different internal struggles that are generated from within us, to the constant conflicts that we suffer with ourselves, represented in this track as the voices, the minor chords and the stridencies that mix with the unchanging rhythm of life itself.

Terrifying Shadows’ second album opens with The Tendon Harp, a title that can be interpreted as the humiliation and pleasure of the suffering of others, a kind of sadism that Catharsis poses with a shamanic rhythmic rhythmic full of innumerable details that add up during its journey. The Tao Of The Scarred tells of a tortuous journey, a long road of ordeal and hardship in which the author increases the intensity of the beat with powerful lashings that emerge from the immensity of the underworld. The Procession Of The Neutral delves into the decision of the one who, although his nature does not allow it, is in favour of the oppressor, and on this occasion, Catharsis follows the same line of heavy and syncopated rhythms, adding a simple melody that draws the sad destiny of the traitors. Tasting Hate From The Cup Of Gods closes the album in a vigorous way and with the hostile arrogance of the one who overwhelms the contrary, the deserved end of a story that musically shows the ferocious and merciless instinct of the human being.

Release date: January 10th, 2023.