Some reviews of Psilocybe Necrophila. Should you be convinced it's a worthy purchase, please click here to get your copy. The CD is a limited edition of 418 copies (hand-numbered) and comes in oversize (A5) 6-panel sleeve sporting some suitably dark psychedelic artwork.

REVIEWS

"The album title refers to a mushroom which grows on decomposing flesh so for his newest album, Niko Skorpio applied the same transmutation process to music using Km of old tapes to give birth to new music. From death arise new life so the six track of this album are like born from an alchemical process. Musically most of the tracks sound experimental and ambient but with a certain amount of tension which is crawling between the sounds of the CD. The treated tape cut-ups, sound like struggling dead souls and the whole result is a sort of psychedelic death trip." (Chain DLK - http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=5040 )

"Psilocybe works as a great innovative collection of mutated ambient dark sounding damaged material. It is also beautifully enhanced by some nice artwork. I was painting upon my first listen to this and it helped take the pieces I was working on into some good new directions, much like the original sources of the album. The fact that this is a reconstruction of the artist’s Metal tape collection on metal tape makes it one of the most original left of field hybrids of metal in a time where the genre has been greatly reconstructing itself in it’s more extreme forms. Whilst not a band based project Psilocybe maintains metal’s true status as an outsider music, when practiced fully the genre gives us its greatest examples ( Iron Butterfly, Sabbath, Bathory, Venom, Burzum, Earth, Skullflower, Jesu, Khanate, SunnO)))…. ) this album being a true example of that theory." (Judas Kiss - http://monkeyhouse-recordings.co.uk/JK2CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1485&Itemid=30 )

"Opening in typical with the dark, disorientating, experimental swirl and demonic reversed sounds of “The Day The Night Embraces”, the mood changes with “Unended”, a track that focuses on a deep, minimal drone that mutates into a eerie atmospheric soundscape. From there, things get somewhat more abstract, psychedelic and disturbing with “Untitled” and even more tortured and disturbed with “Numberless Reflections”. Closing the album is the 12-minute “The Backyard Trail” which starts out as a vibrating drone but builds and dissipates, slowly mutating with dark atmospheric ambience. Throughout the second half of the track it becomes a slow paced song with a distorted melancholic voice lamenting death to a repeated piano refrain." (Side-Line - http://www.side-line.com/reviews_comments.php?id=42290_0_17_0_C )

"The opening track, ‘The Day the Night Embraces’, sounds very much like an avant-garde rock collage. Then we get to the second track, the epic ‘Unended’, and is very different. The music is basically one long drone with all kinds of creepy nuances. You have to turn the volume up to hear all the little subtleties. An excellent track! Then we go in one flow to the next track, ‘Untitled’. I still had the volume up rather high because of the former track and suddenly I hear all kinds of disturbing sounds very hard blasting into my ear. It scared the shit out of me because I wasn’t expecting it. The song has a very good and very creepy necrophila-like atmosphere. But remember to keep the volume at hand! With the short song ‘Uncut’ we get all kinds of crazy sound manipulations. ‘Numberless Reflections’ is again more quiet, but you never know what Niko plans for you listeners. The song has a very disturbing, yet very beautiful atmosphere. The last track, ‘The Backward Trail’, really sounds like it is recorded backwards. In the beginning of the song he uses some vocals, perhaps of Niko himself? I couldn’t find out. It’s again a very weird and experimental song.
Again a very interesting and pretty weird album. Some sudden changes in volume do help to give the album a kind of unexpected disturbance. The sounds are very good and really give you the feeling of a hallucinogenic necrophila insanity trip. For lovers of experimental music something to check out." (Gothtronic - http://www.gothtronic.com/?page=23&reviews=5980 )

Some words on this particular "hot topic" in my blog elsewhere:
http://nikoskorpio.net/log/?p=505

Feel free to leave a comment if you wish.

This EP contains two radical new mixes presenting different aspects of the key track from last year’s highly acclaimed Half Born in Half Light album. 7″ shoplifters mix, remixed by Niko Skorpio, strips away some of the drones to give emphasis to the complex tribal rhythms, also revealing the vibrant bassline. Karni Mata Dub, remixed by new acquaintance Karni Mata, shows the original tune completely taken to pieces and rebuilt as an all new track ruled by wild synths and hectic syncopated beats. Download and CDR formats include the album version as a bonus track.

Available as:

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128k MP3. Click here to download

2. COMMERCIAL DOWNLOAD
Top quality MP3/FLAC, only 2.50EUR from
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3. 7″ VINYL RECORD
Black vinyl in special hand-painted covers. Limited edition of 200 copies, hand-numbered. (release date June 8th). Only 6.00EUR + shipping.
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4. CDR-EP
Black CDR + pro-printed cover art card. CDR contains all 3 tracks + video for track 1 (CD-extra). Limited edition of 200 copies, hand-numbered. (release date May 8th). Only 4.00EUR + shipping.
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"Niko Skorpio on itselleni entuudestaan tuttu lähinnä nimenä, mutta muisti- ja mielikuvani herran musiikista
osoittautuivat jokseenkin paikkansapitäviksi. Synkeänhypnoottista drone ambient-äänimaisemointia tarjoileva
Psilocybe Necrophila on lakipisteeseensä kohotessaan varsin sykähdyttävä ja jopa pelottava kokemus.


Lähdemateriaalina tälle levylle on toiminut Skorpion 1980-luvun hevikasettikokoelma, joka sisälsi lähinnä
demoja ja livebootlegeja. Nauhat uhrattiin rekonstruktion alttarille pur­kamalla ne alkutekijöihinsä ja
luomalla niistä täysin uusia ja uniikkeja äänimaisemia.


Ajoittain levy tuntuu kuitenkin hieman liian hahmottomalta, jopa ambientiksi. Staattisen poljennon sekaan olisi
kaivannut hieman lisää liikettä ja alkeishiukkasten kuhinaa. Unessa levyn täysi potentiaali muuttuu lihaksi ja
luo moniulot­teisia ja punertavia piirtymiä alitajunnasta.


Empiirinen tutkinta paljasti albumin aiheuttavan suoranaisia fyysisiä reaktioita kuten kouristelua. Tämä on
tietysti jo sinällään hieno saavutus. Etenkin päätöskappale The Backward Trail on hämärine puhesampleineen
jotain äärimmäisen toismaailmaista."
(Inferno)



"Vaikka pitkän linjan suomalainen marginaalimuusikko Niko Sirkiä eli Niko Skorpio on nimennyt uusimman
Psilocybe Necrophila -albuminsa huumesienen mukaan, on kiekon sisältö kaukana siitä, millaiseksi
psykedeelinen musiikki perinteisesti mielletään. Koskaan radiosta Avaruusromua-nimistä ohjelmaa kuunnelleille tämä
genre on tuttua, mutta toisille voi tuottaa vaikeuksia yhdistää tällaista kaoottista äänimaailmaa musiikkiin ollenkaan.


Albumi pohjautuu Niko Skorpion 80-luvulta peräisin olevaan hevipainotteiseen kasettikokoelmaan. Magneettinauhaa on
leikelty, revitty ja muuten mutatoitu ja mutiloitu - levyä kuuntelemalla voisi epäillä, että tarkoituksena on ollut
synnyttää Frankensteinin hirviö. Saatananpalvojia kavahtavien kukkahattutätien kauhuksi hevikasetteja on soitettu
ahkerasti myös takaperin.


Kokeellisuudestaan ja abstraktiudestaan huolimatta Psilocybe Necrophila ei ole Kiasmaan suunnattua avantgardea
tai oman merkityksensä pohdiskeluun hukkuvaa kakofoniaa, vaan drone-vaikutteista dark ambientia, jonka tavoitteena on
luoda maailmoita kuuntelijan pään sisälle. Tässä levy onnistuukin mainiosti.


Välillä tunnelmat äityvät hyvinkin pelottaviksi. Kolmosraidalla Untitled kuulostaa siltä, kuin vähintäänkin suuri
Cthulhu ja muut Suuret Muinaiset olisivat palaamassa maan päälle. Seuraava biisi pelottelee kuulijaa ryskäävillä
hevisampleilla. Levyn viimeisellä kappaleella kuullaan tummasävyisiä miesvokaaleita jopa jossain määrin melodisilla
taustoilla.


Jos Psilocybe Necrophilalta haluaa jotain vikaa lähteä etsimään, jotkut kappaleet jäävät genressäänkin hieman
turhan monotonisiksi ja samoja juttuja toistaviksi. Suurempi käytännön ongelma tosin on se, uskaltaako tämän jälkeen
enää käydä nukkumaan - ainakaan pimeässä."
(Vertigo)

I feel like I’m stating the obvious, but it has become evident that it is not.


Psilocybe Necrophila is not a “pop album”. It is not some of that super-compressed up-to-eleven rock/pop/metal/other music that fights for your attention and its place in the prime time radio. It is a quiet record, and intentionally so, for it is first of all introspective and enjoys its time in the shadow rather than in the spotlight. Its quiet nature may annoy or confuse those who intend to, for example, put those tracks on an ipod to listen to in shuffle mode among other music. This album is not meant for that kind of consumption. Instead, getting to know and perhaps even enjoy Psilocybe Necrophila, at least superficially, requires about one hour of your time and an open mind. The ability to adjust the volume to one’s liking is a bonus. One who cannot invest such major effort should avoid Psilocybe Necrophila at all costs!







(originally posted April 12th, 2009, 13:14)