I have Michael Plaster (Yttriphie, Soulwhirlingsomewhere) to thank for introducing me to vidnaObmana’s masterpiece. As I recall, he described The River of Appearance as the sort of music one might hear upon entering heaven. Which is pretty high praise, but Dirk Serries’ contemplative soundscapes certainly have a paradisiacal aspect to them, particularly on the aptly titled “The Angelic Appearance,” which opens the album with crystalline piano melodies, graceful guitar figures, and spiralling drones.

Listening to the album’s eight songs, you’d never know that Serries originally started out making abrasive industrial noise and power electronics, with song titles like “Skinned Alive,” “Suck Blood,” and “Blow-Out Entrails.” By the early ’90s, though, he’d shifted to a gentler, more ambient style that would reach its apotheosis with The River of Appearance.

Since discovering the album in the late ’90s, The River of Appearance has become one of my favorite ambient albums. Its serene atmospherics conjure up a great sense of peace that is nevertheless tinged and shaded by darkness and mystery on “Night-blooming” and “The Ominous Dwelling” — which only makes the album all the more beguiling. As such, The River of Appearance has become one of my go-to “headache” albums, something that, when I’m suffering from a migraine, will bring me a sense of peace and comfort.