“ASUKA Reborn” by Maris Anguis

Maris Anguis’s Cryo Chamber debut is a cyberpunk concept album about a young woman who’s resurrected by her wealthy family after a terrible accident, only to discover that her rebirth hides some dark secrets. You might, therefore, expect a song like “ASUKA Reborn,” which opens the album in captivating fashion, to reference Vangelis’s Blade Runner soundtrack, which has basically become the urtext for any music seeking to evoke a dark, dystopian future filled with rain-shrouded arcologies and transhumanism run amok.

However, the song, along with the rest of ASUKA 2096, is more indebted to Kenji Kawai’s haunting Ghost in the Shell soundtrack. Ryo Utasato — the Japanese singer and composer behind Maris Anguis — employs some expected cyberpunk elements (e.g., ominous synth textures), but “ASUKA Reborn” is characterized more by choral vocals, ceremonial percussion, and Eastern instrumentation. The resulting song is striking and otherworldly, creating a sacred, transcendent atmosphere amidst the dystopian gloom, and ably setting the stage for Utasato’s musical tale of technology gone horribly, horribly wrong.

ASUKA 2096 is currently available via Cryo Chamber.