“The Healing Site” by vidnaObmana

As I’ve written in the past, vidnaObmana — the ambient alter-ego of Belgian composer Dirk Serries — was an incredibly prolific project, releasing hundreds of albums, EPs, collaborations, and compilation appearances. A good deal of that material, however, is hard to come by, having been released on obscure formats by obscure labels.

Fortunately for us, Poland’s Zoharum label — which has reissued numerous vibnaObmana titles, including 1996’s The River of Appearance and 1998’s Crossing the Trail — is releasing a four-volume set of this hard-to-find material. The first of these volumes is Twilight of Perception Redux: Volume One (1990 – 1998), which features unreleased material as well as songs previously released on compilations and samplers from such labels as Hypnos, Ladd-Frith, Mirage Records, Multimood Records, and of course, Projekt Records.

“The Healing Site” previously appeared in truncated form on Sequences no. 14, a compilation released in 1996 by the London-based F.A.M.E label. Given the time period, it’s not surprising that the song’s slowly unfurling and otherworldly ambience is very much of a piece with The River of Appearance’s serene-yet-surreal atmospherics.

Twilight of Perception Redux: Volume One will be released on October 31, 2024.