Fall Into Dust
Dark Eternity
Beneath The Remains
A Sombre Beauty
The Veil Of Sorrow
Mephisto's Waltz
Organic Disturbance
Heretics
A Decaying World
Unwinding The Silence
Silent Rest
The Fear From Within
As Life Declines

On the 1st of Jan 2005 I made my new years resolutions. I wouldn’t swear anymore…no fucking hope. I would stop smoking…up to 40 a day and counting. I wouldn’t download any more porn…too many women and too strong a desire. I would sort out my cd collection into some semblance of order….I could have done this one if only I had more willpower. That fucking collection laughs at me. It’s laughing even fucking louder now. "Visions of the World" is the re-release of the debut recording by Karsten Hamre, Penitent / Arcane Art, under the Veiled Allusions name. I didn’t need the Internet or a magazine to find this out…because unbeknown to me at the time of ordering it I already had it. That’s right. I bought the fucking (…see what I mean about the profanities…) thing when it was released as a limited edition, only 1000 available, when it was released on the Counter Attack Productions record label. The words ‘shit’ and ‘for brains’ appear very apt.

The only redeeming thing to come out of this, actually two redeeming things, is that on this release from the Hong Kong Trinity label there are 4 additional bonus tracks and there’s a different track running order…and also different cover art…so make that three redeeming things all told. Revisiting "Visions of the World" was a revelation in many ways. I had forgotten how contrasting the music was in style. Flirting between minimalist piano structures…through to decadent black ambience…onwards towards ritualistic tribal vibes…onto synthesiser melodic passages …and finally touching on Industrial fleck splattered approaches. Where the pieces worked…‘Mephisto’s Waltz’ I love you…they really worked in that ‘oh so good it can’t be ignored way’ and where they didn’t…well even they were tolerable to these hard to please ears.

"Visions of the World" is a mixed bag of ideas that holds itself together without disintegrating into an intolerable mess. The light side is mixed firmly in with the darkness and because the running order has been changed on this release it has become more cohesive and the visions initially laid out reveal themselves in their true colours. The additional 4 tracks add yet another dimension to the recording by incorporating elements from the previous work and beefing out the black ambience to fullest effect. The world according to Karsten Harme is a mighty strange one but worth visiting just the same. Whether or not you need an updated copy of this release, if you already have it, depends on how fanatical you are as a collector for the bonus items…which having just done so accidentally I would now recommend.

Time to sort out that collection once and for all though. Fuck making any more expensive mistakes…no matter how good they are.

ANM