During the beginning of 2023, Heilige! kept the Sanctum occupied with their cinematic release Riverside, a 4-track EP that is still strong in my memory. Riverside felt like a truly transcending journey that managed to trigger our emotions and awaken our senses through its realistic ‘Night In The Woods’ experience.
Today we’ll be getting into the terrifying ‘Anatomy’ which is giving a few information on the invisible artist through the cover art which looks unromantic and cold despite its warm orange hue. Anatomy is part of a 2-track cassette titled ‘Blood Injection’ and the artwork gives credit to Heinrich Wilhelm for the tape manipulation process that resulted to this track. It’s not much but it’s still something to keep us invested. The rustic tool illustrations dispose the listener to create scenarios of violence, perverseness and extremes. Think of The Human Centipede or Saw series, Terrifier etc.
As we’ve already created an idea of the track before we even listen, the music starts playing and we’re thrown into an alien space, or maybe something too familiar. The insides of our own body (?). A distorted, eerie atmosphere is born by a repeating pattern of gloomy, pulsating sounds that feel like blood being pumped into the veins or even organs speaking to each other in their own grotesque language. Creepy yet wondrous. As a second thought I imagined a flying drone made of torn tissue inspecting every process that takes place into this blood-red universe. With eyes closed, we’re transferred inside our own blood cells and travel through the darkest corners of our flesh. Sometimes at the speed of light and others in slow-mo. Still, the sound is not limited to this concept and may generate a handful of alternate images depending on the listener.
All in all, ‘Anatomy’ dwells between the futileness of our aging body and the dreadful vastness of the unknown. The work of Heilige! goes beyond music as we know it and the Sanctum will always be looking forward to longer bodies of work in the likes of Riverside that will expand their surreal universe and give more space and time to their vision.
Enjoy Heilige! here: