CD, Kaosthetik Konspiration, 2009
www.myspace.com/trehasekt
Treha Sektori have a penchant for creating immense, blackened atmospheres through the use of layered earthen drones, just the right amount of distant clanking and banging, and a few heavily revered, somber melodies. At sparse intervals there are bouts of minimal, tribal-esque percussion which mix in rather well.
“Sorieh” feels akin to being in a giant, decomposing, medieval cathedral during a series of arcane rituals. It is a very hypnotic album; quickly enveloping the listener, covering them in a black hooded robe, immersing them deep within the gnarled heart of the structure, and whispering to them the secret sigils. Strong production gives these tracks a very full sound.
While this is generally a solid album, it is plagued with some amateurish mistakes. The first major misstep, in my opinion, is the whispered vocals. I like the idea of using unsettling, ghostly vocals (and they do work with some success in certain instances) but for the most part they come across as sounding cheesy, and too much/too fast of a delay setting often renders them completely incomprehensible and annoying. The other major flaw is that in a number of songs they will have an element, typically a rising sound, and just before its crescendo it will abruptly loop back to the beginning. This wouldn’t annoy me if it happened once, but it happens continuously on a number of tracks. These loops are so awkwardly jarring and sloppy that it really detracts from the song as a whole. The final critique is simply that I wish the album were longer; it’s quite captivating and always ends too soon.
Overall, this is quite a promising debut with the occasional clumsy mistake. I really enjoy the style Treha Sektori is doing, and if the act continues to evolve it could easily be one of the best acts in the genre. Definitely something to check out for fans of ritual and cold meat industry-style ambient.
[7.5/10]
— Dan Barrett