It is our honour to present KÖRKARLEN SUITE, a project of two experimental music composers and musicians: Kragrowargkomn and Jori Josiphson. This time, it's in a shortened version. In January 2022, they created an alternative soundtrack to the more than a century-old Swedish silent film named Körkarlen (Phantom Carriage) from 1921. They premiered their soundtrack for this film at the festival SCANDI 2022 at Kino Film Europe in Bratislava.

The most famous element of Körkarlen movie is undoubtedly its depiction of the spirit world as a tormented void between Heaven and Earth. Director and screenwriter Victor Sjöström achieved this with double exposition... at the beginning of the last century. The viewer gradually, slowly uncovers the story of the drunkard and tyrant David, because the film's scenes do not follow in a chronological order. David's posthumous ortel and his conversation with Death are thus interspersed with flashbacks and memories of his previous earthly life. The themes of alcoholism and domestic violence captured in this audiovisual work are still eerily relevant today...

Slow and rumbling crawling long drones form the basis of Kragrowargkomn's sound and musical aesthetic. It's achieved thanks to an under-tuned six-string bass guitar and an array of effects pedals and tube machines, such as the legendary Sunn o))). Jori Josiphson combines acoustic instruments (such as Indian harmonium or Tibetan singing bowl) with electronics in his works. In doing so, this artist makes room for a symbiosis of electronic and acoustic sound to emerge. Jori Josiphson's research is based on the search for a certain balance, which allows him to delve into the depths of his own knowledge.

Both authors and performers of this „Körkarlen“ alternative soundtrack respected the progression of the audio-visual work. To enhance the horror atmosphere, they used a combination of the acoustic sound of the Indian harmonium and of the distorted sound of six-string electric bass guitar. This electroacoustic fusion is complemented by vocals, tibetan bowl and synthesizer. In an elegant way they combined drone music and dark ambient with funeral doom. 

Credits
Released July 5, 2024

Music written and produced by
Kragrowargkomn and Juraj Polgary [Jori Josiphson]

Lyrics by Juraj Polgary [Jori Josiphson]


Kragrowargkomn
― 6-string bass guitar
― synthesizer

Jori Josiphson
― indian harmonium
― vocals
― tibetan singing bowl
― electromagnetic field recordings

Live Drums [tracks 12 and 15] by El Muflono


Recording, mixing and mastering by Kragrowargkomn
― live recording at film festival SCANDI 2022
― studio recording at Room 420, years 2022 - 2023

Visual and cover art by Staša Missanthropi Samouković


Released by SKY BURIAL as SKY065
― in collaboration with Vakuum label [VKUM006]

in MMXXIV

― If you are interested in purchasing a digital audio, please use link:
https://untitledsea.bandcamp.com/album/k-rkarlen-suite

― If you are interested in purchasing a music cassette,
please use the music cassette publisher's link:
https://nomadskydiaries-skyburial.bandcamp.com/merch

Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council.

Buy K​Ö​RKARLEN SUITE

Kragrowargkomn x Jori Josiphson : Körkarlen Suite

KÖ​RKARLEN SUITE

EPILOG

DRUHA SANCA

ANNA A DETI

TYRAN DAVID

SPOMIENKY

K​Ö​RKARLEN SUITE

SMRT A DAVID

ZIMNA NOC

TUZBA

IDYLKA

SMRT PRICHADZA

BITKA NA CINTORINE

SMRT

UBYTOVNA

CINTORIN

PROLOG

Experimental funeral doom / industrial / drone / dark blues / blackmetal one man act using overdriven 6 string bass, synthesizers, live – recorded raw samples of drums, cymbals and metal surfaces from Bratislava / Slovakia