MYSTIFIED
CDr
PRESS / REVIEWS
Reviewed by Chris Dahlberg on COSMOSGAMING
http://www.cosmosgaming.com/
Although my knowledge of the drone/ambient genre is mostly limited to offerings from labels such as Southern Lord and Crucial Blast, I’ve been lucky enough to get exposed to quite a few other acts in the past few months. One of these is Mystified, the one man project of Thomas Park. Mystified has been putting out releases since 2003 at an alarmingly quick pace, as Park has put out more albums in five years than most acts ever release. One of his latest is Science Fiction, a dark ambient and chilling drone album that definitely lives up to its title. And though it may not be the best drone disc I’ve heard in the past few months, it still stands out as a noteworthy one. Every release by Mystified seems to revolve around a particular theme and this latest disc is no exception. As one might expect by the title, the ambient drone/noise pieces on this album are based around Science Fiction, often establishing a very chilling and dark atmosphere. It seems as though Park’s goal with this album was to portray the bleakness and nothingness of space, or at least as it is portrayed in various Science Fiction books and films. In this regard he has certainly succeeded as every track on this release is downright creepy and chilling. Whether it is the haunting ambient backdrop of “Cold Radiance” combined with the occasional trance style beat or the crackling noise of “Ten and Two”, Mystified always ensures that listeners will feel uncomfortable yet ready to hear more throughout the course of Science Fiction. It may not be as inviting or wholly absorbing as some drone is, but the fact that listeners never quite know what will be around the corner will ensure that they come back to this disc. Mystified is one of those artists that it is impossible to decide on a best album for, as each body of work that Thomas Park has explored is often entirely different in theme and style. But it is clear from Science Fiction that Park is a master at picking a theme and exploring the ideas surrounding that theme to its full potential. Mystified’s style may be minimalist in nature, but Science Fiction brings forth a lot of atmosphere and mood from only a little bit of sound. It’s not my favorite drone release to come out during 2008, but it is still a noteworthy one and worth checking out. In the meantime, I plan to do my best to explore the massive library of albums that this one man act has released so far and look forward to seeing what ideas Park explores next.
Reviewed on WONDERFUL WOODEN REASONS
http://wonderfulwoodenreasons.homestead.com/current.html
One of the things I like most about Mystified’s music is you simply don’t know which version you’re going to get next. I’ve heard quite a few of his albums now and it must be said not necessarily in the desired order so I have a slightly warped view of where he’s heading. Where he came from I’m well aware of - heavy, noisy, dark drone - and a fair amount of that remains in his music. It’s the building block upon which he now works. His current music reflects an amalgam of the old ways with a new found appreciation for beats. Not rhythm...beats. This album has been floating around for a little while now and marks the turning point between the old and the new. The music here sees him exploring both his love of dark whilst also he has speckled some of the recording with the aforementioned beats. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Some tracks (the insectile title track is fabulous) work better than others but this little corner of the musical universe we call home is meant to be experimental and not all experiments are instantly successful. They need to be refined and worked on and that’s just what he’s doing and more power to him.
Reviewed on HEATHEN HARVEST
http://www.heathenharvest.com/
Mystified's Science fiction starts of with Thomas Park’s trademark drones backed with a punctual beat; however Cold Radiance holds the radiating drone as a constant with the repeated beat moving from background to foreground. Park immediately holds true to form demonstrating the twin skills of minimal usage of elements and title/track harmony. The beat vanishes leaving Haunted Drone combine a haunted drone and atmospheric treble atmospheric shimmer. The drone moves in depth across the track to good effect, keeping the listeners attention fixed. Deep Freq takes the level right down to a rumble, that teeters on the edge of distortion, combined with the shifts in low frequency, the levels of crackle are edged slightly creating a dance between the two. Ten and Two takes over the distortion this time moving alongside a sharp frequency, distorted crackling is now taking prominence of Science Fiction the speed of the crackling changes alongside that of the sharp frequency; this shifts the levels of intensity well. The elements combined shift to such extreme that Mystified enters the area of power electronics for a brief instant. Moscow follows suite with an intensified humming motorized drone with the beat re-entering. The beat remains sharp allowing the drones to mutate, the basic beat is dorky, timeless and funny, the sounds remind one how over motorized Moscow is vehicle wise; there are also nods to Kraftwerk’s Autobahn made here . Carnival Drone combines a carnivalesqe drone with backing sounds hidden well to an almost subliminal frequency, this shows a difference with a slightly more prominent ghostly darkness than other releases. Science Fiction hits unusually quickly with three elements that immediately make the mind think of UFO/extra terrestrial life forms, whilst continuing to revel in darkness. Spatial awareness is also shown in the timeframe to good effect, the sounds also sound like they are trying to communicate. Polar Midnight continues with scope of space but with a deep humming drone that remains in a limbo that is neither in the forefront or background. Happening gives a return of static with a shift in sound given by an airy wind like sound. Sustain offers combines melodic organ like sounds and dark channeled atmospheres to a wind down finale and simply vanishes. Science Fiction is another well thought out album by Mystified with a sci-fi bent, sending the brain into overdrive, Blade Runner should have yet another directors cut, but this time with this as the soundtrack.
Reviewed on HEATHEN HARVEST
http://www.heathenharvest.com/
Anyone who is into drone ambient or experimental music in general and still has not heard or heard of Thomas Park, Mystified, or even his new project Mister Vapor, must have been living on one of the many worlds that this album implies. Its one thing to be prolific, its another to have a discography so large that one has to use the search feature on his discogs page to track down one in particular. Yes, while Thomas Park is quickly becoming the American Merzbow from the ambient genre, it doesn't seem that his fast-paced nature takes away from his ability to create artistically sound ambient structures, as even to this day, the majority of his reviews appear to come out positive. Popularity aside, Mr. Park is incredibly skilled in the minimal nature in which he composes, and one can perhaps attribute that to the experience he's gained through relentlessly creating music, and at times, simple sound, since 2003.
That being said, this (not-so) latest release, Science Fiction, runs the gamut from dark and drone ambient to death and rhythmic industrial, even briefly taking on the world of harsh noise. Mystified's primary selling point has never exactly been the world of innovation, but rather the ability to put together a fundamentally sound and intriguing story while using the most minimal musical aspects and rhythms to accomplish his goal. Science Fiction is an obvious story, exploring the worlds of the futuristic, spacey textures and spherical influences. Along with that story are some harder to figure out pieces of the puzzle, with non-descriptive tracks like Moscow and tracks named after specific drone styles in Thomas' mind (Haunted Drone, Carnival Drone.) As such, Science Fiction shouldn't be looked at as a linear conceptual story, but rather a collection of short aural non-verbal essays.
Science Fiction starts off as simple on a droning scale as any Mystified release could be expected, but quickly grabs your attention with a dancey, flanging beat. A gentle spherical hum underneath waves of breathing flow underneath this beat the whole time, which rises and drops like a tide, meeting its climax and end consecutively but consistently in time with the music. A minimal bass line enters shortly after adding slightly more texture to the music. This funky little groove sets the tone for Science Fiction, though its' fun nature may mislead the listener on what's about to come as a beat like this will only come again on one track. Haunted Drone will bring about the usual Mystified nature, spherical drones fluctuating with light static to create an aura of both solitude and cosmic melancholy. The track glows with the shadows of ghostly planets, uninhabited by life yet existing all the same, the very fabric and definition of consciousness being ripped at the seems by human realizations. Ghostly radiowaves being transmitted by pulsars and unknown sources, creating monstrously giant spherical interludes, a cosmic symphony, floating in the void. The desolation gives way to Deep Freq, which takes on an even more minimal approach, floating deep into the vacuum without even the cold face of planets to bring about the warmth of at least being near matter. That lonely nature however is cut quickly by the approaching madness and static in the mind of the listener. A high-piched drone brings about subtle harsh frequencies and voices that tempt the spaceman into suicidal revelations.
Science Fiction will go on to take on different faces, the reprising rhythms of Moscow, the percussive statis and teaming drone flickering of the title track Science Fiction, and the epic ending of Sustain all play vital roles in the story of this release, but we'd be criminal to spell it out and suggest a story for you to follow. Science Fiction is designed to be a personal experience for every listener, a quality that Thomas Park has long perfected. Science Fiction comes relatively simply packaged, being a minimal as Mr. Park's style but at the same time holding onto the playful nature of the theme and his sparse dance-oriented beats. The outer artwork of the booklet contains the track listing and label information on the back along with a wrap-around image of a machine eye or camera lens. The inside contains a semi-trippy red-scale two-page image of a spaceman walking through a lighted tunnel at the seam as well as the website information on Mystified. As said before, not the world's most innovative release in recent memory, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless.
