Robin Storey, known as Rapoon and a co-founder of the influential Zoviet France, returns to Glacial Movements with a chilling exploration of planetary fragility in “Song from the End of the World”. This album delves into a timely and unsettling theme, reflecting on the potential for global catastrophe, making it a poignant example of an End Of The World Song collection in its instrumental form.
Following his previous Glacial Movements release, “Time Frost,” which envisioned an ice-age Europe, Storey now confronts a newly relevant and alarming concept. The album’s inspiration stems from the unsettling discovery by French researchers of a 30,000-year-old mega-virus in the thawing permafrost of the Russian Arctic. This real-world scenario, detailed in a paper from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, serves as a stark reminder of buried threats emerging from our planet’s rapidly changing climate. Led by Jean-Michel Claverie, the research team’s work, including the earlier revival of the Pithovirus sibericum, underscores the potential dangers lurking beneath melting permafrost and the scientific imperative to understand these “enemies.”
Musically, “Song from the End of the World” embodies the signature glacial soundscapes expected from a Glacial Movements release. Across nine tracks, including “We Travelled in Waves” and “The Sky Dances in Green,” Rapoon constructs a sonic narrative that is both haunting and contemplative. Tracks like “A Listening Ice” and “A Prophecy Lies Under” evoke a sense of ancient secrets and impending doom. The album moves beyond mere environmental concern, tapping into a deeper, almost mythological fear of a world irrevocably altered. Storey’s compositions, encompassing voices, instruments, and soundscapes, paint a vivid picture of a world on the brink, resonating with the anxieties of our current era.
The album’s liner notes further emphasize this apocalyptic vision, with text that reads: “Buried deep beneath the ice lies Armageddon / Locked in a frozen world it waits / There are songs and myths of the coming end / The voices are raised in supplication to gods and nature / A cold wind howls / The ice slowly melts / Without understanding of time / It waits / This is my song from the end of the world.” These words encapsulate the album’s core theme, solidifying its place as a powerful and timely end of the world song experience. “Song from the End of the World” is not just an album; it’s a sonic meditation on our planet’s precarious state and the echoes of potential futures, delivered through Rapoon’s distinctive and immersive ambient artistry.
This album was released on Glacial Movements Records in March 2016. Photography by Bjarne Riesto, layout by Rutger Zuydervelt.
