Review Summary: An endless 20 seconds album of pure music conceptualism in the field of dark ambient
Heinrich Wilhelm is the person behind Heilige! (German for Holy!) – and Serpent’s Muzak is an amusing example of his creative heritage.
This release gives back as much as the listener is ready to invest in it. For an unassuming ear, it would hardly provide anything more than a confused giggle, but the one who has a keen mind and a curious soul would probably dig deeper into this 20-second tape sample of a release and would be rewarded.
Serpent’s Muzak is knitted with layers and layers of subcontexts and references. Muzak is supposed to be soothing background audio to relax and preposition its listeners to positive perception, while a serpent has always possessed heavy connotations with sin and giving in to the vice in the European tradition. At the same time, the name and the contents of the tape are boldly connected to Pagan Muzak by NON and serve as a kind of cultural continuation to it, encompassing all of the abovementioned meanings into one unrelenting audio capsule. The result is towering above the idea of music itself as a logical consistent set of harmonious notes, and to underline it, Serpent’s Muzak is released on an endless tape – so the sample could be playing for longer than you live to hear.
Adding up to it, the Bandcamp release provides little information to 20 seconds of actual audio; but tackles the audience with the hefty price of 888.88 euro (is it just me, or does the smell of something endless just keep getting stronger?). Heilige! also reminds us, that no matter how hard one tries to expel nature it would always find a way to return.
Discogs page provides a slightly more detailed description and manual – playable at any speed.
maximum volume suggested – focusing more on the dualistic nature of this release and the whole project.
Heilige! relies heavily on its mythos and actionism. And if you are on good terms with the eternal and kosmik, you’d probably spend a good (endless) time with this one. Enjoy the serpent biting its tail.
