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MISSION TO THE SUN

Mission To The Sun

Sophia Oscillations

    Duo from Detroit which includes Chris Samuels of Ritual Howls. 

    Mission to the Sun's sophomore album, Sophia Oscillations, is an immersive journey through the dark corners of post industrial music. The Detroit based duo continues the sonic exploration started on their debut album Cleansed by Fire, while delving deeper into themes of isolation and lost communication. Christopher Samuels’ synths, samples and rhythmic programming is accented by Kirill Slavin’s haunting vocal delivery as the listener receives intersperse audio recordings from the outer reaches of inner space.

    Throughout the album, Mission to the Sun masterfully weaves together disparate sounds, creating a cohesive whole that is both complex and emotionally charged. In the opening track “Drowning,” Slavin sings about being consumed by the waters of the subconscious on an alien planet as he looks for omens in the sky. Samuels drives the song with a thick bass line and a repeating ambient pad chord structure that achieves a rich, yet alienated mood. The title track “Sophia Oscillations” establishes the album’s theme of distance and isolation while pulsating through a range of emotions. Samuels meshes otherworldly sound design with brooding synth lines to create a dark and introspective atmosphere. "Unborn" continues the journey while Slavin sings about the exploration of death and surveillance, highlighting the digital footprint that never goes away. The song's rhythmic quality (despite not having a drum beat) further highlights the duo’s willingness to delve into the darker aspects of the human condition.

    With "Sophia Oscillations", Mission to the Sun offers a deeply concerning and otherworldly listening experience that showcases the band's skill at crafting intricate sonic landscapes. The band masterfully blends organic vocal delivery and synthetic sounds to create songs as if they were bathed in alien noise artifacts. These compositions oscillate as transmissions from a journey towards a distant sun to be interpreted by the listener in their home world.

    TRACK LISTING

    01. Drowning
    02. Sophia Oscillations
    03. Censor Sickness
    04. Unborn
    05. Attrition
    06. Cornerstone
    07. Touch
    08. No Foundation

    Mission To The Sun

    Cleansed By Fire

      RIYL: Ritual Howls, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, The Legendary Pink Dots, Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, Sonic Youth, Current 93 & The Stranglers.

      Mission to the Sun synthesizes ambient, post-industrial landscapes with expansive arrangements and haunting vocals. Comprised of Christopher Samuels (synths, samples, programming) of Ritual Howls and Kirill Slavin (vocals), the Detroit-based duo creates an atmosphere of lamentation for a world left behind. Fragments of industrial noise and hypnotic synths fill Samuels' foreboding, alien terrain, and it's in this vastness that Slavin’s voice mourns the drudgery of everyday life and the loss of universal consciousness.

      The duo's debut album, Cleansed by Fire, takes the listener on a journey home to the inferno of the sun, navigating memories of a life lived, dissolved into time. A wind of desolation opens "Take Me Back," with Slavin mourning for a return home to a distant reality. The song uses repetition to build a somber ambience while maintaining a spaciousness sparsely accented by noise with care and precision. Slavin's lyrics examine the conflict and paradoxes that riddle the human condition with

      Samuel's instrumentation providing a fitting backdrop. "The Unbroken Sea" illustrates this symbiotic reflection with a propulsive bass line contradicted by ethereal synths that swell and contract, only to be finally engulfed by a pulsating crescendo of rhythmic noise at the end. The dystopian title track "Cleansed by Fire" marches steadily along to a creeping darkwave rhythm. The basic elements of dance music are there, yet the song remains devoid of danceability. Punctuated by lyrics inspired by J.G. Ballard and technological isolation, a glimmer of pop sensibility can be found beneath the haze of the track's potent mood.

      Mission to the Sun beautifully captures an alien feeling: one ripe with despair and longing, one that doesn't quite belong to this world or time. A slow, satisfying burn, Cleansed by Fire traverses the dystopian past and present, while moving toward the future.

      TRACK LISTING

      01. Take Me Back
      02. Cleansed By Fire
      03. Damaged
      04. Mission To The Sun
      05. The Unbroken Sea
      06. Computers
      07. In Your Eyes
      08. Three Crossings


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