the carnival is a wondrous world... located inside the deepest depths of the subconscious of our protagonist (who is also our antagonist), of course it also is the most dangerous place imaginable that this wounded mind could ever have been locked into. populated by most mystical creatures, the carnival has an own despotic, merciless personality to itself, an oneiric incarnation of self-mockery and self-destruction, ruthlessly punishing the slightest missteps inside of me. while i stumble through my dystopian wonderland, i must not make any mistakes, for they will cost me too much. curiously pull loose threads and you might find yourself cocooned in unbearable memories of past dismay and its sensorically recreated carbon copy. foolishly open the wrong door and it will most likely reveal an army of enslaved, spineless dolls, not able to resist their orders, eternally condemned to hunt you down and slit your metaphorical throat. sent by the mighty puppetmaster himself, the untouchable personification of the internal destruction machine, they all serve one purpose: letting me suffer as a way of testing me. can we concur him, find in our heart the strength to say "no, sir!" and fight that enemy within? will i ever wake up from this nightmare? go away, it's all been a dream, and this is just a dream, isn't it? ecstasphere returns with another conceptual record which takes the characteristic contrasty sound and dynamics of the project to the next level. hypnotizingly emphatic soundscapes, deep rhythmic noise surfaces and thrilling beat structures mix with epic arrangements of enchanting, often unsettling and sometimes disturbing melodies to create deliciously creepy atmospheres you might recognize from your own favorite nightmares. by encoding her inner processes in a metaphorical layer for this second album, the artist has distanced herself from her subject just enough to fill this empty space with a wider range of auditory temperatures. carnival of catharsis is the neverending tale of a survivor struggling to survive herself.
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