HUREMIC - Seeking Darkness

Behind Huremic there's none other than Parannoul, the mysterious South Korean dreamgaze sprite around whom an entire scene has sprung up. He's the sole name behind this new moniker, which, given the content of the debut “Seeking Darkness”, aims to diverge completely from the work crafted under his main alias.

So forget vertical ascents, flashes of light and dream dust. Huremic genuinely seeks out darkness, compressing where Parannoul expanded, veiling where Parannoul flaunted. “Seeking Darkness” has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the dreamy, hyperborean dimension the Korean musician has built up until now, veering instead in this project toward a post-rock that's psychedelic, physical, punishing, hypnotic and pitch black.

Post-rock, I just wrote, and yet there's nothing actually played on “Seeking Darkness”. Parannoul put it all together (almost) entirely with digital libraries and virtual instruments, during a period of self-isolation in a university lab in Seoul. Don't expect recognizable samples, though; the ones the Korean whiz kid sourced are just sounds, drawn as much from tradition as from local rock, reorganized into songs after being warped by oppressive digital effects. The same fate befalls natural sounds too, like the recurring elephant call, used to resemble guitar feedback or a piercing sax.

On “Pt. 1” you're sucked into a black well of buzzing guitars, haunted by voices straining to levitate toward an impossible salvation. On “Pt. 2”, far sturdier and more deafening, the work done with what sound like drum and percussion samples is genuinely inhuman; while on “Pt. 3” the acoustic hints slowly veer toward a melodramatic crescendo.

Slightly shorter than the previous three sections, the last two are the most abrasive and lacerating, while the fiery guitar lead (guitar?) recalls the rusty trails of Rodan.

“Seeking Darkness” is a mad, meticulous work, rightly kept at arm's length from the Parannoul name. Doing otherwise would have led listeners to think of it as a repudiation. And yet, once you're swept up in it, all you can think is just how unknown, countless and unfathomable Parannoul's possibilities still are.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

04/12/2025