John Del Russi, the artist who has brought us Hierophant, one of the darkest funeral doom recordings ever to see the light of day, has recorded under the name of Sect, yet another quality metal project, this time, would it be in the black metal school, far away from his previous style, or rather, parallel to it; Four tracks, revolving around fifteen minutes or so, and professionally recorded or more accurately put - given a sound production that fits the musical vision perfectly...Del Russi is a perfectionist, at least that is the impression I get, an artist who does not ease with himself, does not allow any shortcuts and polishes his music until uttermost refined representation of the visions he had in his mind, authentically executed and put to tape, with whatever the technological limitations and other means allow him...This is maybe why, he is working on every recording for a considerable amount of time, a painstaking pregnancy and a painful birth of yet another piece of sonic violence generated in the depths of his unique yet humble being...I am sure that the rapture in creating and the satisfaction of the outcome are more than adequate a compensation for this journey into the self, and every compliment Del Russi gets, any superlative being thrown into the air about the effect his music has generated in the listener and the emotions it evokes, are moving the artist a great deal and add to his enormous motivation to keep on and creating...Not that Del Russi would stop creating without a given audience, but it seems as if a good word is a bonus and the artist's true reward for his efforts at the end of the day...and he is worth every sort of encouragement, any compliment, any word found in "the good words lexicon"...As above mentioned, 'Sect' is another project by J., Del Russi, and in his traditional way of expressing so much by using so very little, in delivering the most extreme of sounds while expressing the deep dark soundscapes with the minimum of elements - is not different in the Sect recordings, though this time would it be black metal...I have stated occasionally my general resentment from the black metal school, with many good reasons to back up this resentment of mine, and would I seldom want a dose of black metal, I'd rather listen to something like this, black metal the way Del Russi and Sect deliver: A wall of almost white noise, granulated and abrasive grinding guitars, monochrome monotonous and lifeless harmonies, and being such - hypnotizing in their peculiar way, played in a circular endless loop, an ascending and descending perpetual sinusoidal noise. Behind the impenetrable noise, pseudo-melodies are hidden, that add to the overall chaos that 'celestial' sonic aroma, something the artist can not do without, being a rather spiritual human, as far as I understand...Again, the good old minimalism that manifests itself in the use of a guitar and a rhythm section, would it be a real drum kit or an electronic gadget, a fact that never have bothered me too much. I do not hear a bass guitar, do not hear any hint of a keyboard, only the essential basics i.e., a guitar, rhythmic instrument of some sort and Del Russi's omnipotent voice. The overall sound is somewhat quasi-industrial, maybe because the guitar sounds so sterile and cold, almost as if it was a guitar sample, being filtered again and again (which I actually think is not the case), a sound being so one-dimensional that it actually mesmerize the listener (a paradox?) along with the distant melodies buried deep behind, what lends the music its 'dreamy' aura, a sort of a magical potion that lifts the body only a little from the hard cold floor, allows it to float a couple of inches above it...Del Russi's screams are extremely emotional, and are nothing I had heard before in this over-saturated scene of clone...All in all, one can still find some similarities to acts such as Judas Iscariot and the mysterious French band Umbakrail (both are also one-man bands), in the simplicity of the compositions on one hand, and in the dreamy/spiritual/celestial/hypnotizing character of the music on the other. It has indeed a primitive, stripped down, basic black metal façade, on the immediate impression, all the genre's elements are there, but it is more than just that, it is more than meets the eye (or the ear, if you prefer): It is a far more profound music, very emotional and mysterious, and it is surely apparent that every second of it, is the artist's exclusive signature, and therefore - it is as authentic and unique as possible. John Del Russi simply never fails to amaze me time and time again, and never lets me down with his maximum dedication, his love to his creation, in his mission to exclude himself from everything else out there, and despite him being an underground veteran he does not try to copy, to be influenced, to be popular or likable by the masses, but always tries to keep his creative integrity as an artist, and as such, I know all I will ever hear coming from his way - will be one hundred percent John Del Russi, nothing more, nothing less...his feelings, his emotions, his dreams and thoughts in the purest of forms...This is yet another reflection of his soul and his evidently unconventional intellect...

© 2002 c. drishner