After a bunch of records for Cut Surface, No Rent Records and Umor Rex the Austrian composer Dino Spiluttini releases with „Heaven“ his most anticipated release until now. With „No Horizon“ from last year Spiluttini already evolve his drone / ambient sound a bit further, but with „Heaven“ he reaches a new high.
„Heaven“ is a work of contemporary church music and shows some similarities in style with Tim Hecker‘s „Virgins“ and Loke Rahbek‘s „City of Women“. The work on „Heaven“ started back in 2015 by Spiluttini‘s discovering his mother‘s preperation for death. During a visit to her home in 2015 he was led into the local church and shown the adjacent places she had reserved for their urns. The tracks on „Heaven“ together consist of an analogously personal and anticipatory negotiation with death. The opener „Body at War“ started with a nervous, blustering piano and a church organ, while „Weakened Centurion“ starts with some distortion after the melody fades in. Partly derived from organ recordings made in the same church, the album frequently enlists Arvo Pärt‘s compositional method of tintinnabuli. This time Spiluttini combines it with pads, harps, fluttering organs and swooping choir. This kind of swooping choir you can find on „Touch Isolation“. The intense of „Heaven“ is all around the record. It‘s a highly emotional record with some twists and conflicts. „Heaven“ revolves within dramatic and everchanging vignettes. There is no doubt that „Heaven“ is one of the best ambient / drone records in 2019. Highly recommended!
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