“Waning Hymns offers hope and understanding amid desolate soundscapes and turbulent times…” — Decibel

Doom folk collective GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE today release their video for “Closed Eye.” Now playing at Decibel Magazine, the entrancing track comes by way of the band’s Waning Hymns full-length, set for release on July 31st via Scry Recordings.

Among the Pacific Northwest’s hidden societies, GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE forges a doom-inflected folk ritualism; dirges tinged with Eastern psychedelia and meandering meditative trances. For the last several years, the group has shown the Washington state underground a clear vision for their sound and lyrics creating a shamanistic space for the listener, placing them into a trance, then building up the excitement. The overarching theme of their lyrical work is that of an idealist, a yearning for an end to the modern human condition, for destruction of the constructs and constraints of oppression.

Writes Decibel Magazine, “GEIST and his collaborators examine Western culture’s withering empathy and booming consumerism on their upcoming Waning Hymns LP. But GEIST isn’t content to just observe and reprimand. Waning Hymns offers hope and understanding amid desolate soundscapes and turbulent times… In ‘Closed Eye,’ GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE focus on meditative instrumental ambience instead of apocalyptic poetry. Low hums and ominous tones. The flickering imperfections of film stock. The distant shrieks of woodwinds. The collective’s usual 10+ minute oaken song structure is absent, replaced with nebulous unease.”

Adds M. Sauder, “This video was made using 8mm and 16mm film footage from Iceland by filmmaker James Hollenbaugh. It is the visual narrative to an inward journey influenced by the natural world. We hope its meditative pace will lead the listener to new pathways inside their mind and spirit. This music first appeared in the short film Searching Skies by Vivian Hua which I scored, as part of the Seventh Art Stand film series. The series seeks to expose and end bigotry, specifically Islamaphobia.”

View GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE’s “Closed Eye” video, now playing at Decibel, at THIS LOCATION.