Review: Piri Reis - Ritma

Label: Framecode/Moment of Collapse/React with Protest/Zegema Beach

Back in 2015, while going on one of my weekly Bandcamp benders to find something new to listen to, I was lucky enough to find PIRI REIS' demo. For 8 minutes of crashing chaotic catharsis, I ceased to feel every feeling other than what these songs provided me. My headspace at the time was not a good one and I was burying myself in unhealthy habits. I was listening to a lot of emotional music but hadn't felt huge emotions for some time. By the time "First There Was Ophera, A Masquerade" had finished I found myself really feeling the anger that had sat dormant in me for quite some time. Ever since then, I've savored every offering they've given. As time did its ever permanent thing and progressed, the band just simply got better. Now with "Ritma", PIRI REIS' debut album, I find myself back in that moment of pure, unadulterated, righteous anger but this time I'm happy to be here.

Some odd years on, they have lost none of their bite. As can clearly be heard on "Burden by Beauty", I'm almost reminded of the fury found in LOUISE CYPHRE's body of work, broken up with the winding melodies found in a classic RAEIN song. But it cannot be stated enough that the influences worn here are merely those of accessory, it's the end result that makes "Ritma" such a powerfully unique experience. I look to "Heimlich manoeuvre tiger suplex" closing out with the repetitiously screamed line "Do you run away from things that are in your head?" as the feeling of overwhelming terror and empathy sinks in. That feeling of helplessness, coupled with the ire of simply being, is a moment of absolute clarity on the album as a whole. By the time the raging strums of "Arsitektur yang gagal" kicks in, you're consumed by what PIRI REIS are crafting, locked onto to a moment in time. It harkens to the forebears of the genre, but brought to the current state of what the genre is and where it clearly desires to go. Seeing the response to "Ritma" alone was enough to excite, but it's only through experiencing the absolute might of this full offering from PIRI REIS that the truth of what makes this band incredible can be felt. While "Untuk Kimi" wound out on my umpteenth listen-through, I felt that feeling again. That same anger and sorrow, now gilded with the years in between - the nostalgia of growth and the question of what's to come. I found solace there in that field, where it all feels too much but in a satisfying way, only as this music can do for us. Only as "Ritma" can transport us. Only as PIRI REIS can show us.

by Elias Amini

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