Various Artists - Celebrating The Bat Chapter 1: Darkness Falls

 

Released: April 2

Bats are interesting creatures that hold a certain place in the collective human mind. They occupy a space that evokes wonder, fear, amazement, and avoidance. For its second compilation of the year, Dustopian Frequencies has put together an epic and amazing compilation of tracks dedicated to the reality and myths of these creatures. And to that end, it is a sprawling compilation with twenty-two artists contributing their interpretations on the theme, some of which learn into the scientific while others lean heavily into the mythological. The compilation is opened up with the latter as Giants of Discovery brings us a dark and haunting piece based on the myth of the Yamachichi, a spirit from Japanese folklore that steals the breath of its sleeping victims and takes the form of a bat. 

Other contributors take a more ground approach to the theme while experimenting heavily in sound. Moston Priory’s take is in this vein with a slightly glitchy and rhythmically driven atmosphere complete with eerie organs named “Night Feeder.” MikeKSmith’s “Chiroptera” takes a similar approach, setting out gentle darkly tones and covering them in abstract fluttering noises to make an arrangement that is equal parts gentle and and rough in just the right measure. Some of the interpretations are less clear like Lukas Fraktal’s contribution “Between the Minds,” which features a rather longing sound of a gently picked electric guitar and a strange collection of ambient noises that coalesce into something wonderfully amorphous. Exit Chamber’s “Between Two Worlds” is likewise ambiguous but centers itself around a deep and dark piano that evokes a certain spiritual overtone alluding to the bat’s role in matters of life and death. 

Overall, the compilation is tightly organized and each track feels very much like it belongs there. The general focus on the spiritual, mythological, and esoteric nature of the bat and its perception among people is a fascinating dynamic, especially as it finds it counterpart in the scientific and empirical periodically. The flow of the album is wonderful and will keep you captivated for its entire roughly two-hour run. And since this is just chapter one, it appears we can look forward to another entry in this series in the near future.