(2020) Jozef Van Wissem - Ex Mortis


Review:
Jozef van Wissem is an avant-garde composer and lutenist playing his all black, one-of-a-kind custom-made baroque lute all around the world. Inspired by ‘The Book of Gostlye Grace’, a 13th century tome written by German nuns, Jozef releases another new album titled Ex Mortis. Performed with a quasi-religious devotion and with the help of former long-time Swans member Jarboe, it’s a meditative and trance-like collection. The title of the album is inscribed in the neck of the lute used on this recording and depicted on the cover. EX MORTIS – meaning from death – refers to the Renaissance of the Baroque Lute which disappeared for 200 years and first made a come back during the German Wandervogel movement in the 1920’s. Van Wissem has fully emancipated the Lute in a non-classical setting and used it in film soundtracks, video games, contemporary dance etc. The record is inspired by “The Booke of Gostlye Grace” by the German nun Mechthild of Hackeborn and her sisters, written at the convent of Helfta in the 1290s. The book consists of her visions and the dialogue between Mechtild and God, an intensely religious but also erotic relation. On ‘Vox Populi, Vox Dei’ Jarboe sings with Van Wissem. ‘Cold Corpse’ includes vocals by Nikolaj Komiagin (of Shortparis). On ‘Consume the Sacrifice’ Thor (of Swans) plays percussion.





Tracklist:
01 - Concerning the Souls of the Departed
02 - Vox Populi, Vox Dei (feat. Jarboe)
03 - Gnosis
04 - Ghostly Grace
05 - Consume the Sacrifice (feat. Thor)
06 - Cold Corpse (feat. Nikolay Komiagin)
07 - The Word Incarnate Dwells Amongst Us
08 - You Are in Me and I Am in You, Eternally


Media Report:
Genre: alternative folk
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits