Katatonic Silentio Paradise Mountain

Brussels-based Maloca presents Paradise Mountain, the new EP by Katatonic Silentio, the DJ & production moniker of Italian sound artist Mariachiara Troianiello. Sitting in counterpoint to her moody, visceral outings on labels such as Ilian Tape and Delsin, here Detroit electro & techno drum workouts entwine with New Age sensibilities to form a series of blissful, delicate environments which unfurl gradually and assert hypnotic, light-inflected dancefloor efficacy.
The EP spirals through expertly articulated terrains, dense with wet modular tones and slow-cycling arpeggiations. Elements here emerge and recede through an organic, deliberate process of transformation. Emotionally, the record sits at the luminous end of the spectrum - despite occasional disruptions to its affective arc, Paradise Mountain ultimately resolves as optimistic and joyful.
Opener Primordial Blossom establishes the EP’s tonal vocabulary with a reverberant, playful synth figure that feels almost childlike, its warmth and analogue sheen gently nodding toward Mort Garson–esque electronics as it moves chromatically up and down the register. The track eases itself into existence, assembling an environment saturated with blossoming synths and slabs of damp, modular texture.
On Secret Garden, synth lines glimmer with a regal clarity in the foreground, interlacing with a blissful electro pulse that carries the piece forward in a state of slow-building hypnosis. Zaps, percussion, and kicks are introduced sparingly, then allowed to dissipate, only to reconvene in renewed density as synths tilt and reorient toward the light like heliotropic growths.
Archipelago introduces a note of emotional ambivalence, as modular plonks scatter against a drifting coastline of sustained synth tones. A submerged 4/4 pulse ripples the arrangement onward while waves of static and interference sweep across the sonic boundary-line. The track inhabits a deliberately uncertain emotional register, adrift within the liminal expanse between islands.
Urgency peaks on The Only Way Out, as Katatonic Silentio tightens the pressure. A claustrophobic, gravity-draining metallic tone articulates a relentless sixteenth-note figure, coiling above and beneath a gradually emergent, tech-driven electro drum framework. As the composition unfolds, ceiling and floor dissolve, replaced by expansive cascades of synth arpeggiation spread across the stereo field - the auditory equivalent of controlled vertigo.
Is Through (Eden Version) introduces gamelan-like liquid tones that shimmer atop a still, metallic surface. As the piece develops, gentle drums agitate the water, while bubbling synths gurgle softly like miniature digital streams, drawing the listener deeper into the hypnotic soundstage. Fragmented recordings of incantations drift through the mix like ritual sediment, intermittently obscured by bursts of noise that smear and fracture their fragile, fleeting presence.
Its counterpart, Is Through (Land of Nod Version), marks a return to Katatonic Silentio’s earlier sonic territory, as the same sampled material is re-situated within a darker, cavernous setting. Groaning low-end, found-sound loops, and layered noise veils collapse the Edenic translucence into something more delirious. Tones hover between synthesis and field recording in a half-waking state as the record slips into a more introspective, near sound-art–leaning zone.
Closing track El Baile de Ícaros opens at the opposite end of the spectrum. A soft, dulcet arpeggiation unfurls within a hyper-sanitised digital environment, stripped of abrasion. This clarity is offset by blissfully bitcrushed pulses forming a weightless, head-nodding rhythm reminiscent of Different Circles’ output, punctuated by bird calls and the gradual jingle of metallic chains. Operating within a serene, synthetic ecology, a vocal slowly emerges, curling into a ritualistic incantation - bringing the ascent to a close in an eerie yet bliss-tinged emotional state.
Paradise Mountain will be released on vinyl.