JASMENO's "Assemblage of Cinematic Idioms" is now out in full. Tangled Records issued the physical editions — CD, LP and cassette — on September 11, and the album arrived on streaming services on September 21.
It is the third studio album from the project Sławomir Nietupski founded in autumn 2017, and the first release in nearly four years. It is also a decisive break from what came before: where "Jasmeno" (2020) and "Elixir" (2021) sat between progressive rock and melodic electronica with the 1970s and 1980s in earshot, this one is built around a virtual symphony orchestra and modelled on the assemblages of Polish sculptor Władysław Hasior, who made multilayered work out of fragments of reality that had no business fitting together. Six long pieces, close to fifty minutes, with lyrics by poet Izabela Turska-Kamrowska on everyday doubt, separation and the search for faith and joy inside ordinary life.
The instrumental core is Brian Gawaski on lead vocals, Michał Grall (UNBLESSED DIVINE, ex-SINISTER) on guitar, Artur Ołkowicz (MECHANISM, ART OF ILLUSION) on electric and fretless bass, and Nietupski on orchestrations, synthesizers, grand piano and programming.
Around them is a guest list assembled with the same logic as the album. Bartłomiej Krysiuk of PATRIARKH — the Polish band formerly billed as BATUSHKA — sings on "His Rebirth". Marc Grewe of MORGOTH, Snorre Ruch of THORNS, Yusaf Parvez of DØDHEIMSGARD and Sławomir "Slavo" Maryniewski of ARMAGEDON handle further vocals, with Joanna Zondłowska, Sasha Janowicz and Lecia Louise also singing. The guitars are spread wider still: Mariusz "Thrufel" Domaradzki (MASACHIST, YATTERING), Piotr Filonowicz, Marek Depa (ex-PAGAN FOREST), Tomasz Andrzejewski (ex-OBERSCHLESIEN), Łukasz Kowalski, Lecia Louise on electric and acoustic, and Jakub Wagner on flamenco guitar. Ryszard Kramarski of MILLENIUM and Robert Kołakowski add synthesizers.
Jakub Mańkowski mixed and mastered the record; his credits include BEHEMOTH, ME AND THAT MAN, BLINDEAD, Czesław Mozil and Justyna Steczkowska. The JASMENO logo is the work of Christophe Szpajdel, whose hand is on logos for EMPEROR, ABORTED and LORNA SHORE. Nietupski did the graphic design, the album layout and the hand-painted watercolour illustrations himself; the band photo session was shot by Agnieszka Stawrosiejko of Colleen Cummings.
"Assemblage of Cinematic Idioms" track listing:
- Synesthesia Imperialis
- A Code of Equivocation
- His Rebirth
- The Void
- The Provocation ov Fate
- Seduced by Ambiguity
Stream and order:
- Streaming: frontl.ink/d76m1jr
- CD, LP, MC and merch: jasmeno.bandcamp.com