ninehertz

This is Dhyana's fourteenth release now, the first came out exactly four years before this one - an artistic productivity incredible in its own right. They've been a constant presence in my listening habits since mid-lockdown times. Dhyana is Buddhist drone performed by a single person. Drone always has the capability to be transcendental - I got completely lost in my own mind at Earth and Bong gigs - so add in the direct spirituality of Buddhism and it can create something approaching pure meditation.

Dhyana can be heavy too, doom-drone, not the ambient end you might expect. The name of the album, Mozhao, is apparently the Chan Buddhism teachings of stillness and emptiness - most apt. This feels a briefer visit than ever before (from memory at least), just four tracks, none particularly long, it'll serve well as a lunch break meditation session aid.

Comparisons of Dhyana to Om are inevitable, thematically, spiritually - I've made them myself before - but on tracks like Zuochan it is especially warranted, wanderings from that bass line with spectral whispers. Wumenguan feels like an early morning, low lying, dawn rising soundtrack - it doesn't do much, which would be a criticism in the majority of genres, but it's kinda the objective here; you can feel yourself drifting into the lulled state, like an inobtrusive drug, drawn through repetition, pure and mellow.

Drone is a skill, an artform, to drive the listener into a trance state, or at least bring the blood pressure down, put every day problems into perspective and really lock in. By creating it within the Buddhist spiritual state, Dhyana take this even further, and time and again provide releases that capture that spirit. This project has been consistent in terms of quality across every release, despite their frequency. As such, Mozhao is just another Dhyana release. But that's a good thing - this is a band you want to subscribe to, for your regular dose of doom-drone goodness and spiritual cleansing.