‘No organs have been harmed in the process of making this album, only synthesizers,’ she responds a curious fan on Facebook who asked her if she used an organ on ‘Sonus Ruinae’. He could’ve been right, the organ is a very popular instrument lately. Though as for Marta De Pascalis, she sticks to her synthesiser and tape loops. Three albums already, she’s been using nothing but these tools to create a sound that resonates as a contemporary addition to the Berlin School. Building layers upon layers, she sets off to creating an ambient and hypnotic tapestry of sounds. A combination of crystal clear noises, growling basslines and endless, thin floating sounds keeping the frolicking tones together. ‘Sonus Ruinae’ feels like an hermetic dwelling during a sonic trip, swooping you entirely. ‘Arena Void’ and the filmic ‘Dust Pavilions’ soon turn into favourites. Surrounded by a two-folded title track which, not just because of the length, totally renders you into oblivion. The basis of this project were created during a residency at Worm Sound Studio, Rotterdam, in 2019. She defines the search for these sounds as very intense. An intensity you absolutely hear in the two title tracks and which extends throughout the entire album. Immensely captivating. ‘Music never ends,’ she tells a journalist. Nor do loops. Nor does listening to ‘Sonus Ruinae’. 

Marta De Pascalis – Sonus Ruinae (Morphine Records, 2020)