The biggest news of September was, of course, the first two-day edition of Symmetry Music & Arts Festival. Described by Ravescoon as “probably the best first-year fest I’ve ever been to“, Symmetry’s debut has been unanimously portrayed as a smashing triumph by the wave community. “It was bigger than I had ever hoped for in every way” tweeted Fyoomz, co-founder of the festival. “The stages were bigger. The sound hit harder and deeper. The entire community showed up for this event. Some folks told me it felt like a pilgrimage.” If my FOMO was already at all-time heights before the festival, the weeks after have proved to be even worse given all the videos and posts that flooded my social feeds. “Symmetry fest was incredible…no words” commented Remnant.exe, while Eastghost added “[Symmetry] utterly transformed this little town in Iowa into a meeting ground for impassioned specialists in their artistic field. The type of event I’d return to year after year”. It’s hard to find the right words to properly explain the sense of achievement that this festival meant for the whole wave movement. The don Plastician backed up the general enthusiasm certifying that is “amazing that the whole movement is now able to do this!” but it’s once again Fyoomz who delivered the most heartfelt take: “we are building something here with this. I really can only describe it in one word. Community. I am so grateful to everyone who showed up or showed their support in other ways. It was special because of your support.” You can watch clips from the festival ground on Symmetry’s Instagram page or listen to a full recap on the last episode of PLURality podcast.
As for September’s playlist, the spotlight is deservedly occupied by Sibewest and his brand-new album Fallout. Presented as “the epitome of the past year of my life, my condition, thoughts, attitude and inner struggle with myself. Self-disappointment, emptiness and weakness”, the project indeed sounds like an emotional autopsy that lays bare the Russian producer’s inner self. Conceived by Sibewest as a story divided into chapters, Fallout oscillates between moments of contemplation characterized by wave and ambient tropes, and tumultuous segments that embrace electro and post-rock influences. The ten songs compose a journey that unfolds through passions, nightmares, and epiphanies, and which serves Sibewest (and all of us) “as a reminder that even after the darkest times, the light ones will surely come“. Excluding the tracks already published during the rollout, ‘Thunder’ seems to have quickly become the fan favorite cut. If you don’t feel like listening to the whole album, this is a single not to be missed.
Other personal highlights among the thirty songs featured in the tracklist are MitraWave’s ‘Last Call’, vowl.’s ‘The End’, and ‘Gateway’ by HAIKU. This month we also have a solid remix and bootleg section courtesy of lvst, Førgøtten, DIGITAL ENTITY, MIRAJ, and Myrmax. rvnti’s wave arc keeps getting better and better as well as Heimanu’s recent release streak. Juche showed no signs of letting up and dropped three releases in September as well.
Out of the blue, MYSTXRIVL and Sokos decided to release (or re-release) their 2017 classic, ‘Pixel’, on SoundCloud. I have no idea if there is a deeper meaning behind this choice, but in the meantime, I didn’t miss the opportunity to sneak such a timeless masterpiece in between all the new releases.
