Lamentations by Sachi Kobayashi

War acts as a bottomless pit of human desires, pulling in our essence and energy before unceremoniously flinging everything into the void. On Lamentations by Sachi Kobayashi, tape manipulation and distortion mimics the corrupting effect of conflict, chewing up the spotless synth pads of hopes and dreams, spitting out an unsettling mass of crunchy noise. Momentarily, the machinery of war may gratify our desire, providing an outlet for our passion or our need for community, as evidenced by the rare coincidence of harmonic beauty occasionally visible across the early portion of the album. However, the moment of greatest conventional harmonic beauty on the record only arrives with the onset of lasting peace, a pristine yet tragic moment of slow reorganization after the trauma of war. In a world governed by those who stand to gain the most from bloodshed, a deeply honest view into the implications of war for the everyday human spirit refreshes us, reminding us that the narratives that bombard us originate from deep within the amoral bottomless pit.