Sekta Obetí – the very attractive mysery of the Eastern smalltown

Published February, 2014
by Easterndaze

The original, 16-minute long EP called Obete Sekty was not only one of the best releases that the Slovak label Exitab put out, it can also, without any doubt, be considered as one of the best Slovak alternative releases of the last decade. The project, which was originally recorded almost 10 years ago was finally released in 2011 and now, after three years, Tomáš Ferko also known as Teapot has decided to revisit this piece, strongly connected with the memories of his hometown, Prešov, with the help of his friends.

The selection of the contributors invited to the project mainly consists of artists whose origins can be traced to Eastern Slovakia which is also the main concept behind the entire release. According to the press release, you can fully understand the meaning of this remix album only if you’ve spent some time smoking and drinking your mind away out of your frustration in this part of country. I don’t really think that this statement is completely right, as everyone who had to deal with the depressing reality of any post-communist upbringing in small town with the slightest ambition can relate to the feelings which are presented on this album.

SEKTA OBETÍ | EXTB052 by OBETE SEKTY

However, Sekta Obeti definitely cannot be considered as remix album in its classical meaning. The length of this tape exceeds the original footage four times and stretches the entire sonic output. Listening to this piece can be quite a difficult, ear piercing experience, which completely deconstructs the original tracks and covers them with noisy drones, lo-fi hiss and decay of the original themes and tunes on the release. First contribution is by one half of the dark ambient/dronemetal project BIOS O / / / / is good opener and introduction of what the listener can expect through this one hour lasting misery.

SEKTA OBETÍ | EXTB052 by OBETE SEKTY

Earbleeding sounds and noisy experiments mingle with dark droney soundscapes sometimes using only minor parts of the original release. A slight exception which gives you some time to breathe before another glitchy adventure is a remix by The Wasp, producer based in Prievidza, a city not so eastern, but in general known as a really dark and miserable place to live. His remix is a minimal/deep techno piece. The other tracks are not also easy to listen to, however, sometimes you can find yourself a bit bored by them, but if this has to represent the mood and setting of the east, then I have no objections at all. The final burst of light is a nod to William Burroughs and his cut and paste technique – the track called Cítime ako biele svetlo preniká našimi stehnami is remix made of all of the remixes present on the compilation and with its 23 minutes is the final farewell to the project.

SEKTA OBETÍ | EXTB052 by OBETE SEKTY

This album is really difficult to listen and consume at first, since most of the remixes are really uncompromising bastards of the originals. But that was possibly the intention, to create a painful and hardly digestible piece of work which conceptually finalizes everything. Time to take some Valium and booze.

By b.arctor