Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement

When he isn't making harsh noise as Prurient or dark industrial techno as Vatican Shadow (among several other projects), Hospital Productions head honcho Dominick Fernow also makes lush ambient techno as Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement. The project's recordings explore themes related to environmentalism, magic, and mysticism, and often incorporate field recordings and deep, dub-inspired bass tones. RSE debuted in 2011 with a series of Hospital-issued cassettes that retained some of the abrasiveness of Prurient's material, but with slow, pulsating drum machines and cavernous amounts of reverb. The project began appearing on vinyl in 2013, with releases including Black Magic Cannot Cross Water (on Blackest Ever Black), Folklore Venom, and Water Rose Above the Head, a more beat-driven release that appeared on Fernow's techno imprint, Bed of Nails. Fernow dedicated the next few years to his other projects and label duties, but RSE returned in 2016 with the triple album Green Graves, which was significantly more relaxing and meditative than anything Fernow had ever released. All of the project's early releases were remastered and collected as the cassette box Water Witches, and most of them were reissued on vinyl as well. Ambient Black Magic, featuring collaborations with Silent Servant and a remix by Substance, appeared in 2017. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi