Album Review/ Horror Folk : Concetta Abbate’s ‘LAMINARIA’

Concetta Abbate along with The Concetta Ensemble present their latest album, ‘LAMINARIA’, an affecting blend of classicals with theatrics and performances that flow immersively into horror themes. The collective has a reputation for novelty, in fact it precedes them. Everything, starting from their vision, to their sophisticated sonic conception, design, proclivity for innovation, and layered instrumentals is top tier. You’ll see it streaming and thriving across this collection, collating vivid and vibrant visuals and pervasive sensibilities. 

Their tagline for the album is ‘a folk horror chamber music suite’, an encompassing description. However, it doesn’t speculate on the beautiful nuances that it comes with. They create abstract, contemplative ambiences, mercurial flows, and cinematic motifs. It poses floating scenes, both apocalyptically and sentimentally haunting. It confronts and comforts, ducks into the shadows and presents itself with grand luminescence. In tracks like ‘The Devil’s Apron’ and ‘Salted Shroud’, the group uses dissonance and discordance to flesh out the haunting overtones of the theme. 

However, in ‘Alkali Halo’ and ‘Water into Light’, they strike an ethereal balance between contemplative power and melancholic torment. It has soft curves but forms in a dark, deepened room. The vocals are especially touching, with their transcendental emotion and mysterious inflections. In ‘The Search’ it becomes emphatically theatrical. It transports you to an old black and white horror film. The instrumentals are animated and full of suggestive histrionics. 

‘Shards of Glass’ and ‘Death of a Witch’, the vocals play a powerful role. They bring a sense of one-dimensionality but are rich in their undertoned emphasis. The deeper you get into it, the more detailed and confounding the labyrinth becomes. Across the last four tracks, we see a variation of ambient flows that transport you. Each one to its own world. The melodies and intonations are minimal and mellow. But the emotion, feeling, and context that they’re crafted with transfers almost instantly to the listener on the other side. That ability to collectively and coherently pass on a consciousness, an idea, a creative endeavor points to a gift that is extraordinary. And this ensemble has it. Listen Now! 

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The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘Laminaria’ by Concetta Abbate here -