Release Date: 13 March 2025
Song Count: 5
Rating: 5.8/10
Description:
Don't let this stranger of a name fool you - Huremic is merely the name of the same South Korean music artist behind the art pseudonym Parannoul, making this technically the first artist I've reviewed on this blogsite more than once. Huremic seems to be a newly born musical project, given that Seeking Darkness is their debut album, was only released on March this year, and hasn't even been available to listen on a platform like Spotify until 9 October.
Here is what is really unique about Seeking Darkness, right out of the gate: in spite of it "only" consisting of 5 tracks, its total duration clocks in at exactly one hour down to the second. Every song spans across well over 9 minutes in length, and all but one exceed 11 minutes as well. Not only that, but every track in itself is titled "Seeking Darkness" followed by a part number, as if all of them combined grant one full mega-composition and a grand picture that was earlier divided into segments. This is also reflected in the way each track transitions through the other smoothly, using interlude-like segments to act as bridges between the main musical and ambiental themes of the actual parts themselves.
The first part represents a distorted and discordian noise rock sound that is not unlike projects that precede Huremic. While melodical and rhythmic lines do exist and shape the song into having somewhat of a structure, they ultimately are swept by a tide of athmospheric chaos. With some of the edge wearing off by the time the track ends, this ultimately leads the way to Part 2 being 11 minutes of what may as well be the same rhythm and subset of sounds looping around.
The third part is where things turn into an absolute rollercoaster, alternating from a symphonic and pleasant sound, gradually plunging into harsh static and crunch, pulling back on its instruments one by one during what seems to be an entirely non-melodic segment until all that is left is a bell playing in the key rhythm that has been keeping the song together, before adding melodies and instruments like guitars back into it. It sounds disjointed on paper, yet the slow and subtle changes are enough to let the song glide over between these wildly differing sections.
Part 4, not akin to the previous parts, leans heavily more into the "rock" side of things, ensuring an interesting and satisfying groove is consistently afloat throughout most of it and only occassionally interrupting it with harshness. Meanwhile, the closing part 5 begins quiet and calm before bursting in energy suddenly at the approach towards the 3-minute mark, providing a loud and explosive wall of music coming from electric guitars and drums whilst retaining a lower-tempo groove. This immense musical weight is then finally released at the end, fading away and marking the end of the album.
Seeking Darkness at first came across as a caringly produced yet ultimately unremarkable set of needlessly stretched-out tracks - however, the resurgence in interesting ideas that came along with the final two parts were sufficient enough to leave the album behind on a much higher note. With genres like Noise Rock, it is important to find a balance between harshness and musicality, and to not excessively lean one way or another to either fail to express the gravity of the musical piece one is creating, or to alienate any listeners unwilling to sit through what is essentially deafening droning. While the balance is far off near the beginnings of Seeking Darkness, killing most interest one could have, the sweet spot that makes the best examples of this kind of music hit different is truly reached towards the end and used to their fullest potential.
If you wish to try out this album for yourself, I personally recommend sticking to parts 4 and 5 for the best possible experience.