Ominous Signs (Finland/USA) – “Searching For Fire” EP
It’s been seven years since a chance meeting online, through a shared interest in underground hip-hop, brought together producer, Aendiem [Finland] and emcee/vocalist, Cognition [United States], for the first time. Having already worked on hip-hop music for many years, both found they hungered for a group endeavor and decided to work on a few songs together. What resulted from those earliest sessions was pure magic — lyrics, atmosphere, beats, melding together perfectly. When a handful of songs reached completion, each man realized a better match for their individual skills probably didn’t exist; the chemistry, unmatched, when compared to previous endeavors. Soon, whispers of a full-length album seemed the inevitable next step.
With an ocean and over four-thousand miles stretching between them, both men knew it would be a challenge doing an album together. Neither had any idea that the pathway that lay before them was littered with daggers and a sky that burned notably with the sweetest agonies of accomplishment. One might observe how these troubles, [IE: hard drive crashes bringing the loss of vocals, drums, lyrics, etc] fit perfectly with the aphotic music the duo composed. If anything, it plummeted them further into the gloom and macabre. Down the rabbit hole they went, with smiles on their faces.
Ominous Signs is more a soundtrack to some future apocalyptic world, than it is any defined genre, though its roots are based squarely in hip-hop. Cognition’s origins lay with poetry and his words bring imagery and moody cynicism to the forefront. The lyrics are a radiant lantern illuminating the sweeping, fantastical and symphonic atmospherics Aendiem brings to the music. Prepare to be taken on a phantasmagorical trip through the senses, deep into unexplored realms and forgotten places.
