Soundtrack To The Blind Owl (24BIT)

Tehran-based composer Morego Dimmer, under his primary moniker Xerxes The Dark, released Soundtrack To The Blind Owl (24BIT) in 2021 through Zāl Records. As a pioneer of the Iranian dark ambient scene since 2005, Dimmer utilizes this project to explore the intersections of industrial soundscapes and psychological desolation. This six-track album serves as an imaginary soundtrack to Sadegh Hedayat’s 1937 novella The Blind Owl, a cornerstone of Iranian gothic literature that depicts a narrator's descent into madness. Moving away from purely cinematic textures, the digital release incorporates drone metal elements, improvised noise, and the unsettling timbres of the waterphone and processed guitar. The work is noted for its harsher, more abrasive approach compared to the artist's earlier discography, situating it within a broader 2021 context of aggressive industrial-ambient experimentation. Presented in a high-fidelity 24-bit format, the album captures a dense sonic canvas of field recordings and distorted modulations intended to mirror the hallucinatory narrative of its source material.