Whatever I touch turns into gold
Whatever I think, it happens right away
Wherever I crouch, a creature suddenly appears
Wherever I look, a spring bursts forth
In an era dominated by echoes of the familiar, John Bérb-Eluha emerges with a fierce stride into unexplored territories of absurdity and existential humour. Widely celebrated for his meticulous contributions to Side-Line magazine’s Face the Beat compilations and his dark, industrial remixes for German titans Wumpscut, Bérb-Eluha’s latest self-named endeavour, BERBELUHA, plunges listeners into a theatrical whirlpool where sardonic wit melds seamlessly with surrealist melodies.
Dramat z Nietzschego (Drama from Nietzsche) acts as both ironic homage and incisive critique, twisting philosophical grandeur through a lens of mundane absurdity. Echoing Nietzsche’s profound yet mocking examination of humanity’s overinflated dramas, the album oscillates between biting satire and unabashed chaos, akin to the thought, “what if Hieronymus Bosch’s grotesque visions were set to coldwave and minimal electronic pulses?” or “What kind of surreal nightmares might one have if one listens to The Legendary Pink Dots and Borghesia before falling asleep?”
Paralysis epitomizes this idea, manifesting a sonic overload that transforms endless potential into a stifling deadlock. Through the repetitive use of shuddering metallic drum beats and baroque synth rhythms, along with dramatic lyrical emphasis, Berbeluha interrogates the ironic paralysis spawned by overwhelming abundance, marking an ironic farewell to the freedom promised by boundless creativity. Opening with bass synths buzzing and droning sustained synth warbles, Little Icicle unfolds as a twisted fairytale laced with giallo beats, juxtaposing festive wonder against sudden disaster. The bright charm of holiday baubles suddenly plunges into grim stillness, reminding listeners of life’s precarious fragility: innocence swiftly giving way to a darker fate, delicate as melting ice.
In stark contrast, “Legs” opens with distorted horns and bubbling disco beats, evoking a Leonard Cohen-esque collaboration with Golbin via Tenebrae. The song finds humour in the mundane, elevating daily rituals of hygiene into obsessive rites of bodily awareness. Beneath its comedic veneer, Berbeluha subtly tackles human anxieties around cleanliness and control, winking at the listener through obsessive repetition. Meanwhile, opening with a rubbery synth dirge that transforms into a phantasmagoric organ sound, Fishing is a whirlpool of atmosphere that humorously dissects procrastination and perpetual postponement through deep vocals and higher-pitched wails. Dreams of leisurely fishing trips remain tantalizingly out of reach, exposing humanity’s hesitant nature. Here, the irony is sharp: the comforts of delay become both refuge and prison.
With an almost folk-synth EBM beat, laced with metallic strumming and the dull knell of thick bells, Weather is a dirge that dives into paranoid uncertainty, blurring the line between internal anxieties and external disturbances. It evokes our compulsive search for reasons behind emotional unrest, oscillating humorously between suspicion and mundane meteorological scapegoats.
The album closes with an instrumental trio: the chilling, slow synth reminiscent of a hailstorm enveloping an aluminum cocoon in “Szkorbut” (Scurvy); the bubbling, whimsical sound of “Berbeluha,” which feels like the synth soundtrack to an 80s fairytale film; and the ominous descent into the depths in “Full,” which guides listeners into a deeper realm of reflective abstraction.
Particularly striking is Full, a hypnotically robotic mantra delivered with calculated precision, reflecting existential saturation amidst paradoxical emptiness. Directed visually by Łódź-based woodcut artist Andrzej Nowicki, Full encapsulates modern exhaustion, an allegory of information overload and emotional vacancy…a compelling endnote to a thoughtfully provocative record.
Dramat z Nietzschego is an oddity, and a triumph in balancing philosophical heft with mischievous levity —a sharp and satirical dance through life’s absurdities, offering an absurd yet profound voyage that leaves listeners intrigued, amused, and curiously unsettled. It is an album unlike any other, building a world of its own within its uncanny embrace.
Listen to Dramat z Nietzschego below and order the album here. You can also stream it on your service of choice here.
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