Dorcas
Oficyna Loża proudly present their 8th release and once again invite you to take a stroll in the land of the dying sun. Based on Gene Wolfe’s literary work much like the label’s mainstay Urth, Dorcas is shrouded in secrecy – no information on the mastermind behind this project is publicly available. Premiering on August 1st, 2025, the album will be available on all streaming platforms and as a limited-edition digipack.
The self-titled debut channels Wolfe’s eclectic style, including the abundance of references to myriad cultures and the medieval futuristic world building. The rich array of sounds used runs the gamut from typical orchestral sets and analogue-like synths to numerous instruments like the zither, hand drum, bansuri, harpsichord, church organ, harmonium, barrel organ, glass harp, percussions, gongs and Tibetan bells. Apart from the strong new age music influence ( Vangelis), you can hear the echoes of kirtan chants, medieval marches, Ghost in the Shell-like Bulgarian choirs or the majestic magic of Susumu Hirasawa. The mood also evokes the best third-wave dungeon synth releases from Erang, Fogweaver or Elyvilon.
In “The Book of the New Sun”, Dorcas is the torturer-protagonist’s love interest. Not the only one, though perhaps the most important as her innocent existence, suspended between life and death, largely motivates his transformation. Like her biblical counterpart, she rose from the dead: Severian, then unaware of his resurrection powers, pulled her from the bottom of a lake back into the world of the living. The more he becomes attached to Dorcas, the more his need for love and care grows, the more she suffers and longs to return where she came from: the necropolis under the lake’s waters. She symbolises the pure and new, which inspires change, at the same time serving as a reminder that symbols cannot exist in reality. When a sign takes on real meaning in life, while it brings forth renewal, it ceases to exist as a holy icon in itself. We may desire perfection, but we will never seize it.
