Ruina Imperii

Awful Grace, or The Tolling of the Void Bell

Ruina Imperii

or Our Feet Still Wet from the Riveredge

or A Mournful Addendum for Dr. Sagan (A Dirge in Six Parts)

First, a content warning:

The following piece is composed of some of the most disturbingly violent events ever recorded, most of which are presented with scant editing and at full volume. It includes graphic audio clips of suicides, murders, and man-made disasters. (I am obligated to also note that the most-featured clip details the implicit murder of many young children by their parents and caregivers. Though none of the violence being done to these children is recorded directly by the microphone, their screams can be heard in the distance throughout the clip.)

"And, putting his hand on mine with a cheerful glance from which I drew strength, he introduced me into the secret things. There sighs, weeping, loud wailing resounded through the starless air, for which at the outset I shed tears. Strange languages, horrible tongues, words of pain, accents of anger, voices loud and hoarse, and sounds of blows with them, made a tumult that turns forever in that air darkened without time, like the sand when the whirlwind blows."

Inferno, by Dante Alighieri (C3, 19-31)

Awful Grace is produced by The Champagne's Electric and is dedicated to the memory of Cecilia Vaisman.