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by ~dhh for dohiphop.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Welcome to your heaven.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the phrase that echoed in my head within the first few minutes of Yugen Blakrok<\/a>\u2019s The Illusion of Being<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 and honestly, it never left. Some albums are written, others are summoned. This one feels like it was excavated from ancient memory, channelled from beyond the veil. It doesn\u2019t just speak; it vibrates through you \u2014 a kind of resonance for those who see through layers. This is sonic archaeology, language layered like sediment, each verse revealing a deeper truth.<\/p>\n Yugen has always existed in a league of her own \u2014 a mythical presence in the global underground. Return of the Astro-Goth<\/em> and Anima Mysterium<\/em> built the foundations. This one shatters the roof. The Illusion of Being<\/em> is bolder, rawer, and more refined all at once. The alchemy here is undeniable: part ancient wisdom, part quantum poetry, fully alive. With production led by longtime collaborator and sound-sculptor Kanif The Jhatmaster<\/strong><\/a>, this album travels realms \u2014 from earthbound grunge to cosmic trip-hop, to pure boom bap wrapped in smoke and prophecy.<\/p>\n \u201cMesmerize\u201d<\/strong> opens the gate, and from there the descent \u2014 or ascent \u2014 begins. The guitars growl, the flutes whisper, and the drums feel like ancestral memory. \u201cOsiris Awakens\u201d<\/strong> (ft. Mohama Saz<\/em>) is an early highlight \u2014 hypnotic, full of sacred pulse and shadow. Then comes \u201cFighter Mantra\u201d<\/strong>, a war cry for the soul, letting the listener know this journey isn\u2019t for decoration \u2014 it\u2019s for transmutation.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s with \u201cTessellator\u201d<\/strong> (ft. Cambatta<\/em>) that the sky truly cracks open. This track is a spell. Loudmic\u2019s cuts slice through the beat like ritual blades, while Yugen\u2019s delivery rides the rhythm with effortless menace. Cambatta matches her bar for bar in density and mystique, but make no mistake \u2014 she still owns the track, grounded and celestial all at once.<\/p>\n