DREAD

Christopher’s background in black metal made physical intensity a natural part of the way he approached the cello. Across two days in Los Angeles, we recorded performances driven by forceful attacks, frantic bow movement and sustained pressure, capturing the rosin and natural detail of his mahogany cello through multiple microphone positions.

There was so much physical movement already present in the recordings, the sound design was about pushing and shaping that material rather than manufacturing tension afterwards. We narrowed down the performances into five curated gestures, keeping the ones with enough instability and character to make a moment feel deliberate rather than generic.