So for his latest project, he invited a host of musicians (including Dylan Amirio’s project Logic Lost, Billy Saleh, Haikal Azizi, Jodi Setiawan and more), turned two of them — Baldi Calvianca (from the band Strange Fruit, among others) and Andi Hans Sabarudin (from the band Seaside or Pandai Besi, among others) — into equals, and made an album together.

That album is called Affliction, and the project is called The Knife Club. And this is where his voice disappears.

Though he sings in all of the songs on the nine-track Affliction, Marcel’s voice is caked with so many effects that it’s barely recognizable.

And all of these songs bear the same DNA that wouldn’t be unrecognizable on a Sajama Cut record or even Marcel’s body of work, which includes his ambient project Strange Mountain or his drone project Roman Catholic Skulls. On Affliction, this voice is his and so is this masquerade.

Affliction is a propulsive album through and through. First, with “Cinema 1”, it starts off on an uncertain note: twinkling synths hint at nothing in particular.

Business really takes off when “Downstairs in a Maze” lands like a thud — paying no mind to a smooth transition. Built around an energetic guitar motif and a cavernous percussion, the song hints at Affliction and its prickling sense of a singular sound.

“A singular sound” might scan as criticism, but with a resume as formidable as Marcel’s, you’d be hard-pressed to learn that these songs really do bend to one sturdy vision. But okay, they could sound alike.

What this album reminds me of most is, unsurprisingly, Sajama Cut’s recent LP Hobgoblin — a more varied collection of songs. Affliction, however, relies on more synths or synth-like guitars: take “Gracious Grounds” for instance, the best cut on this record, where the synths dance the way a guitar would (at times, it’s hard to tell the difference).

Affliction’s credits do attribute most of the instruments to Marcel (from a sitar to a Cathedral organ), but the small details steer the songs away from outright tedium — “Half Cities” begins with an effect-laden guitar by Jodi; Dylan’s buzzsaw animates “Stelarc”. While unconcerned with respites, Afflictionbenefits most from these tidbits.

“I Am the Red Circle” plays like a night ending with a quiet stupor — the math’s not quite right on the intrusive organ, on Marcel’s coked-up voice, and yet it works.

Lyrically, Affliction marches on with the weather-beaten temperament heard or read on Marcel’s previous songs. From dealing with “venomous liars” to “shallow humming villains”, the lyrics are indebted to horror or otherwise impenetrable tropes. “And I’m always drinking poison/and I’m always spitting lies,” Marcel sings on “There Were None Truths”. To scour for hidden meanings on any cherry-picked lines seems to be a fool’s errand.

Affliction’s strongest virtue, of course, is the musicians’ individual prowess — gamely anchored by the main musicians’ curation. At times, it may sound like it comes out from the same hive, but the songs linger afterwards. There’s something to admire from this collaborative bent alone and Affliction is one of its strong delegates.

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