Description
“Thebes is dedicated to a very old, discontinued composition I smelt in Paris at a certain famous establishment. It was so evocative that it was the only time a perfume bought me close to tears. As a result, I toiled for many months and many late nights to recreate it as I wanted it to be my signature perfume. And here it is…Thebes
This is a sombre, morose scent that makes one silent and ponder on the fragility of life and the certainty of death. It truly reinforces the later making one realise time waits for no one. At first, so colourful and filled with the spark of life, only to end with the scent of dry rot and decay…” — press release of the brand. Thebes Grade 1 was launched in 2016. The nose behind this fragrance is Sultan Pasha.
васяиндахаус – :
Thebes and I, admittedly had a bit of a rougher go on our first meeting – not due to the fragrance itself, but rather due to my nose and the conditions surrounding the meeting. To me, Thebes is a bit of an odd man out in the sample pack I had received – let me rephrase that: Thebes is a bit of an odd man out when it comes to fragrance, period. It seemingly defies categorization – it defies expectations that could be built off looking at note breakdowns – it defies.
Thebes calls to the ancient heritage we all come from – an olde world that we simply have had our access cut off from, save with divine intervention through experiences like this one. Thebes is bizarre, there’s no doubt about that. It’s paradoxical in a lot of aspects: clean and dirty, light and heavy, fresh and archaic, we could be at this for some time, but it’s all worth noting so that one might have a proper idea of the sort of reverence one should have when approaching Thebes: it’s not a fragrance that you can really wear, Thebes instead wears you.
This is I’m convinced one of the major names that the Sultan Pasha house can boast as a pure masterpiece in every sense of the word. What would I initially use to describe Thebes? Musky, smoky, green, dusty, bitter, ethereal, heavy, white, clean, aldehydic, cool, earthy… Perhaps I should stop there for now. Thebes starts to me with strange and ancient echoes of bergamot and a earthy dried vetiver surrounding an ancient temple in the middle of nowhere with heavenly (otherwordly and divine) white floral notes being carried by a gusting breeze (aldehydes) from the opening of the temple, and with ancient orris roots jutting from the ground all around its entrance. The bergamot, though ancient, occasionally still drips a drop of dew every few minutes, and as you step forward you brush against the brittle vetiver and into the white florals (jasmine? lilly of the valley?) whose syrupy dew get upon you and combine with the bergamot to keep the humidity from your body from fully leaving you a bone dry mess. The animalics and musk coming from deep, deep within the temple are foreboding, and yet enticing at the same time tempting you to gain entrance, but warning you that your mind might not be able to hand what there is within.
Each time I wear Thebes I feel as though I have discovered another room within the temple – on some wearings one finds the room which the orris root has overtaken, and the lovely iris aroma fills the room as the hours have passed from the adventuring deep within, and becomes the primary note you can smell, with a green/dusty vetiver still clinging to your boots – and other times still you will find the room from which all of the animalic qualities and musk came from – a room where ancient Gods icons were represented with towering sculptures – half human half animal – and below them a series of pelts and nuggets of resin/petrified animalic remains hang about – all still smelling relatively fresh and thick with the air of life having just left the room prior to your entrance and the thick, dark musk wraps you up in it’s effervescent glow and your remain there until the fragrance ends. Other times still, the floral notes seem to scream from throughout the halls and lead you to a chapel of sorts, where your vision starts to go, and the florals with it – there is a warmth and a sweetness here carried over from the tail end of the florals that seems to appear from out of nowhere, and though it is difficult to make anything out, the room is a very pleasant appearance on the horizon of scent that you previously encountered, and as such it gently whispers against your skin as you carry forward, eventually finding yourself outside of the structure and without an idea of what just happened.
Ultimately Thebes is a Mysterious Masterpiece that is as challenging as it is rewarding – one which must be tried by any means possible.
A perfect 10/10
YT: Jess AndWesH
zuomxfezjfa – :
How I love this!!!
It is the perfume version of Beethoven’s In Questa Tomba Oscura <3
bringsilence – :
Thebes is a homage to Guerlain Djedi. To even attempt such a project is huge because Djedi (which I have tested the Thierry Wasser vintage reproduction of) is such a peculiar and mysterious scent.
Djedi is the most atmospheric perfume I have ever smelled, and it doesn’t project conventional seduction, on the contrary, it could be described as ‘The beautiful dead’.
To me, the greatest perfumes make you forget ingredients and composition… and take you elsewhere.
Somehow, Sultan Pasha has captured this bizarre and forbidding atmosphere in his attar Thebes.
The crisp spring morning opening with lily of the valley prominent to the sky, beautifully balanced with comforting but deep orris to the ground. The whole soon swathed in a strange, beautiful doom, as if visiting an Egyptian tomb, with a peaceful, ancient atmosphere that you have never experienced before. But it is delightful.
The dry down is very complex and has, like Djedi, to me anyway, a really ancient leather slippers smell. Not that I have smelled any ancient slippers.
phn668Negeltzex – :
Thebes has been compared to vintage Djedi from Geurlain but I’ve not had the pleasure of trying it so this is a straight review. Like a lot of Sultan Pasha’s attars it’s a shape shifter. It has many layers and the first layer of this beauty is sharpness with a subtle smoke with a backdrop of papery softness. Very complex and polished! The smokiness is lovely and not overpowering. After 30 mins or so the smoke turns dustier but the geeen sharpness is still there like top C from a gifted soprano. It has layers of orris butter giving a soft oiliness and it shimmers with soft flowers, lily? Jasmine? Rose? All and more……it lasts for many hours and if you want a detailed description read Kafkaesque’s review for a really good review. I walked in the garden after I applied this and it changed again, becoming more alive and the damp weather here made it glow. I just don’t have enough words to describe it. The drydown is stunning……so important for me. It keeps on giving in wave after wave of heady florals and leathers and salty Ambergris. This is for me probably the best attar ….on my skin. It’s singing from a different hymn sheet, a different song and that song is otherworldly and glorious.