Artist: Desiderii Marginis
Album title: Songs Over Ruins
Original release date: June 1997
Re-mastered release date: 27 January 2017
Original label: Cold Meat Industry (defunct)
Re-mastered label: Cyclic Law

Tracklist:
01. Songs Over Ruins I
02. Scintillate II
03. Ephemeral
04. Chrism
05. Entombment
06. Ashes
07. Solemn Descent
08. The Core of Hell II
09. Embossed in Bones
10. Songs Over Ruins II
11. Chreston

Desiderii Marginis debuted back in 1997 with this monumental release of Songs Over Ruins. Desiderii Marginis took many of the concepts which had been established in the young but prospering industrial ambient genre. Yet, he made them his own, twisted them to his liking, and along the way he paved the foundations of a decades running career in the industrial ambient, later referred to as dark ambient, genre. There is a beauty to this album, a dark and devastating beauty, which can’t be denied. His later career would build upon and often stray from these beginnings, but the fan-base and core mechanics of Songs Over Ruins would become a legacy of Desiderii Marginis ever after.

So much has changed in the music world since 1997. Not only the landscape of the sounds themselves, or even the labels that presented the genre, but more than anything, there have been many technical innovations, which make a re-master of old releases so tempting. The demise of Cold Meat Industry was a slow one, and Desiderii Marginis had plenty of time to switch his home-base to Cyclic Law. Cyclic Law is a label that hit the ground running, building a reputation with some of the highest quality dark ambient of the genre, in a relatively quick progression. So after solidifying his position as a fore-front artist on Cyclic Law, it only made sense to look back to the classic which started his career. Cyclic Law offered the structure necessary to facilitate a proper re-master and a release on vinyl for the first time, not to mention a CD release, both of which feature new cover art.

For the loyal fans of the industrial ambient genre, fans that have followed this music through its many shifts over the decades, there will be no surprises in Songs Over Ruins, it is a tried and true classic, and album that goes down as one of the stand-out-greats in a genre which is arguably filled with masterpieces. But for the younger fans, this re-release of Songs Over Ruins will be a welcome history lesson, and a glaring example of how amazing this music was, even 20 years ago.

Songs Over Ruins will be noticeably different from the Desiderii Marginis that we know in 2017. It stands to reason that over two decades an artist will shift and morph with their personal life changes, as well as the technical progress of the equipment used to create this sort of music. Songs Over Ruins takes on an industrial feel throughout the album, with the sounds of metallic clangs and down-tempo martial drum sequences pervading through almost every track. But listening closely it is obvious that this is Desiderii Marginis. The changes to come over the decades did not necessarily make the artist better or worse, they evolved in a way which kept the artist relevant and firmly positioned as one of the most revered of the genre.

There is a melancholia, a despair to this album. The religious under-tones are constant. The listener can close their eyes and melt into the soundscapes, envisioning a world actively collapsing under its own arrogance. We feel the presence of dilapidated churches, mourning choirs. There is a sense of warfare, which is just outside the reach of the congregation. As if they sit in waiting, praying to a god which has lost interest in their blasphemies. Humanity is at the brink of destruction, but this is their story, these are the songs that now reflect their dying breed. When only the strong will survive, the weak and reverent will find themselves utterly devastated, struck from the history books, as raiding bandits find themselves relishing in a world without morals or repercussions.

Songs Over Ruins is certainly an album of its time. It has many glaring similarities to raison d’être, a musical force that was carving its way into the collections of black metal and industrial fans, paving the path for generations of the industrial/dark ambient acts to follow. As one who can never get enough of a good thing, I find the beauty of these tracks to be first-class. The darkness of the music applies its umbra to the religious samples. What was once a beautiful church choir now becomes a chorus of the damned and dying, the devastation is bleeding through every note sung, every drumbeat hammered. Tracks like “Solemn Descent” and “Ashes” are brilliant examples of this comparison.

Don’t confuse the meaning, Desiderii Marginis is by no means a raison d’être copy-cat. There was a brilliance and an originality to Songs Over Ruins that couldn’t be denied. Cold Meat Industry already had one raison d’être, they didn’t need two. Desiderii Marginis brought a cinematic edge to the sound, taking listeners on a sort of journey through these decaying ruins of western civilization. Tracks like “The Core of Hell II” and “Embossed In Bones” seem to be some of the true precursors to the cinematic dark ambient sound which has really blossomed since the mid 2000s, brought to prominence by artists like Atrium Carceri. While Desiderii Marginis may have moved away from this style himself, it is easy to notice the effect that was left on the genre of dark ambient, a lasting legacy, which proves the reason that Songs Over Ruins can so easily be described as a classic of the genre.

In later years, Desiderii Marginis surely evolved, leaving behind much of this style that originally brought him to prominence. Yet, there should never be a sense of regret, no artist should go on for two decades reproducing the same sounds over and over, ad nauseum. But, that also doesn’t mean that these beginnings should be forgotten. In this remastered re-release of Songs Over Ruins the younger generations of dark ambient fans can learn much about the bygone decades of the genre. They can see where so many concepts came to fruition in the first place. As for the older crowd, here’s your chance to have Songs Over Ruins on a fresh pressed disc of vinyl for the first time ever. It’s a chance to have those magnificent sounds polished and renewed, to find their prominent position once again on the top shelf of any discerning dark ambient fan’s collection. Songs Over Ruins is a classic, the beginnings of greatness from a musician who would never disappoint. It is highly recommended to anyone with any love for the genre of industrial/dark ambient.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Artist: Kammarheit
Album: The Starwheel
Release Date: 2005
Label: Cyclic Law

Tracklist:
01. Hypnagoga
02. Spatium
03. The Starwheel (Clockwise)
04. Klockstapeln
05. The Starwheel (Counter Clockwise)
06. A Room Between The Rooms
07. Sleep After Toyle, Port After Stormie Seas
08. All Quiet In The Land of Frozen Scenes

By now, Kammarheit is about as close to a household-name as one can get, within the dark ambient community. Over the last 15 years, Kammarheit has properly released three full-length albums, as well as the Unearthed 2000-2002 set, all through Cyclic Law.

Kammarheit first made waves on the scene with the Nord Ambient Alliance album. An album which was one of the very first releases on Cyclic Law. To this day it is unmistakably pertinent to dark ambient. Kammarheit released these tracks alongside with a few other artists, including Northaunt and Svartsinn. Nord Ambient Alliance, and its contributing artists, would help shape the face of the dark ambient scene. These three projects have since been referred to fondly as the face of the second wave of dark ambient. The cold, cinematic, and subtle sounds of Nord Ambient Alliance provided a template for future artists, that still to this day holds strong.

Asleep and Well Hidden immediately followed. This album would give listeners a taste of what a full Kammarheit album sounds like. Yet, it wasn’t until The Starwheel that Kammarheit truly found his calling, and his audience. The Starwheel is named almost unanimously as one of the most important albums to the entire dark ambient genre, sharing this coveted position with other classics like Stalker by Lustmord and Robert Rich, as well as Prospectus I by raison d’être.

What could be so captivating about this album, putting it on a pedestal above so many other brilliant works in the genre? The answer is simple, Kammarheit was able to find that sweet-spot where subtlety, cinematics, and boldness all collide. I’ve used this album easily a hundred times to fall asleep, something that isn’t possible with many dark ambient albums. The slowly sweeping drones match brilliantly along side the bold use of field recordings. These field recordings serve two purposes. They bring out the cinematic element, giving listeners thoughts of some massive clock tower, overshadowing a cold, misty landscape. They, simultaneously, give the album a punch, a direct and sometimes overwhelming sense of purpose.

As all the aforementioned elements come together, the listener sinks into a sort of trance-like state. In those moments when the mind is at its most vulnerable, just before sleep takes its grasp, The Starwheel shines the brightest. The mind is able to fall in synchronization with the album. The dreamy drones lull the listener to the very edge of sleep. Just as this happens some bold sounds push through the blanket of slumber. This collision can put the mind in tune with the music. Just as the notes from a guitar take on a celestial perfection as they are brought in tune, so the mind equally finds this perfection in these moments during The Starwheel. As the mind goes in tune with the music, the listener is able to feel an sort of out-of-body experience, a oneness with the music. A relationship is born herein which gives the listener a warm connection, a loving bond which may never be broken. Waking up hours later, reflecting on this phenomenon seems almost impossible. Yet, again, it arrives the following night in those moments before slumber.

What followed The Starwheel was an unexpected gap of roughly a decade before the release of its successor, The Nest. Yet, Kammarheit never lost relevance over this time. Fans pined over The Starwheel and Asleep and Well Hidden. They dug up, from the deep recesses of the internet, previously unreleased works by Kammarheit. These six unreleased albums took on such a life of their own that in early 2015 Cyclic Law released Unearthed 2000-2002, finally giving these albums a proper mastering and a beautiful presentation, in the form of a cloth-bound digibook.

Since the re-emergence in 2015 of Kammarheit, there have been a slew of releases from Pär Boström. The Nest marked the return of Kammarheit. It was a brilliant album full of foggy supernatural soundscapes, true to the form of previous Kammarheit works. Cities Last Broadcast, Pär’s side-project, released its sophomore album The Humming Tapes on Cryo Chamber. Kammarheit joined up with Atrium Carceri and Apocryphos for two of the most compelling dark ambient releases to date in Onyx and Echo. Pär, joined by his sister Åsa, established their new label and printing press, Hypnagoga Press. On Hypnagoga Press, Pär and Åsa released their first cooperative project, Hymnambulae, an eerie, yet beautiful take on the more mystical side of dark ambient. Hypnagoga Press released its second album, Altarmang Void, months later, a mystical partnership between Pär Boström and Kenneth Hansson.

What comes next is anyone’s guess. Among Cryo Chamber, Cyclic Law, Hypnagoga Press, and who knows how many more partnerships, Pär Boström seems to be on a roll with no end in sight. This is surely just fine with his die-hard fans, who were accustomed to waiting great swathes of time between releases. Yet, these die-harders are finding their company growing every day, as Pär Boström takes his career to new heights, and apparently the sky is the limit.

Links: Kammarheit Official Site, Kammarheit Facebook, Kammarheit Bandcamp, Pär Boström Official Site , Hypnagoga Press Facebook, Hypnagoga Press Bandcamp, Altarmang Facebook, Altarmang Bandcamp.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Artist: Atrium Carceri
Album title: Cellblock
Release date: 3 September 2003
Original label: Cold Meat Industry (defunct)
Rerelease label: Cryo Chamber

Tracklist:
01. Entrance
02. Black Lace
03. Machine Elves
04. Corridor
05. Blue Moon
06. Stir of Thoughts
07. Depth
08. Crusted Neon
09. Halls of Steam
10. Reborn
11. Red Stains
12. Inner Carceri

At this point, Atrium Carceri should be a well known name to any fan of dark ambient music. With 10+ albums under the moniker Simon Heath has built a brilliant labyrinth of story-lines, mythos, and protagonists. The Atrium Carceri mythos is one of, if not the most, impressive collections of music within the dark ambient genre. The depth and sheer volume of the material could honestly thrust Atrium Carceri out of the confines of dark ambient music and into some other varied media. With this much information to pick from, it would be absolutely possible to make a series of books or films just based on the information already revealed. Yet, back in 2003 when Cellblock first released, dark ambient wasn’t really even a thing. Or at least, not in name.

Referred to by many at the time as “dark wave” it was really hard for fans and reviewers alike to even know how to classify Cellblock. There had been hints of music in the past which touched on the cinematic dark ambient experience, but no one had dedicated a whole album to this particular style. Atrium Carceri, as we now know, wasn’t just an artist writing albums. Atrium Carceri was, and still is, a story, a mythos, a set of gods, protagonists, times, and locations across a devastated and dying planet. The world was being turned on its head. The fabric of reality itself was tearing as gods and men reversed their roles, became one, killed each other off.

There are so many questions to ponder when it comes to the Atrium Carceri mythos. Does this take place on Earth, the Earth we know? Maybe. Most likely. It is worth noting that, in Za Frumi, Simon Heath’s earlier endeavor with Simon Kölle, he incorporated vocals in the orc tongue. So taking this into consideration, it becomes more clear that Cellblock must have taken place in Japan and U.S.A. As we can hear dialogues on Cellblock in Japanese and American English. If this were some foreign planet, I have to imagine Simon Heath would have used some other form of communication other than these two well recognized languages.

Having answered (or at least attempted) the question of where, we now must ponder the when. This one is much more problematic. I like to think of the when in Cellblock being in the near future, maybe within 50 years or so. There seem to have been structural changes to our cultures and planet hinted at in later albums, but on Cellblock, for the most part, things sound contemporary. Yet, the timeline of this album seems to lie in two separate time-frames. For the majority of the album we witness the environment and mental deterioration of a prison inmate. As we hear on “Crusted Neon” this is taking place in Japan. “Crusted Neon” appears to be a flash-back, a memory of some scene before the protagonist was imprisoned. Yet, 3/4 of the way through the album we reach “Reborn” a track which in name and sound seems to be a literal rebirth. Within the pages of the album the final line of text is “How many do we have to kill before they stop coming back?” This line seems to hint at the presence of reincarnation. Indeed it would seem that the original protagonist has died and has possibly been reincarnated in The United States. Yet, he still has the same thirst for blood, the hunger for murder is ever present. Coming back with his same desires, the reincarnated protagonist has returned to the murder spree which found his former self imprisoned. A detective on “Reborn” gives us an idea of the man’s deeds, saying “She’s been strangled, her throat’s been slashed. There’s jagged wounds running down the left side of her abdomen…”.

The idea of the change of landscape and time seems to be compounded by the choice of sounds in the two sections of the album. “Entrance” through “Halls of Steam” seem to be very subterranean, murky, muddled in their sound. They seem to depict the prisoner from his initial entrance to the prison, a time of fear and sad realization. As the album progresses the isolation becomes more and more profound, the mind of the protagonist deteriorates as he lies in his filthy cell, devoid of all contact with the outside world, save for his jailer. On “Reborn” there seems to be a good bit more clarity, the sounds are less murky and more crisp and pristine. This gives a sense of being outside the prison walls. The use of the English in its American dialect helps us realize that we are not in the same country anymore. It is worth noting here, that this final section of the album may be nothing more than a dream, an attempt to live through the dreamworld outside the confines of the prison, in a foreign land.

However, this vacation from imprisonment is fleeting. “Red Stains” is a highly suspenseful track, built up by its brilliant handling of the synth arrangement. It feels as if we have followed the detective of the previous track to the scene of the crime. Or is this a second crime? Hard to say, but we do seem to still be on American soil. As the track reaches its close, we hear the sounds of a metal door squealing open and then closed. Is this a sign of entering a second prison? Or, has the original protagonist just been awoken by the sound of his prison cell door opening? Again, it is hard to say. By the final track “Inner Carceri” it seems the murderer has been caught. His reincarnated self is now again imprisoned. The subterranean sounds return, yet it appears to be less muddled than on the previous tracks. This gives a sense of the clarity of the mindset of the prisoner, he has not yet succumbed to the isolation, he still has his wits. The album ends on this note, but we will see in the second Atrium Carceri album, Seishinbyouin that there is still more to be told about the tribulations of the imprisoned.

The release of Cellblock was immediately recognized by many to be a genre defining moment. The attention to detail on Cellblock cannot be overstated. The use of field recordings, human voices, synth, piano, and percussion all come together to present a thoroughly intricate and enjoyable album which not only is a delight to the senses but also tells a story. This story is not easily decipherable. I have given my best interpretation here of what I believe has taken place, but for all I know, I’m totally wrong. Simon Heath has been extremely cautious in how much information to give fans about the story-line of Atrium Carceri. Now over a decade after this debut, we are seeing time-lines and more details of the story slowly surfacing. But, back in 2003 the journey was only beginning and the story was anything but clear to the listener. Simon Heath has hinted at some future possibilities for clearly defining the story, but for now it is totally up to the listener to put the puzzle pieces together, as best they can. The mystery is often half the fun, the other half being a line of brilliant albums to feast upon.

Written by: Michael Barnett (5 November 2016)

Band: raison d’être
Album title: Prospectus I
Release date: 1993
Original Label: Cold Meat Industry (defunct)
Re-release Label: Old Europa Cafe (physical), Yantra Atmospheres (digital)

Tracklist:
01. Katharsis
02. Ordeal In Chapel
03. Ascension De Profundis
04. Mourning
05. Mesmerized In Sorrow
06. Cenotaphium
07. Synopsis
08. Anathema / Apotheosis
09. Penumbra

Back in 1993, Peter Andersson unleashed an album on the world which would be one of the benchmarks for dark ambient, a genre that was still in its infancy at the time. Sure, other artists had been pushing slowly in this direction as well. Delerium was fresh off their release of Stone Tower an album which must have had a decent bit of influence on Peter Andersson, who followed closely to their template but took it into a darker and more subtle place. A place devoid of the front and center percussion heard in Delerium. The classic Heresy by Lustmord was still just making waves across the scene.

Into this landscape, enter raison d’être. raison d’être clearly can’t be credited with starting the dark ambient genre. While still quite primordial, dark ambient already had about ten years worth of experimentation under its belt before Prospectus I hit the shelves, through the legendary Cold Meat Industry label. However, CMI did already have a name for themselves. So when Prospectus I released, it immediately found an audience. Fans ears perked up, maybe for the first time, as they heard an album which would change the face of the genre.

Lustmord through the proceeding years had been going for a sinister sort of feel. Heresy is wrought with some downright horrifying moments. raison d’être flipped the script, presenting an album which shared equal parts beauty and darkness. The sacral vocals incorporated throughout the album would not only become a trademark of the raison d’être sound. They would be tested and refined by many other artists even to this day. Whether any of them have ever reached the glory of this early release is a question that is absolutely debatable.

Adding upon the sacral vocals, which are such a defining part of their sound, raison d’être dug even deeper into this contrast between the light and dark. “Ordeal In Chapel” may be the most beautiful track on Prospectus I. On “Ordeal In Chapel” we hear and feel our surroundings in this chapel. Chanting is the dominate characteristic with a bell tolling in the background. Gently droning synths hold the majority of the track together, before fading out toward the end, as the track progresses further into the darkness. On “Ascension De Profundis” we are given a reasonably calm backdrop, with the sounds of church bells tolling. But these pleasant sounds are betrayed by the repeated phrase “The Holy Father”, and a sacral chanting sample which repeats throughout the track in an unsettling and decidedly eerie manner. The icing on this cake is an extremely well placed industrial sort of drum beat, which, while being quite pronounced in the track, doesn’t shatter the atmosphere, as is the case so often in dark ambient albums with percussion. Again on “Cenotaphium” we hear this brilliant use of industrial percussion, adding to the depth, yet allowing for continued immersion. Also of particular note, is the final track “Penumbra” which does break the immersion of the listener a bit, but not to a negative effect. Something that sounds almost like a violin, but is much more likely a heavily treated synth, cuts into the mix with its high-pitched notes. Following this is a clear and abrupt synth line, which meanders almost playfully through the track, taking on an Atomine Elektrine feel. Yet, with much of the album, this lighthearted side doesn’t last forever. We are slowly inundated with a pulsating sound which could almost be a human voice, but sounds quite demonic. A dreamier, yet fear inducing, synth line falls into the mix. On its tail is some serious use of industrial field recordings, which become more dominant as the track proceeds. By the end of “Penumbra”, we can hear a plethora of field recordings which all come together in a cinematic manner which might not be used so successfully again on a dark ambient album, until the coming of Atrium Carceri in the mid-2000s.

While raison d’être didn’t form a genre with this album, he did succeed in bringing a more peaceful, yet simultaneously eerie and irreligious release to the forefront of the CMI scene. The sense of beauty within the darkness cannot be overstated. One gets a feeling of religious nostalgia, simultaneously with a sense of the corruption on the part of Christianity. Light and dark are two sides of the same coin, and raison d’être is one of the best at blurring the lines between these two sides. Prospectus I has proven over the last 22 odd years that it is indeed a classic. As a fan who came into the genre much later, it is absolutely necessary to look back to the beginning, not only to see where the genre came from, but also to realize that some of these classic releases truly stand the test of time and would be just as welcome to the scene today as they were two decades ago.  Looking reverently back on the early albums of the 80s and 90s as if digging the dirt off the remains of an illustrious ancient civilization, there are few other artists that can bring out such emotion as raison d’être. Peter Andersson would refine and expand upon the template set in Prospectus I to build one of the most successful careers in the dark ambient scene. This album is an absolute must for any dark ambient fan who looks back over the history of the genre and doesn’t know where to start. Prospectus I is truly a classic and an early masterpiece of dark ambient.

Written by: Michael Barnett (9/9/2016)

Nota Bene:
raison d’être has recently restored, re-recorded and mixed Prospectus I. Check the “Re-release Label” links at the top or click on the Bandcamp player for information on purchasing this redux version of Prospectus I.