My sincere apologies for the long delay since our last Frozen In Time, but I have continued from where I left off in July. So there will be no skipped time still! Of course this means the list is rather massive. I urge you to take your time, bookmark the page if you must, so that you can give each of these artists their deserved chance.  

I’ll be away again for the first half of October, so I will try to stay current on correspondences, but if you don’t hear back from me I will be returning soon enough!

Reminder of New Physical Address for Submissions!
Michael Barnett
9100 Blues Alley Apt.G
Laurel, Maryland, 20723 USA

Newest Publications on This Is Darkness

Ruptured World – Interview

David Lynch – Nudes – ArtBook Review

Room To Dream – David Lynch [semi-auto]biography – Book Review

Artaud 1937 Apocalypse by Antonin Artaud – Book Review

The Inner Sanctum – A Dark Ambient Vlog: Episode 5

Post-Industrial Death Mix (2 hour seamless mix)

Essential Dark Ambient Mix (2 hour seamless mix)

Random News

Feedspot has named This Is Darkness as one of the top 15 ambient music blogs in their latest update. We are pleased to be alongside well known and respected zines in the dark ambient world such as Heathen Harvest and Noise Receptor. Hopefully this will help bring some more new fans to the genre!
See the list here.

Martin Bladh – New Book Released
The new novella, “Marty Page”, is a body horror romp through a self-imposed dungeon of depravity and sensory excess, written by Martin Bladh. Martin Bladh is a Swedish writer, artist and musician, leader of the post-industrial band IRM, the musical avant-garde unit Skin Area and co-founder of publisher Infinity Land Press. Stapled booklet. 56 pages. 8.5 x 5.5 in. $10 Buy here:
https://amphetaminesulphate.bigcartel.com/product/marty-page

Events
(Please inform us of your relevant upcoming events: info@thisisdarkness.com)

Autumn Electronix II – By Annihilvs

Tickets: http://garnerartscenter.org/store/autumnelectronix

Festival L’homme Sauvage 2

Tickets: https://www.hommesauvage.net

Music Videos

Apoptose – “Time-Lapse City”
“Time-Lapse City” is the first video single of the upcoming Apoptose album Die Zukunft.

Ionophore – “Blade”
“Blade” is the first offering from the new album Whetter which has just released on Malignant Records. This is a side-project of Leila Abdul-Rauf, who has also released a new album on Malignant. The video was created by: Rhea DeCaro.

New Releases:

ᚾᛟᚢ II // ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ – Alpha Ænigma (Digital Only)
ᚾᛟᚢ II // ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ is Henrik Nordvargr Björkk and Thomas Ekelund (not to be confused with their other project “Det Kätterska Förbund”).
With every repetition of these curses, the emanating energies are multiplied by one order of magnitude. Each current becomes a shining dagger that cuts through the flesh, and bone, and souls of treacherous men.

Abbattoir & Satori – New Album Released (GH – CD/Digital)
“Satori, continuing a project first started in the 1980’s founding member Dave Kirby brings an onslaught of industrial soundscapes, pounding drums and a dystopian vision of a world commited to destroying itself.
Comprising a mixture of harsh noise and power electronics with a harder and heavier percussive beat than before Satori enter 2018 with a collection of new songs “Dispossession” based on the physical and mental disconnect facing everyone in the modern world. A constant pervasive undercurrent of violence, the feeling of a society on the brink of a total meltdown and the fears and torments of the powerless individual.
Lorenzo Abattoir is an Italian-based noise artist and sound engineer from Torino. His work takes shape in a context of underground extreme noise music to become accessible through projects related to sound art. ‘The sound of chaos merging with order, where every detail and nuance seems to be carefully regulated and controlled’.”

Akhtya – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“Elements of Apotheosis is a recording for the ritual chamber, meditation, visualization and to inspire astral and dream projection. Akhtya recorded and presented the track at the 2018 Flambeau Noir during Michael W. Ford’s presentation on Demonic Symbols and Basic Magick. This recording explores the Miltonesq representation of Satan/Lucifer and the Fallen Angels as Bringers of Wisdom, Power and Balance in this life. The planet Venus is depicted twice to represent the Morning & Evening Star. The recordings are interwoven heights and depths of acasual streams of the adversarial current which holds dominion over the casual world and brings transformation or decay to the natural order. This balance, represented by the darksome journey into chaos finds spells and incantations upon the winds; light is that Black Flame of spirit which takes form under the Deific Mask of the Adversary and fallen angels taking many forms. Invocations and Names of Power of the Watchers, Satanic and Luciferian demons and deities are uttered to unlock forgotten gates in our subconscious, opening the Left-Hand Path to Apotheosis or becoming “As a God”. Simply put, Luciferian Theurgy is to master the self and build your own domain according to your will in this life.”

Alaskan Tapes – New Album Released (Facture – CD/Digital)
“You Were Always An Island opens with a downpour of rain. Staring out at its constant fall, listeners can only wait for it to stop. The music’s already waiting: for someone, and for a moment that will never arrive…
Alaskan Tapes aids in the clear-up operation, helping to cleanse the air if not the growing solitude. Quiet drones and sullen strings dispel the rain, but it lingers in the streets, overflowing around the mouth of its gutter. The music has been invaded by a longing which spreads like a tendril of ink in clear water, bruising the atmosphere with its purple, sour colour.
An event shakes the soul with the magnitude of an earthquake. In this case, the cruelty of distance and the greater cruelty of war which separates a couple. As a man leaves to fight, his beloved has no other choice but to wait for his return. She sends unanswered prayers. His absence grows longer with every sunset. Unable to wait and growing increasingly anxious, she sets off to look for him, a lighthouse offering a faint lifeline in the gathering gloom, only to sadly learn of his death. The separation is permanent – death us do part.”

Andromalar – Preorders Available (Reverse Alignment – CD/Digital)
“Reverse Alignment welcome ukrainian Andromalar to the fold. After three self released titles this magic drone act now found it’s way to our label. Vast, dreamy soundscapes is expected. Listen and you’ll understand what Andromalar is all about.”

Ataşehir – New Album Released (Sumatran Black – Digital)
The new side-project of Sumatran Black, Ataşehir, is a residential development on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The titles for Colorful Places to Live and Play are taken from aspirational advertising slogans of various residential developments from around the world.

Atrium Carceri – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – Vinyl/CD/Digital)
“Atrium Carceri returns with Codex, an album 3 years in the making. Dark drone, industrial beats and brooding choirs set the tone for exploration of a world beyond the illusion.
Deep in the roots of the citadel a sea of white robes ever flows. Those Fallen from Elysium kneel here, with blissful smiles and fearful eyes.
The sorrowful melancholia of a thousand whispered prayers lies heavy about the place. Prayers for the Demiurge to return, and grant them once more the warm embrace of their paradise.
The DigiBook version of this release contains artwork Simon has been working on for years with accompanying writing. A glimpse into the world beyond, where we once ruled as gods. The CD version comes in a 16 page hard cover deluxe DigiBook with matte lamination.”

Bjärgö – New Albums Released (Digital Only [currently])
Peter Bjärgö, known for his work in Arcana, Sophia and Karjalan Sissit is back with another solo album, this time under the moniker Bjärgö. Make that two solo albums! From Arcana’s Facebook post: “Peter has once again finished a new album under his project name BJARGO. And once again his beautiful soundscapes fill the room. Listen with high volume!”
Asked about a physical version they responded: “Not now, later! In the speed Peter is producing now we don’t want to wait for releases of cd’s:)”

Bonini Bulga – Sealed Now Available On CD (Hypnagoga Press/Cyclic Law – Cassette/CD)
“Sweden’s enigmatic and highly productive Pär Boström of Kammarheit, Cities Last Broadcast and Altarmang presents yet another singular project under the name Bonini Bulga. His debut Sealed was originally recorded and released in 2017 as a limited edition cassette on Boström’s own label Hypnagoga Press. We gladly present a remastered and extended version of this release. In recent years Boström has been exploring new sonic territories through his various projects, and with Bonini Bulga he’s chosen a more lo-fi loop based approach to his musical creations, bleak and minimalistic, we journey through a careful blend of processed analog synth layers and poignant revolving passages. This expanded edition includes three new tracks, which further exposes Boström’s unique vision and creative pact with the unknown, giving listeners the complete scope of his contemplative sonic magick.”

Caleb R.K. Williams – New Albums Released (Eagle Stone Collective – Digital)
I’ve been following the music of Caleb R.K. Williams and Co. from The Eagle Stone Collective more and more recently. Williams has a pretty grueling release schedule, with something new usually every month. But, unlike many artists rolling through such an enormous amount of material, each album seems emotional, fresh, and different from his previous works. With everything on their label set as “name your price”, it can’t hurt to give them a try! Highly Recommended.

The Caretaker – New Stage Released (HAFTW – CD/Vinyl/Digital)
“Stage 5 – September 2018 (K+L+M+N)
Post-Awareness Stage 5 confusions and horror.
More extreme entanglements, repetition and rupture can give way to
calmer moments. The unfamiliar may sound and feel familiar.
Time is often spent only in the moment leading to isolation.”

Common Eider, King Eider – New Album Released
(Cyclic Law/Sentient Ruin Laboratories – Vinyl/CD/Cassette/Digital)
“A Wound Of Body is the first chapter in Common Eider, King Eider’s Wound “duology”, forming the group’s most focused and fully realised work to date. Offering a sprawling, audial exploration of wounds at once physical and spiritual, social and societal, natural and environmental.  A Wound Of Body is a beautifully stark soundscape, dolorously dense, suffocatingly oppressive and utterly claustrophobic. An immersive black hole of bleak, cavernous drone music and disquieting, desolate ambience, each track a hushed and harrowing ritual; the surface minimalism underpinned by a churning morass of sound, a layered liturgy of blackened invocations and nebulous strings hovering in the shadows. Presented in a beautiful black and silver duotone sleeve, adorned with images of micro-landscapes rendered in bone, stark images of the alien, otherworldly topography that lurks beneath the skin, emblematic of the inevitable decay and disintegration of our physical forms: the ruin we become, and the ruin we leave behind. Layout Design by Yoli at Aponeurotica.”

Corona Barathri – New Album Released (Grey Matter Productions – CD/Cassette/Digital)
“A new ritual material written on the eve of the Great Sabbath, dedicated to all the dark souls – Faithful to Diabolus! ”

Corona Barathri & Emme Ya – New Album Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
Renowned ritual ambient musician Emme Ya has come together with Corona Barathri, a much younger ritual ambient project, which has torn through the scene over the last few years. You can find out some of the specifics about this release in our new episode of The Inner Sanctum!

Deathstench & Phurpa – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“Evoking Shadows of Death is a collaboration between Russia’s ritual collective Phurpa and California’s occult misanthropists, DEATHSTENCH. Fusing ultrasonic vibrations and grim necro-atmospheres with the harmonious chants and deep, droning reverberations of the tantric voice, these two tracks are designed to help the chod practitioner tap the power of absolute terror. Only those who have visited one of Tibet’s charnel fields and witnessed the offering of a corpse to vultures may be able to understand the full impact of what the Chöd tradition refers to as places that inspire fear.”

DeepDark & Noctilucant – New Split Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
“Paginae Nigres pairs the work of DeepDark (Russia) with Noctilucant
(USA) on this split album where both projects step away from their
familiar sound and explore more ritualistic dark ambient stylings while
still maintaining the cinematic sound they are known for. DeepDark and
Noctilucant take the listener on a ill-lighted path through profund
dream/nightmarish realms, barren landscapes and clandestine ritualistic
sanctums.”

Desiderii Marginis – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – CD/LP/Digital)
“Long awaited new material by one of Sweden’s most revered Dark Ambient acts. Vita Arkivet translates from Swedish as “The White Archive” and is an official document detailing ones funeral arrangements. In death our existence is whitewashed, the slate wiped clean. We start all over and we bring nothing with us where we go. We lose the agency of our own memory and leave it for those left behind to attend to, to continue our story, to write our eulogy. Vita is also the latin word for Life, so the meaning could also be “The Life Archive”. White is the colour of the casket lining, the plaster death masks and the walls of the chapel, it is the colour of the first and last pages. What is kept in between the covers of our life archives? This record is a personal reflection and manifestation of that process, the loss and the great detachment from life, from others, and from ourselves.”
Note: Along with this new release, Cyclic Law has released a re-issue of Deadbeat, which sees a new CD/Vinyl pressing.

Draugurinn – Preorders Available (CD/Digital)
During the winter of 2017 Erik Gärdefors of GRIFT invited DRAUGURINN to perform at his special and unique harvest fest TREDINGSRITEN in Hällekis, Sweden on August 4th 2018. Inspired by the harvest theme, the circles of life and death and – as always – the forces of Nature, DRAUGURINN created an exclusive live ritual for this occasion only. With percussion and meditative chanting, the four songs invites the listener through birth, life and death. Spíra will take you on a journey along the circle of life. Transcend into Spíra and ride the circle of life through the eyes of DRAUGURINN.

Emerge – New Album Released (Required Rate of Return – Digital)
Maze is a deceptively complex pair of drone tracks. Emerge creates something that balances the lines between dark ambient and noise very well. With contributions by: elektrojudas, Niku Senpuki, Danijel Zambo, Prinzip Nemesis, and Deep.

Endless Chasm – New Album Released (Chthonic Streams – Cassette/Digital)
“Endless Chasm hails from Lawrence, Kansas with sonic and ritual explorations into the unknown. Saṃsāra Eternal is a contemplative journey into dark tones merging the organic and the synthetic, almost worshipful with an undercurrent of dread.” Read our new review of the album here.

False Mirror – New Album Released (Malignant – CD/Digital)
It’s been 8 long years since the release False Mirror’s highly acclaimed Derelict World, and SIGINT marks the return of one of the giants of the dark ambient genre. Thematically centered around the gathering of intelligence via the interception of signals, SIGINT is an hour long creation of desolate beauty and isolated intricacies, where droning textural flow is incorporated with floating wasteland debris, distant transmissions, and fluid layers of climatic tones. Like all False Mirror’s work, the attention to detail and subtleties are unparalleled, striking a balance between field recordings and synthetic sounds in a perfectly conceptualized harmony of calming warmth and barren isolation.

Flowers For Bodysnatchers – New EP Released (Digital Only)
“Alive With Scars is the prologue mini album to the forthcoming full length album Alive With Scars. This album begins to explore the life long struggle of living in a diseased body. A body slowly being destroyed from the inside out by its own central nervous system. A body that with the passing of time will waste and wither to its own unique sonnet of pain and torment.”

Haft Teppeh – New Album Released (Autarkeia – Cassette/Digital)
“Yume’ is the first full length work by Romanian project Haft Teppeh. We must admit, the way they approach the dark ambient music scene is really impressive. Despite being formed in 2013, the full length is the first material ever released by Haft Teppeh, and it sounds highly professional so far. All the compositions are very complex, skillfully polished and produced. Abstract and massive waves of sound are very dramatic and deep. The whole album seems like a one solid piece. each track floats smoothly, with extremely beautiful and natural transitions from one theme to another. Dark, mysterious and brooding; the tension stays with the listener throughout the whole release. With every new track, after brief moments of quiet, it strikes again with a heavy atmosphere, which keeps you hypnotized and holds you in your place until the very end of the composition. We pledge – Flavius Ion, the mastermind of Haft Teppeh is a truly promising artist whose first release is as impressive as if it would be crafted by Par Bostrom [Kammarheit] or Peter Andersson [Raison d‘Etre].”

Hiemal – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Smooth and highly contemplative melancholic drone ambient with rain recordings.
Recommended for fans of Mount Shrine, SiJ, and other field recording heavy drone projects.

How To Disappear Completely – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“A study in deliberately soothing textures designed to give the listener space to find stillness and collapse into rest – late night lullabies.
How To Disappear Completely presents Mer de Revs III, third installment of our experimental sleep music project. Almost eighty minutes of new music composed and recorded over twelve month period (a song per month), 2017/2018. Recording this album we wanted to keep the same aesthetics as on the last two volumes – simple as possible, minimal amount of gear as possible. Volume III of Mer de Revs is a culmination point of the trilogy and a summary of the first two installments.”

Item Caligo – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Item caligo is a one-man project of Sergey Epifanov. Based in Volgograd. The tracks “Painful Sleep” and “Wishing Only To Die” parts I & II were written especially for the short film “MER” by Hesam Rahmani.

Jinthra – New Album Released (Sombre Soniks – Digital)
“Psychopathy originally meant pathos (suffering) of Psyche (the Soul). Therefore I can also see the Path of Psyche as a way of pathologizing (logos of pathos); an autobiografikal need to understand my daimonikal wounds from a deeper perspective of the Underworld. Let’s pathologize!”

Julia Kent & Jean D.L. – New Album Released (Gizeh – CD/Digital)
“Recorded in Charleroi, Belgium in 2015 during a video installation with Sandrine Verstraete, the music was created using field recordings, processed guitar and cello and serves as a soundtrack to the video of the same name.
The album is an aching, ambient wonderland that ensues beauty at every turn. It was built as a whole and, indeed, should be consumed as a whole. The repetition is hypnotising, a lulling sense of calm entwined in hints of unease that flows seamlessly in and out of sleepy melodies and broken drones. Unfolding over a brief twenty-six minutes, The Great Lake Swallows cannot out-stay its welcome. Everything contained within feels necessary, each movement informing the next, a conversation between two outstanding musicians.”

Kashya – New Album Released (Digital/”name your price”)
Since I first heard Kashya I’ve enjoyed these releases as the last thing I hear before falling off into sleep. The warm drone ambience of this project is always deeply relaxing for me.

Kirill Mazhai – New Album Released (Shimmering Moods – CD/Cassette/Digital)
“This album was made between August 2015 and March 2017, which was in some way a transition period for me. Some life stages ended, some relationships failed, some changes happened. All the tracks on the album are dedicated to several places from those times, that meant or still mean something very special to me. A house by the lake, an apartment on the first floor, a park in the middle of the city – the places that stuck with me for a long time and don’t let go.
It’s a tribute to those times, but also some kind of closure. The album was mostly a reminder to myself that when you feel attached to something in one way or another, you need to keep going, to move forward, that you really don’t belong anywhere. It was a reminder that it’s never too late to move on.”

kj – Preorder Available (Dronarivm – CD/Digital)
“kj’s third album and dronarivm’s 54th release, is a wandering into the dark side of nostalgia — labyrinthian refrains evoke the mind’s tendency to reach for the past.”

L’Égarement d’Esprit – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Laudanum Euphoria is a mind-bending new project from the man behind Embers Below Zero and the Santa Sangre zine. It’s as if he’s blended something like Cities Last Broadcast – The Humming Tapes with Blood Axis & Les Joyaux De La Princesse ‎– Absinthe – La Folie Verte, topped off with some old film samples. Highly recommended and “name your price”!

LVMMVX – New Album Released (Danvers State – Cassette/Digital)
“Debut release from Josh Yelle (KINTAAN, HARD DRUG)’s solo “chamber noise” outfit. Heavily layered, looped, and rhythmic dark ambience is enunciated by the cavernous pounding on the hull of a beat up cello. 40 minutes of miniature horror film scores devoid of any light or hope.” Purchase cassette here.

Maha Pralaya – New Album Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
Ritual dark ambient project Maha Pralaya returns with another devastatingly dark ritual on their latest album Nataraja Tandavam, which is now available on Noctivagant.

Manifesto – New Album Released (Reverse Alignment – CD/Digital)
“Magnus Zetterberg is returning with a new haunting opus of darkest industrial ambient accompanied by Axel Torvenius wonderful art. Hive is a ghastly exhibition into the foul world of humanity. A soundtrack to devastation.”

Mount Shrine – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Mount Shrine (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) serves us a warm and inviting ambient album.
Rain pounds the temple as you look out across snowy mountains from a lotus position. A wet furred hare seeks refuge beside you, curious about the kettle of hot tea that rests at your side.
A distress call led you here, transmitted to a frequency on your Ham radio. The journey here was long and filled with majestic sights. Isolated villages, melting snow in forgotten valleys, the robed order of the silent all calmed your mind. The rolling fog followed you every step of the way to enlightenment.
Recommended for lovers of subtle field recordings and sleep ambient. Warm, inviting and atmospheric. Best enjoyed with a cup of hot beverage on a rainy day. Read our review of the album here.

Murcof – Preorders Available (Glacial Movements – CD/Digital)
“In Lost in Time, two parallel narratives intertwine: the first follows a helmet-clad, faceless horse and rider adrift in an indeterminate landscape of ice and snow, quite literally lost in time and space, while the second seems to allude to a strange scientific experiment. Lost in Time plunges us into perpetual renewal, each ending leading to a new beginning. The protagonists – two beings bound by a certain mutual dependence – are forever trapped in a time loop where life and death ceaselessly rotate.The use of what are almost exclusively black figures against white landscapes produces a menacing, otherworldly atmosphere that is also stunningly beautiful. The original soundtrack of the film, blends the aria of the Goldberg Variations sung by Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal with a composition by Murcof. The soundtrack also exists as an autonomous work entitled Lost in Time (Goldberg Experienced.05). Coproduction Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and Casino Luxembourg. With the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.”

Murderous Vision – New Album Released (Live Bait Recording – CD/Digital)
“Upon returning from a successful gig in Helsinki, Finland several inspired late night recording sessions began to take shape and morph into something a bit more cohesive. Voided Landscapes is a bleak journey into the paths of dark industrial and minimal death ambient. Using an arsenal of electronics, field recordings, strings and less conventional items, Voided Landscapes is a shifting beast that covers a lot of ground, but stays on a course that will not disappoint long time followers of the project. Features guest appearances by Robert O’Lexa (Vengeance Space Quartet), Pauline Lombardo and Rebecca Potter (Both of Cunting Daughters). Packaged in a 6 panel digisleeve with photography by Andy Henry that is printed on heavy uncoated retro paper stock.”

North Atlantic Drift – New Album Released (Sound in Silence – CDr/Digital)
“Departures, Vol. 2 is in line with last year’s Departures, Vol. 1., showcasing North Atlantic Drift’s atmospheric side of minimal ambient and presenting eight new impressive tracks in a running time of about 50 minutes. Moving away from the melodic post-rock orientation of their earlier releases, North Atlantic Drift have stripped away most of the percussive elements, glockenspiel and more prominent guitars and have achieved a captivating sound of subtle textures, overlapping tones and slowly evolving soundscapes. Built around washes of sustained and reverberant electric guitars, warm and comforting synths and glacial drones, and expertly mastered by George Mastrokostas (aka Absent Without Leave), Departures, Vol. 2 is an intimate, relaxing album with a truly immersive quality, bringing to mind the works of Brian Eno, Stars Of The Lid, Loscil and other artists of similar mien.”

The Penitential Station – New Album Released
(Other Forms of Consecrated Life – Digital Only)
“Plaintive music for the ‘ghostly’ darkness described by the anonymous author of ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’, blinded from what is both above and below; isolated from the spiritual and earthly worlds. Partially composed of fragments from the masses of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), the music itself seems cut off – as if heard from great distance – a faint and elusive refrain of ecstatic communion, endlessly repeated but never quite resolved.”

Peter Andersson (raison d’être) – New Album Released (Old Europa Cafe/Yantra Atmospheres – CD/Digital)
“Timewaves presents moments of history in a flow of eternity. Each moment may or may not be clearly connected with each other. But when examining the past, does not every moment intertwine with some other moments, and suddenly everything is connected with everything in strange and unclear ways.
In Timewaves it is clear that those moments presented on the album are bound to civilisation. Is it our civilisation, or someone elses, or just a dream? We don’t know. It may be even a nightmare. All we know for sure is that the clock is ticking. But ticking for what? Good times or bad times? Hope or fear?
Peter Andersson (Sweden) is most known for the dark ambient project raison d’être and a bunch of other projects like Stravtm Terror, Atomine Elektrine and Bocksholm (a collaboration project with Deutsch Nepal). Sometimes he releases albums under his personal name, mostly music for museum exhibitions and short movies. The majority of the tracks on Timewaves has been used in various exhibitions in some Swedish museums. This time the music is a bit darker, more industrial and experimental than previous exhibition albums from Peter Andersson, but still enigmatic.”

protoU – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
“Sasha further explores the themes of her collaboration album Earth Songs. While her album Khmaoch explored the roots of civilization and The Edge of Architecture probed into the future of the modern age, Echoes of the Future guides us in taking our final steps to leave Earth.
A deep space ambient album that invites you to take part in the discovery of cosmic anomalies and abandoned space stations in search of a new home.”

Ruptured World – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
“Ruptured World is the cinematic ambient project of Alistair Rennie (UK), who is also known as an author of Weird Fantasy and Horror Fiction.
Exoplanetary features fragments of transmissions amid sonorous and distorted interpretations of narrative events as the mission faces up to the challenges of off-world exploration and the inescapable fact that, on Proxima Centauri b, the human visitors are not alone.
Cosmic horror combines with ambient evocations of a real-life futuristic drama in the face of alien estrangement and a prevailing aura of existential persecution. Radio transmissions are superseded by melodic inferences of atmospheric detail and the otherworldly drones of cosmic landscapes and the mysterious twilight roaming grounds of the Krivren.
The Exoplanetary CD package comes with a documentary booklet featuring a 16-page executive summary of the mission’s objectives and a detailed profile of the planet’s geophysical characteristics, as well as its inherent dangers. Digital Booklet also included with download.
It offers a unique listening and reading experience that integrates sound orchestration with speculative dark fiction to present a quasi-scientific account of future possibilities rendered in sound.
Recommended for fans of cinematic dark ambient and spoken word.
You can read our interview here, and our review here.

Sacra Fern – Preorders Available (Black Mara – CD/DVD/Cassette/Digital)
“Protected by forest spirits, shining in the rays of magic fern, this stone has absorbed all the power of the Sun. It will open doors to a world of magic in the shortest night of the year for who follows his own willpower.”

Sana Obruent – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Sana Obruent delivers another hauntingly dark release, this time a ghostly affair entitled Songs about Death and Redemption.

The Serpent – New Album Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
The inspiration of this dark ritualistic ambient album has been the story of Ani’s soul passing through the Egyptian underworld – Duat as well as the soul’s voyage in general through the dark realm of the dead, judgement and test. The conceptual background is being expressed in a way which aims to progressively narrate a story regarding the stages of the after-death experience as mentioned in the ancient Egyptian texts which is deeply tied to a wide variety of the mythos and tradition of ancient religions and Orders.

Silent Vigils – New Album Released (Home Normal – CD/Digital)
Molenbrook, Mossigwell, Zwartewall, Fieldem… places neither here nor there; half in the world, half in the mind. We began this project as an exchange of gestures across the water, a dialogue motivated by mutual respect and revolving around our shared love of the minimal, the graceful and the understated. We completed it on 23rd March 2017 – the day of the Westminster attack, one year to the day after the Brussels bombings. These four pieces have become our personal dedications to the quiet strength of blended culture, free thinking and open borders. Silent Vigils.

Skadi – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Finally we see a brilliant new release by the well respected dark ambient project Skadi, founded in 2001 by Alexander Leßwing. The project combines dark ambient scapes with ethnic and ritual passages.
In a place where the heart is not allowed to flourish its emotions, darkness will grow.
In a place where the soul is not held with care, only emptiness remains.

SiJ – New Album Released (ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ – Digital [currently])
In memory of Dmitriy Vasilyev.
Featuring Singing bowls by Akoustik Timbre Frekuency and additional samples by Erik Osvald of Keosz. “A new installment in Shrine series, exploring deep minimalistic sound structures and imaginary landscapes. Inward journey through the memory, dreams, and contemplation on things which are inevitable.”

Sysselmann – Re-issue of The Northern Chronicles
I reviewed this brilliant debut here last year and really love the physical copy, I’m pleased to see it’s back in stock! A word from Sysselmann:
“Dear listeners, closing in on two years after the original release date we still get requests to buy this cd, finally we can happily announce that Sysselmann’s debut album is coming back into stock. We are very humbled by the continuous support for Sysselmann. Gorgeous vinyl style CD, booklet + some extra goodies for you not previously available…”

Tapes & Topographies – New Album Released (Simulacra – CD/Digital)
Insomnia Drones seems to share similarities to both the drone heavy releases like Fathoms as well as the more field recording laden Signal to Noise, beautifully melancholic, highly recommended, under-rated artist.

Taphephobia & Bleak Fiction – New EP Available
(Reverse Alignment – Digital)
“Reverse Alignment has always been about making good relations and keeping artists long term. It seem to have been working with Taphephobia at least.
Leaving the ship when moving to Greytone in 2010 and leveling up to Cyclic Law 2013, the guy behind the strings; Ketil Søraker, returns once more to the label. We´re happy to see Taphephobia prosper, happy to meet again with a dear old friend.
This time we present a collaboration with Ezequiel Lobo’s Bleak fiction that’ve been releasing on m.i.s.t. records and GV Sounds from 2012 onwards. A new face to the label, another welcome. Nuuk is here.”

Theo Calis – New Album Released (Petroglyph – Digital)
Inspired by the beautiful wildlife sounds and pictures of Glacier Bay. And the commitment of NPS to preserve nature. Stop global warming!

Tim Six – New Album Released (ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ – CDr/Digital)
It is generally believed that noise is the creation of human hands, while nature is even more full of noise simply of a different kind. Such an actual problem of “sound ecology” as opposes urban noise to either sounds of nature, or just silence – while silence in nature is not so easy to find. This record can be considered a non-dualistic approach to this problem. This album, in the best traditions of drone music, consists of one track made of field recordings. Night rustles and bird trills collected in the woods near Ivanovo, Russia, remote city hum and agricultural works in the Crimean steppe, recordings of bird nests in an abandoned feed mill and all sorts of audio situations along the irrigation canals of Crimea – all this is repeatedly layered on each other and built in gradually developing composition. Presence of Noise is not a verdict but a reality within which we exist. The fact that nature is full of noise does not negate the problem of “sound pollution” of the urban environment, but gives an illustrative example for the reconstruction of urban acoustic environment “in the image and likeness” – striving for softer forms, smoother corners and fluent transitions of the acoustic landscape. Infinity of aural interpretations in the simplicity of everyday noise.

Vacuum Templi – New Album Released (Weird Tapes/Svbterrean – Cassette/Digital)
“God is always the shadow and the nightmare of the human being,even though we’ve have just passed the post-human phase.
Despite our civilization level,religion is surviving and give us our daily fear towards life and death.
“Death Chamber Musick” is an anti-religion sound collage composed by seven spells,recorded with (un)sacred reversed samples,ruined organ and anguishing synths.
The pessimistic and blasphemic mood reign in this new record,where the catholic religion and the figure of the suffering Christ are the mirror of the human destiny.
The ideas of religion and faith are raped and the hopeness for Human being is destructed,in a liturgic black reversed-mass recorded on magnetic tapes.”

Valanx – Pre-order For New Album (Reverse Alignment – CD/Digital)
“Water is flooding. Land is obsolete. Scattered tribes rule their part of the world. Struggling. Adapting. Tidelands is Valanx soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic future where water is abundant and the circumstances of living has changed radically.”

VelgeNaturlig – New Album Released (Winter-Light – CD/Digital)
“Having previously released the full length Opalescent Pust on our label, the Portuguese sound sculpture VelgeNaturlig returns with an album of deep, immersive ambient drones – Kundalini.
On Kundalini, Ivo Santos presents us with an album, layered with a rich tapestry of dense drones, reverberating sub-bass and circulating processed sounds, cleverly woven together with field recordings.
As with most, if not all of VelgeNaturlig’s work, on Kundalini the tracks flow together as one, creating vast musical landscapes to traverse within the minds eye. The music weaves an infinite pathway between the light and the dark, sometimes isolating but always keeping the listener engaged.
Kundalini is an album of true awakening, invoking a clash of primordial sounds and energies. Let the currents flow…”

On the Periphery

Antechamber – New Album Released (Instruments of Discipline – Vinyl/Digital)
“Antechamber’s debut explores the ghost architecture of industrial music, etheric and oppressive in its suspension.
The newest alias from Mahk Rumbae a.k.a. Codex Empire and one half of Industrial act Konstruktivists, Antechamber sees a spacious almost dub influenced realm being explored, a dark-ambient nether in which lurching rhythmic giants consume the fragments of their composition, as though some military exercise had arrived at the collapsed edge of history and remained forever there suspended, war-games in the ether, anodic purgatory.
The LP is at times drone-scape, at times big-room stepping; white noise carved into shuddering rhythms & barrel bomb impacts; Antechamber’s debut shows a producer who is able to both summon and resuscitate worlds with only the bare minimal elements, a contained violence and a violent restraint.”

Ashtoreth – Second Disc In Sleep FUSE series (mini cdr/Digital)
“Ciuthach is one twenty three minute atmospheric drone folk masterpiece, based of a Scottish folklore creature myth of the Ciuthach.”

BRUTALISM – Debut Single Released (Anathemata Editions – 7″ square lathe)
“Deterritorialization. Intimate Brutality at the very moment of participation in surrounding nature.”
Debut of Atmospheric-black-metal inspired by Brutalist architecture from Terence of Locrian. Full-length The Charged Void available 2019 from Annihilvs and Cloister Recordings.

Clearlight & Owl – New Album Released (306- CD/Cassette/Digital)
306 recordings is proud to present Inverted Horizon by Clearlight & Owl. A deep piece of ambient music which takes you into your deepest thoughts, traveling between darkness and enlightment. A total of 10 tracks spanning 68 minutes, which take you to the deepest, darkest & inverted horizon.

Ionophore – New Album Released (Malignant – Digital/CD[delayed])
Ionophore is the project of the Bay Area/London-based multi-instrumentalists Leila Abdul-Rauf, Jan Hendrich, and Ryan Honaker. The trio weave dark electronics and neoclassical soundscapes with heavy drones, seamlessly melding the orchestral strings of Honaker, the horns and voice of Abdul-Rauf, and electronic interpretations of Hendrich. Whetter is the follow up to 2016’s well-received Sinter Pools, and continues along a similar trajectory; gauzy, ethereal ambience augmented by late night textural smear, rhythmic pulsations, and abstract, affected glitch, drifting in and around and through each other in hazy patterns, warm and enveloping, pulsing and reverberating, an indistinct blur… almost tangible, but ineffable.

Keosz – New Album Released (Vinyl/Digital)
No Future Vol:2 shows a more beat-driven, slow-tempo, bass-laden version of what we know from Keosz’ Cryo Chamber releases. The production of this one is really epic, highly recommended for late night driving or other inward adventures.

Kintaan – New Album Released (Annihilvs/Danvers State – CD/Cassette)
“The long awaited official debut from Providence, RI’s premier extradimensional post-music trio. A disgusting mix of industrial tinged noise and sparse, dissonant doom metal with hints of psychedelia spread across four tracks, totaling 31 minutes. Thick, saturated production battling minimal, jarring composition. This is living, breathing terror from absolute masters of their craft.” Purchase cassette here:
https://danversstate.storenvy.com/products/24588543-kintaan-untitled

Michael Idehall – New Album Released (raubbau – Digital)
“to those who enjoyed michael idehall’s ‘prophecies of the storm’ release on ant-zen, raubbau is proud to present a further outing of this outstanding artist’s self-coined ‘seancetronica’ sound exploration – a one-of-a-kind combination of death industrial, apocalyptic tunes with a subliminal song structure and dark, structured ambience. once again the swedish producer/performer evokes a crude, vicious force carrying intense tempers of menace, aggression and sadness with a strong streak of esoteric themes and personal poetics shaping the mood and tone.
Idehall’s rich baritone intoning ritual chants and secretive whispers with a solemn atmosphere, highlight the arcane bent of the heavy electronics pushed with striking tautologic sequences. from sparse throbs and slow paced beats to cinematic ambient elements and industrial overtones, ‘aion reborn’ displays a captivating mixture of alluring vocals, throbbing bass, pounding beats, ominous drones and metallic tremors.”

Morego – New Album Released (D.M.T. – Vinyl/Digital)
Similar to the above release by Keosz, we have a side-project of a well known dark ambient artist, (in this case Morego Dimmer of Xerxes The Dark) creating crystal clear production on glitchy bass-laden tracks, predominately with accompanyied by various percussions. For the dark ambient fan, this (along with Keosz) is an album that will be perfect for those times when you want to hear something much more active, but don’t want to sacrifice the brilliant craftsmanship of a top-notch dark ambient artist. Highly recommended.

N.K.R.T – “Cantus II” from Confiteor
The next release of Cold Dark Matter Records (Red Harvest, Ende, Fange) is a collaboration with NKRT, the ambient and ritual project of Frater Stéphane (Rosa Crux, Spleen XXX). “The equinox, the moment when everything is extremely ephemeral, Confiteor is a rite of repentance to all the sordid things to raise his soul to the summit”
For lovers of Zero Kama / Abruptum / Gregorian chant

Paleowolf – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Fifth full length album by Paleowolf. Archetypal stands as a powerful, monolithic fusion of ancient prehistoric archetypes that have been shaping and challenging Mankind since its dawn of the planet.
Powerful and energetic tribal drum-works are pumping the adrenaline and awakening the inner strength of a Warrior, Shaman and Survivor archetypes. Shamanic chants and voices that echo through timeless caves and archaic forests are calling and praising the divine forces of Nature. The tribe grunts and shouts to charge the collective body, mind and spirit with the eternal energies of the Wilderness.
As the charge completes and fires slowly extinguish, the ancestors enter the Old Dream, while moonlight is reflecting the shadows of giant megaliths in the distance.
Archetypal is definitely one of the strongest and most intense Paleowolf releases so far.

Rafael Anton Irisarri – Preorder Available (Umor Rex – Cassette/Digital)
“Rafael Anton Irisarri continues his string of post-minimalist releases with his third for Umor Rex: El Ferrocarril Desvaneciente. While composed as an ode to an overnight train journey through Spain he took many years ago, the music picks up sonically where his previous album Sirimiri left off. Irisarri focuses on deploying sonic cycles throughout these four shorter pieces, basing much of this sweeping ambience around looped sounds and distant pulses. The sound is however kept in a state of forward motion and constant evolution, invoking the slowly rumbling night train that inspired it —not to mention its cargo of misfits and travelers. Irisarri’s skill, set as a manipulator of minimal sound input, is at full strength here, imbuing even shorter pieces such as “El Espectro Electromagnético,” with chasms slowly cresting drama. The phantasmagoria of “Un Saltador” was even composed as a departure for him, toying with synths and pedals in a “modular kind of way,” letting an experiment unfold with minimal interaction.”

Randal Collier-Ford – New EP Released (Digital Only)
“The first chapter in a new branching storyline, featuring the newest protagonist, ɒm.OS. Season One will serve as the thematic and musical push into this layer, tying together the roots of the ‘main’ storyline.”

Self Harmony – New EP Released (Digital Only)
An interesting combination of a lot of different styles which the artist describes as: “Pan-Dimensional Night Bass, for Silver Cord Cutters and Mystery School Dropouts.” This seems about right. Definitely should be a nice midnight drive soundtrack.

Understated Theory – New Album Released (Sparkwood – CD/Digital)
“With each of the two half behind the project bringing new perspectives from their respective solo-endeavours to the drawing table – Tom Moore (Dead Melodies) and Colin Crighton (nil.co, Sorrow Floats) –
Understated Theory leaves the vast expanse of treacherous seas (Critical Drift EP and Juxtapparition) to continue their journey across dry land. The desolation blues remains however, as we follow in the footsteps of what might be one of the few survivors roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland, commonly just referred to as The Shadowlands.”

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It’s been a while since the last Frozen In Time, these articles are by far the most time-consuming part of This Is Darkness, and I’ve pondered ways of improving on the structure. In a way this is the same as usual, but I am covering the time period since April and the selection of releases I’ve chosen will be more focused.

I include sections of album descriptions which I find interesting/relevant. If there is no album description I will write a short one based on my knowledge, or I will skip the release. Context is everything with dark ambient. So, I find it increasingly frustrating to see a flood of releases with no description/context. Hopefully, my increased selectivity will make the time you spend here more valued and efficient. When my opinion is expressed below, it will be italicized. All other opinions are of the label/artist.

I’ve started with recent music videos, then we have my chosen selection of the latest album releases, then a selection of interesting odds & ends; unrelated things which you might enjoy, and finally an overview of recent articles on This Is Darkness.

I’d be happy to hear any feedback on Frozen In Time, your praise or criticism can be helpful going forward with this general-news-element of This Is Darkness.

Thank you all so much for following This Is Darkness and for all your support!

Michael Barnett
info@thisisdarkness.com

Videos

Artaud 1937 Apocalypse – Letters from Ireland
by Antonin Artaud
This is a powerful video promoting the new book released on Infinity Land Press.

Ashtoreth & Grey Malkin – “Pilgrim”
“Pilgrim” is from their new collaborative album The Hare and the Moon.

Johnny Jewel – “Spiral Staircase”
Johnny Jewel came to my attention with his dark jazz track “Windswept” in two episodes of the new Twin Peaks season. “Spiral Staircase” is from his latest album Themes for Television.

Leila Abdul-Rauf – “Hindsight”
“Hindsight” is from her new release Diminution, out now on CD through Malignant Records and vinyl through Cloister Recordings.

Nordvargr – “Sweet Death Triumphant”
From his new album, Metempsychosis on Cyclic Law. Video by Dehn Sora.

Templum N.R. – “The Unseen Tailor”
This is a track from the new album Memoirs of the Recoilers on Aural Hypnox.

Vortex – Valhalla (live)
“Valhalla” is from their new album, As Gods Fall, released on Cyclic Law. This live performance was captured at Leipzig Fire & Sun during the summer solstice of 2018.

New Releases

156 – New Album Released (156 Collective – Cassette/Digital)
Binaural field recordings of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood.
“Do or Die” is a 47 minute compiling of 10 A-sides of 10 field recording cassettes, while “Dead and Done” is 10 B-sides compiled.
“Do or Die Twenty Times” and “Dead and Done Twenty Times” are the original two tracks, with the same track over-layed backwards.
“Do Die Dead Done Forty Times” is “Do or Die Twenty Times”, and “Dead and Done Twenty Times” atop of one another.

Alone in the Hollow Garden– New Album Released (CDr/Digital)
Seven ritual musick offerings to the Goddess of Love inspired by Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian spiritualities, adorned with ancient hymns and lyrics by Aleister Crowley.

Alphaxone – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Alphaxone is back with his long awaited 5th solo album on Cryo Chamber. Explore empty space and float above silent planets on the Edge of Solitude. Lush synths combine with wide atmospheric drones, recommended for space drifters.

Cameron Day – New Album Released (Facture – CD/Digital)
I’ve recently discovered these beautifully crafted releases on Facture. I highly recommend this one, and you should have a look at other offerings from this label, though they are not always ‘dark’.

Physically, structures will fall into disrepair without proper maintenance, but decay can occur on many levels: spiritual, mental, cultural. Power corrupts, but it also leads to downfalls, as seen with a dictator who refuses to stand down even when the bombs are dropping and the end is nigh. As if it were at some nightmarish New Year’s Eve party, Cameron Day’s music sings the distorted, drunken line of ‘out with the old and in with the new’. Ghastly grey areas and forever loops have come to replace the old, familiar verse of popular song: the first shoots in an indecisive, post-truth era. The collapse of a once-mighty kingdom can be ugly theatre, but the music’s decline is a thing of ashen beauty.

A drooping rose, or the artistic movement of ‘urbex’, which photographs and explores abandoned, decaying urban structures, oozes with a fading beauty. Cameron Day’s music jitters and stumbles, but these melodies are very much alive, still trying to pull through the pain. Beautiful (and sometimes familiar) song-bursts splutter and trip as they fail, like a well-worn record. The tape is distorting, crinkling and tying itself up in impenetrable knots. Choral music is not immune to this, either: a piece will loop and gently reverse, reverberating a rosy death in music that should be full of life.

Cameron Day’s tape loops are alienated things, taking on vacant expressions when removed from their original context (the looping trumpets on ‘Born On Christmas Day’ are tinted with rust). The icy sheen of winter, and the chilly draught of loose morality, lives inside the music, but there are two sides to every coin, and this garden ‘represents a possible peaceful future beyond the current institutions of power’. Resilient shoots reclaim a Victorian dereliction. The strings are weak and distorted, lying on their hazy deathbed of hiss. The Castle and the Garden is music for the immediate dislocation – for changing times.

The Caretaker – New Stage Released
(History Always Favours The Winners – LP/CD/Digital)
This is the fourth stage in Kirby’s brilliant Everywhere at the End of Time, which can be purchased digitally on Bandcamp, with one small price covering the entire previous and future stages of this serious. Also on vinyl, but they move quickly, I bought a reasonably priced copy of Stage 2 on Discogs last month. Highly recommended! Kirby says of Stage 4:
“Post-Awareness Stage 4 is where serenity and the ability to recall singular memories gives way to confusions and horror. It’s the beginning of an eventual process where all memories begin to become more fluid through entanglements, repetition and rupture.”
Reviews on This is Darkness: Stage 1-2, Stage 3-4

Coph Nia – New Album Released (Old Captain – CD/Digital)
Recorded almost two decades ago this obscure compendium by Aldenon Satorial for years remained a secret now regained to enlighten the pilgrims’ progress. A Collection of Dead Drones and Aborted Soundscapes as a subtitle for the album, sums up a gateway to the darker realms reflecting the inherent duality of being. From mortal sins to immortality the symbolic circle made of branches and roots encapsulates us to provide ancient esoteric vitality Coph Nia is famous for. Discover your Verus Pastor at the base of the tree where ‘Everything Is True’.

Corona Barathri & Emme Ya – Pre-orders Available
(Noctivagant – CDr/Digital)
This is one of the recent Noctivagant releases that has caught my eye for its physical options and has been making a lot of noise in the occult music scene. Definitely worth exploring!

A new opus of the occult project Corona Barathri recorded together with Emme Ya (Edgar Kerval, Colombia), dedicated to the aspect of Principivm/Leviathan.

Council of Nine – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
The latest Council of Nine album, Exit Earth, focuses on the Heavens Gate cult, 39 members of which committed suicide in Ranch Santa Fe, California, on March 22, 1997. They did this in waves lasting three days, they received a signal in the form of a comet known as Hale Bopp. Once every 2000 years a signal from the level above human appears.

Cut The Light – New Album Released (Black Mara – CD/Cassette/Digital)
Aphotic, total darkness. A place where there is no light. The place where the demonic darkness reveals his strength. Like all Black Mara releases, Aphotic comes in a standard edition, this time in the cassette format, or in a special limited edition CD format, which comes with a hand-made magic book, natural black petroleum, and a black wax candle.

Dark Awake & Regard Extrême – New Album Released
(La Esencia – CD/Digital)
Regard Extrême and Dark Awake has managed to create the ultimate mythological concept split album about Ulysses and his adventures, inspired by the Greek Epic poem Homer’s Odyssey!!! Both bands worked on all tracks together, combining their styles and forces to create this opus. An album with a rare quality and class absolutely essential for any fans of Martial Industrial , Neoclassical, Epic, Ethereal, Dark Ambient etc..
The key parts of the Ulysses story are unraveled in a magnificent way both in terms of feeling and atmosphere.

Dead Melodies – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Dead Melodies is back with his second album on Cryo Chamber, The Foundations of Ruin. Following on from his last album, Legends of the Wood, we return to the isle of mist and dig deeper into the narrative.

“The wrought iron gate creaks open to the overgrown driveway. Up ahead, flickers of lightning make out the hazy silhouette of a large house veiled in a dense fog. Shelter! Finally, somewhere to rest your head after that terrifying ordeal in the wood.

The house, a ruinous crumbling remnant of better days stands lonesome in the unruly grounds; like a keeper bestowed with time itself. An ornate wooden door hangs broken on its hinge, the windows cracked and vines creep wildly from every crevice like tendrils from the netherworld. Something definitely feels wrong here, but with hours till dawn and the relentless storm wailing through the surrounding trees, the will to survive the night defeats all reason to fear this shady forgotten sanctuary.

Stepping inside the once stately ruin, the great hall teems with decay and an age of sedimentary dust covers every surface; any remnants of life that once knew this place are long gone. Doors and stairwells stem off in all directions. With a creaking silence and a deathly stillness consuming the air, you contemplate which way to go. But then, a noise… is someone there? The temperature drops and a familiar chill runs down your spine….”

Recommended for fans of soundtrack like experiences and cinematic dark ambient.

Desiderii Marginis – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Vita Arkivet is a mini-album Desiderii Marginis quietly dropped a few months ago. This one, in my opinion is truly amazing and I’ve been meaning to give it more time and a proper review. Highly recommended! I’m hoping to see this beauty land on a vinyl somewhere, the 41 minute length really helps that along.

Dødsmaskin – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
On their latest album the Norwegian duo pushes some of the hard hitting, mechanically textured aesthetics of their previous release “Fullstendig Brent” to the forefront. A dystopian commentary on the risks inherent to the antagonistic nature of humankind, and how the overwhelming and uncertain scope of Industry 4.0 – of progressively more powerful technology and strong AI – may end up amplifying those risks beyond human control. Given this conceptual framework, Dødsmaskin have aimed to develop a sound palette that shifts between both droning and pulsating brutality that represents unstoppable forces in motion and bleak atmospheres that denote an age of growing futility and – ultimately – self-inflicted extinction. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio, NY.

Dødsmaskin – New EP Released (Digital Only)
This EP is self-released by Dødsmaskin and was available for free in its first week after release. Djevelens Intervall is more in line with their Fullstendig Brent album, harsh dark ambient, this time focused on invoking the devil, through music.

Druhá Smrt – New Album Released (Sombre Soniks – Digital)
Egocideum is a composition in three movements, a completely new sound ritual work, but in some sense it is continuing the journey of Transcurrence and Occurrentium albums, the second and third chapters of a first trilogy. After a long time, we were able to find the discipline to delve further, as the evolution of our life-current flowed closer to the source of the spring.

The theme of the latest chapter of the second trilogy is ‘crossing the Abyss’ in terms of magick, or ‘bridging the gap’ in terms of existentialism. We realized this musickal event from the perspective of Druhá Smrt by using our full concentration and intention.

Eagle Stone Collective – Latest Releases
(Eagle Stone Collective – Digital Only)
Eagle Stone Collective is a net-label out of Albi, France that I have recently begun to follow. Their releases fall more into an ambient americana realm than dark ambient, but the similarities are close enough to warrant coverage here. I am supplying several of their latest releases which you should certainly check out, as they are “name your price” and support if you so choose.

Eidulon – New Album Released (Malignant – CD/Digital)
Following an 11 year absence since his debut, Idolatriae, Eidulon returns a radically different entity. Whereas Idolatriae was haunting and minimal catacomb ambience, Combustioni is otherwise now a daunting, full on apocalyptic industrial, auditory excursion, complete with crushingly ominous brass chords, fearsome horn proclamations, organ, and doom filled atmospherics. Contributions of murderous, gnarled vocals courtesy of Nordvargr and Luca Soi, as well as caustic noise from Italian heavy electronic practitioners Naxal Protocol (ex-Cazzodio) add a powerful element, often cutting through a blaze of swelling tones and pneumatic percussive pummel, the only respite coming in the form of collaborative tracks with Kammarheit and Caul, which sees Eidulon returning to the foggy gloom and bleak isolationism that populated the debut. Collectively, it’s quite the provocative declaration, shattering genre barriers and setting the soundtrack for a world of incinerated cities, global plagues, and nuclear winters.

Eximia – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Eximia presents us with a sound design and field recording heavy album about an alien invasion. You won’t find many harmonic elements on this album. It instead serves as a backdrop where Dominik has crafted a soundscape that sucks you into it’s atmosphere.

“For centuries people have been looking at the stars, wondering if we are alone in this infinite universe, or if there is someone else out there. Would they be friendly and if not, would we be ready for them?
They came without warning.
Our weapons pointless against these behemoths covered by storm. When I lay my eyes at their divine beauty in all it’s power and destruction, I feel no anger nor sorrow, I feel awe. Our new gods have arrived.”

Highly recommended for fans of field recording and closed eyes listening.”
Eximia reviewed on This Is Darkness.

Harrogat – New Album Released (CD/Digital)
Harrogat is a dark ambient artist out of Rome, Italy that I’ve been following for a few years. His music falls on the more active and horror ends of the dark ambient spectrum. Of note, is an appearance from Cryo Chamber veteran Enmarta, whose viola work is always a pleasure.

Hezaliel – New Album Released (Eighth Tower Records – Digital)
“I made him just and right, sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Hezaliel is a project from Belgian musician Steve Fabry. It is one of his three. This is his dark ambient endeavor whilst the other two, The Nighstalker and Sercati, are carved of melodic black metal and gothic/dark metal, respectively. Hezaliel explores the darkest territories of Fabry’s inner world, the subtle ultraterrestrial frequencies buried under his personal “paradise lost”.

Inade – New Album Released (Loki-Found – LP/CD/Cassette/Digital)
With the all new album after 9 years, Inade return with another work that indicates a codifying of their sound world full of mysterious design, unspoken secrets and dreams of ancient origin.

The immersive arrangements and haunting voices are supported by crackling electronics painting a dark and earthly picture. Infinite eons have passed through the labyrinthine hierarchy of deep fusing drones, tectonic soundscapes, percussions and ritual instruments – sonically sculpturing that which lies deeper than matter, time and space.

The intriguing tone colour on The Nine Colours Of The Threshold is generally one of heroic majesty, a kind of epic intimacy, with light and sparkling fragments. It is the narrow, hidden tracks that lead back to our lost homeland, what contains the solution to the last mysteries is not the ugly scar that life´s rasp leaves on us, but the fine, almost invisible writing that is engraved on our body.

Inner Vision Laboratory – New Album Released (Winter-Light – CD/Digital)
“The inspiration for this album came from different science-fiction and post-apocalyptic books and movies, but also from the artists’ personal thoughts regarding mankind’s condition.

Relics is a musical illustration for the very distant future, where humanity has failed in its progress and moved to total annihilation. Relics are the only things humanity has left behind. Other higher advanced civilisations will come to visit our now desolate planet to collect these relics; these fading tokens of the past. They come to visit the Museum of Savages, who destroyed their own habitat and rendered their once beautiful planet uninhabitable.”

Leila Abdul-Rauf – New Album Released
(Malignant [CD] & Cloister [LP] – Digital)
The follow-up to Leila Abdul-Rauf’s 2015 highly acclaimed Insomnia album, Diminution sees the San Fransisco Bay Area-based, multi-instrumentalist take a more stripped-down approach to her uniquely haunting and shadowy soundscapes. While retaining a firm grasp on the feeling of urban loneliness and early morning solitude, Diminution’s tracks are generally longer than previous works and feel more spacious and open, where sparse melodies and gentle textural flow meet ethereal choral vocals, distant trumpet, delicate guitar, and luminous, yet melancholy drones and warm tonal drift.

All songs on Diminution were composed, performed, and produced by Leila Abdul-Rauf, mastered by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, and the album is completed with stunning artwork by Matthew Jaffe and layout by Kristoffer Oustad and James Livingston. Diminution is another spellbinding work from Leila for those seeking solace in quiet and introspective music residing just on edge of consciousness.

Lesa Listvy – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Moscow based quartet Lesa Listvy debuts on Cryo Chamber with Way Home.
On this highly atmospheric release you get a mix of deep analogue drone, dark beats, ethereal walls of sound and subtle field recordings.

“Years ago the beat of the shaman’s drum pulled your tribe out of the motherland. Now as you make your way home everything has changed. The smell of burnt wood linger in the canopy of the forests, clicking machinery reverberate deep within. Trees malformed, technology fused with nature, the prophecy of the shaman was wrong. The ancient land now lies perverted by the swarm, but the tribe is coming home.”

Highly recommended for fans of warm analogue ambient.
Reviewed on This Is Darkness.

Manifesto – Preorder Now Available (Reverse Alignment – CD/Digital)
Magnus Zetterberg is returning with a new haunting opus of darkest industrial ambient accompanied by Axel Torvenius wonderful art. Hive is a ghastly exhibition into the foul world of humanity. A soundtrack to devastation.
Releases 17 August 2018.

Mater Suspiria Vision – New Album Released (Phantasma Disques – LP/Digital)
Not dark ambient, on most of their releases at least, but certainly of interest to dark ambient and horror fans alike, 666 is the latest full length album by this group which covers music and film. After the release of their last two films Phantasmagoria I & II, and a set of musical releases to accompany, Cosmotropia de Xam and Rachel Audrey return with a full length in it’s own right.

Moloch Conspiracy – New Album Released (Eighth Tower – CD/Digital)
“While the companions’ dread was reflected in the stones a way opened. The streaming water formed an ocean that crystallized the light from the incantations and spells of our guide. They discovered the cult that was upsetting the place and that was abandoning itself in despicable rituals from the depths of time”.

A metaphysical journey into a cave. Each track draws a path into an esoteric and mysterious story related to Mesopotamian myths. Cavernous drones alternate with glacial and cinematic passages, enriched by acoustic improvisations. Meditative, darkly elegant, the Moloch Conspiracy work often touches the impalpable consistency of avant garde music.”

Moss Covered Technology – New Album Released (Facture – CD/Digital)
His Many Seas is a personal voyage, as the artist’s father was suffering from cancer at the time of the album being written. A well-travelled man, His Many Seas sets sail to quietly conquer and navigate another unexplored, painful continent: the frightening landmass of coming to terms with his father’s illness, steering through the trials of life as well as acting as a dedication to his father’s love of travelling. The illness itself heralded the beginnings of a new journey. Recalling the feel of the Arctic Ocean, His Many Seas thematically revolves around exploration, and the release includes vintage nautical Nories tables, Elisha Kent Kane – Arctic Exploration inserts along with ‘famous explorer’ double side prints.

Hand made book-bound CD covers (1260 g/qm FSC certified), lined inside / outside with luxury Italian paper from Florence, glass mastered CD (not CDR), vintage nautical Nories tables (circa. 1920) resting inside old glassine bags, vintage Elisha Kane Arctic Exploration inserts (circa. 1869), a collection of 9 x double sided A6 ‘Hassan’s Greatest Explorers’ prints, dried flowers. All rests inside luxury hand cut envelopes. Individually numbered / stamped.

MZ.412 – New EP Released (Cold Spring – 10″Vinyl/Digital)
The resurrection of the originators of Black Industrial.

NORDVARGR ᛣ DRAKH ᛣ ULVTHARM

2018 marks the 30th anniversary of MZ. 412. The long-awaited new album Svartmyrkr has been born and will be released later this year on CD and double vinyl.

But first, Ulvens Broder.

The limited edition 10″ Ulvens Broder is taken and adapted from the forthcoming album and features a very special B-side with Tomas from Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. 412 x white vinyl – 412 x red vinyl – 412 x black vinyl.

IIII I II. Enki be proud!

Paleowolf – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Paleowolf continues the archetypal journey with the new thematic album. Fourth full length release Primal Earth delivers archaic, meditative paleo-ambient, and takes you on an atmospheric journey deeper into the obscure past. Witness the dawn of complex life on Earth – the mysterious and majestic Paleozoic-Mesozoic era. We embark on a voyage through the archaic Devonian seas and immense swampy forests of Carboniferous; across the amphibian Permian landscapes; up to the tropical Triassic, Jurassic and into Cretaceous – the final dominion of titanic reptilian beasts.

The vision you are about to experience is inspired by an ancient era when colossal reptilian beasts, gigantic insects, bizzare marine creatures and immense forests that spread all across the massive supercontinents, reigned this world supreme.

Primal Earth is a unique piece of art, a glimpse into the times before memory. This one-hour long soundscape invites the listener to completely immerse oneself into the fathomless world of ancient archetypes. They say that all that is left of these titans of Old are their remnants in stone and dust… But they are now here. And they live once again.”

光淵 (Pool Of Light) – New Album Released (ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ – CDr/Digital)
Giant slabs of stones moving towards eternity under the bright bottomless sky. Aerial view of the huge valleys covered with snow, which is about to start melting, welcoming new winds and filling with new aromas. It comes and goes, the spiral, the return. What is time for something which is immortal? Only a cycle, the multiplicity of forms, each speaking its own language but every time about same thing…

Rafael Anton Irisarri – New Album Released (Umor Rex – Cassette/Digital)
The NY-based producer returns to Umor Rex with a new album, in which the musical discourse and the physical form of the release have an equal, crucial importance. Sirimiri is made of four long and mid-length pieces, each composed of different perspectives, processes and identities. However, Rafael seeks to blend subjective time with the listening experience. A sort of loop and repetition, sub-sequence-based sound. Following Eno, nothing happens in the same way twice, perception is constantly shifting, nothing stays in one place for long. If The Shameless Years was located between beauty and active tragedy, Sirimiri travels inside the beauty and melancholy of an observing eye, a quiet rebel insurrection. Another substantial difference is the distance from general and globalized concepts; in these unfortunate times, Sirimiri looks for personal sorrows, and places its focus on the particular. Even the names of the songs evoke this in small ways, like in “Sonder”, the feeling of realizing that everyone, even a complete stranger, has a life as complex as one’s own. Sirimiri means ‘drizzle’ in Basque, and we cannot find a better word to describe its content.”

Skeldos – New Album Released (Cassette/Digital)
Ilgės is the latest release by Lithuanian ambient artist Skeldos. In his words:
The album was inspired by a poem by the Lithuanian writer Antanas Škėma titled “A Lie”, which talks about the hope that there is something important beyond the desolate routine. Two extended pieces awash in melancholy and longing revolve around a silent question: perhaps that which is crucial is really nearby?

Ilgės was recorded in 2015-2018 using acoustic instruments (accordion, Lithuanian zither, guitar) as primary sound sources, with their imperfect creaks and resonant echoes intended to make the vast sonic horizons sound close.

“Still, what lay behind the hundred twenty fifth door?”

Sphäre Sechs – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
It is very interesting to see Sphäre Sechs release their album through Cryo Chamber, as I remember Simon Heath mentioning their previous album being his favorite release of that year. With Malignant Records schedule in hyper-speed for 2018, some of their label staples have over-flowed into other labels, this one finding its way to Cryo Chamber, and Dødsmaskin finding their way to Cyclic Law. I am happy to see a support network in place for situations like this, as fans we will win every time in these scenarios!
Sphäre Sechs is a project of Martin Stürtzer (Phelios) and Christian Stritzel.
Focused on the particle void of space this album reaches beyond the material. Recorded with a multitude of analogue gear this album has a warm saturated atmosphere with cold spacey overtones. If you like floating in cold space in a warm cozy spacesuit, this is your album. Recommended for fans of Space Ambient.

Stephanie Merchak – New Album Released (broken20 – 3″CD/Digital)
Broken20 return with the third in a run of 3” CD releases, Stephanie Merchak’s timely societal commentary cloaked in deep, foreboding drone, The Prospect of our Annihilation.

All four tracks were created using field recordings recorded by Merchak on construction sites in Lebanon. The recordings were processed beyond recognition to depict through sound an apocalyptic future where the earth has become inhospitable. Merchak writes: “This concept piece was inspired by some worldwide alarming news: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault partially flooding after permafrost melted, 1.12 trillion tons of iceberg breaking away from the Larsen C ice shelf and drifting to open waters, an Anthrax outbreak in western Siberia after an unusual heatwave melted permafrost releasing spores, a study by Chris Thomas and his colleagues at the University of Leeds warning that a quarter of land animals and plants may be doomed by 2050 due to global warming…”

She continues: “One of the culprits of climate change is the construction industry, which is one of the biggest sources of emissions and energy consumption. Humans keep building and replacing forests and green spaces with concrete thus endangering hundreds of species, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contributing to soil erosion. In summary, humans are destroying their home.” As the contemporary activity is extrapolated to an apocalypse in Merchak’s vision, so the field recordings are morphed to their logical conclusion. Hence sonically, the sense of mechanical dread is manifested in lumbering semirhythmic motifs that stagger on- and offstage like drunken actors, playing on unsteady stage-boards of atonal drone. In contrast to the glacial crawl of most dark ambient productions, nothing in ‘The Prospect of our Annihilation’ remains static for long – except the tone and its implied warning. Physical copies will follow on from the format of previous Broken20 3” CDs by Laica and Ordeograph, whereby the inner sleeve is crafted to disrupt its physical limitations, bringing forth further visual interpretations on the source material and its underlying message.”

Sun Through Eyelids – New Album Released
(Black Mara – CD/Cassette/Digital)
Hyperborea, the shards of the star race that reach us from the depths of time. Strength and power, immense energy somewhere far, far away, once much time ago. Hyperborea is in everyone’s heart. Total recall everything. You are a part of this.
Our search for Hyperborea is our desire to return to Paradise, the primordial spring of Human’s original existence. The importance of knowing the terrestrial location of a lost civilization at the northern regions is thus overshadowed by its symbolic relevance.

The Stone Tapes – New Album Released (Hare’s Breath Records – CDr/Digital)
The Kingdom of Mercia is first and foremost a cinematic experience. Using a combination of string instruments, synth/drones, piano, saxophone, and spoken word, Matt and Kat Peach create an incredibly interesting and engaging atmosphere. Presented in a luxury “Evidence Bag” packaging. Super Limited Edition – Black vinyl-design CD-R in a brown card button & string sleeve.

Taphephobia – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
Ghostwood is the new deeply introspective album by Norway’s Taphephobia. Opting for a slightly cleaner sonic palette than previous releases, using less processed sounds, and a more natural sounding approach to his guitar work, Ketil Soraker pushes what is now considered as Taphephobia’s signature sound. In the vein of his previous Cyclic Law release Escape From The Mundane Self, we are submerged in a skillful combination
of lush ambient guitar passages, sonic abstractions and processed flute. Ghostwood is a most personal hymn to experiencing the solace of the northern forest.

Taphephobia & Kave – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
On this special collaboration album, both artists have showcased their unique take on atmospheric soundscapes. A soundtrack to vast, imagined uninhabited landscapes, unexplored and untouched by mankind. We’re given a bleak glimpse into a hidden world, both mentally and physically. The two long monumental tracks induce a calm, ominous and introspective setting, perfectly suited to drift within these envisioned barren lands.

Teahouse Radio – New Album Released (Hypnagoga Press – CD/Digital)
Teahouse Radio is a music project by Pär Boström, also known for his work as Kammarheit, Cities Last Broadcast, Hymnambulae, Altarmang and Bonini Bulga. (Quite the list, and all well worth investigating!)

Her Quiet Garden is the debut album, consisting of songs pieced together sporadically since 2004, and songs recorded in a creative frenzy during a few late summer days in 2016.

An album about summer houses and winter towers, about the changing of weather. How one feeling changes to another. The loss of a loved cat. A real garden becoming an imaginary garden. Depression as a pond. Years of therapy and music as the main counterpoint. About escapism. Psychoses. A giant who walked in and out of the world, decorating it nicely. An aural tale. Half in water, another half in the northern woods. Childhood through nostalgic binoculars. A wardrobe to another place, a gentle knock on the door in the oak tree.

Acoustic instruments are blended with electronic equipment, forming a sombre ambient music of tinkling tape loops and humming pedal drones. Final editing and mastering by Simon Heath.
Read our new interview with Pär and Åsa Boström.

Templum N.R. – New Album Released (Aural Hypnox – Cassette)
We are excited to present the new release of the Templum N.R. ‘Memoir of the Recoilers’, c-20.

From outré dimensions the stare of fervent creatures descent. On this album the secret sect of the group has favoured a rather peculiar yet compelling approach. Minimally oscillating textures and immense melodies are accompanied with recited hymns read by previously unheard presence Madame Eternally Nameless. These songs are searching continually through the night, as spells calling to follow through the liquid mirror.

Memoirs of the Recoilers is enclosed inside screen printed cassette covers and comes with an 8-panel booklet. Limited edition of 98 copies.”
Buy the album here.

Theologian & The Vomit Arsonist – New Album Released
(Cloister Recordings – Cassette/Digital)
This cassette contains two 30-minute pieces where isolating drones establish an underlying melancholy, while denser passages rise and fall within multiple layers of synth, tape noise, voice, and guitar…
Listeners will find themselves standing entranced within a silent and secluded world, among the most vile and pathetic surroundings.

Theologian – New Album Released (Cloister – Cassette/Digital)
Hot on the heels of The Icy Bleakness of Things, Theologian’s collaboration with The Vomit Arsonist, Cloister Recordings presents Reconcile. Timed to coincide with their live appearance at the DARKNESS DESCENDS festival, this 60-minute cassette (and digital) release contains brand-new material featuring input from Andy Grant (The Vomit Arsonist), Mike McClatchey (Lament Cityscape), Stephen Petrus (Murderous Vision), and Derek Rush (Dream Into Dust). The album was mixed by Mike McClatchey. The word “supergroup” has been jokingly bandied about in reference to this collection of artists, but the final product is indeed a unique composite of industrial sounds, reflecting another step in the evolution of Theologian.

Perhaps most notable is a return to an earlier, less harsh and distorted iteration of the project, with cavernous drones and thunderous percussion creating the sort of dense sonic environments found on the 2010 debut album, The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face.

Eschewing the long-form drone/ambient tracks of older releases, here we find Theologian attempting to approximate the immediacy and memorability of pop, using rhythm and melody to elicit slightly less sprawling emotional landscapes. The album’s eight tracks are interconnected by brief interludes, serving as touchstones along the journey to the album’s denouement. As the title suggests, Reconcile is ultimately about coming to terms with past versions of oneself, while examining the present and fretting over the future.
Reviewed on This Is Darkness.

Ugasanie – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Ugasanie returns with his 5th album on Cryo Chamber. This time exploring the vast landscapes of Antarctica.
The snowstorm builds on the horizon as the ice crackles under your feet. The faint call of someone beyond the blinding blizzard.
A subdued and chilly album in the isolated style that is Ugasanie’s expertise.

Ugasanie & Xerxes the Dark – Preorders Available (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Ugasanie & Xerxes the Dark team up on this album exploring the darkest depths of the ocean.

The walls croak as you find your balance in the swaying research ship. A week in this storm is enough to make any mans stomach turn, but today you enter the depths of the ocean. You slap some pills into your food hole and climb to deck, the bathyscaphe stands ready. You’re 10 hours deep into the ocean when the power goes out. What the hell is going on up there? The darkness outside is thick, snake-like shadows worm around the vessel. Your trembling hand pushes down on the radio transmitter button, it’s dead.

For lover of deep drone and isolated soundscapes, you want to swim with the leviathan? This is your album.

Umu Tiamat – New Album Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
This recent release on Noctivagant Collective has been catching the ear of more people recently as the album makes a bit of a name for itself, through word of mouth and such. Noctivagant put some extra work into this one, going a bit further than their usual CDr w/ folded card.

Joseph Mlodik of Noctilucant recently spoke in detail about the album on episode 3 of his Vlog ‘The Inner Sanctum’ which we’ve partnered with, here at This Is Darkness. You can see the episode here.

Visions & Phurpa – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – LP/CD/Digital)
Celebrating its 100th release, Cyclic Law presents an exclusive collaboration between label head Frederic Arbour’s long standing project Visions and Russia’s most enigmatic ritual formation, lead by Alexey Tegin, Phurpa. Merging Phurpa’s penetrating organic meditational chants and shamanic percussive elements with the slow-shifting, multi-layered textural drones of Visions, this unique joining of forces resulted in a vastly expansive and time bending opus. Channeled throughout are primordial sonorities to alter ones deeper psyche, a spiritual ascent unifying with the whole, the elemental cosmic life force that transpierces us, to the monad of creation.
You can read our review of the album as well as our interview with Frédéric Arbour, owner of Cyclic Law, and man behind Visions, Havan, Instincts, Skorneg, and Stärker, here.

Vortex – New Album Released (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
As Gods Fall… celebrates the 10th year of existence for the German ritual cinematic ambient project by Marcus Stiglegger. It is the final part of the mythical trilogy that began with Kali Yuga (2013) and Moloch (2015). Inspired by the Nordic mythology of the Edda, this album revives the realm of the Old Gods in their final conflict. As before this musical reflection on mythology is used as a metaphor for a portrait of the present world out of balance. The tracks were composed after an intense journey to the ancient Viking relics of Scandinavia in 2015. Stiglegger says:

Breathing the air of history I felt ultimately connected to the past and heritage of the old Germanic tribes and their mythology, also understanding what this all means for what happens in the world today. As Gods Fall is a cycle of music invoking forgotten energies and lost wisdom…

For this album Marcus S. joined forces with many guest (including Michael De Victor of While Angels Watch), providing unique instrumental and vocal contributions. From pounding martial rhythms and hypnotic ritual chants via brooding drones to stunning and fragile melodic elements this album captures the essence of what Vortex stands for: ritual music. This release also contains a bonus-disc Helstrom featuring 2 unreleased Vortex tracks as well as remixes by Apoptose, Empusae, Phelios, Visions, Operation Cleansweep and more…

Wound – New Album Released (Cassette/Digital)
Experiments on sound matter – one dream at a time.

There is a weight of the clouds that is often not perceived; a weight on the shoulders and necks of you looking upward, yet inward. The shimmering lights cause a nostalgia flow for when everything seemed possible – a simpler time if only because of not understanding the limits. As the clouds flow, puffy whites, light-blue and pink smears in tandem, you see beyond. You gather your strength. The limits are still there but, under the starry ether, are you still sure you’ve reached them?

Other Sorts of Releases

Artaud 1937 Apocalypse – Letters from Ireland by Antonin Artaud
4th March 2018, marks the 70th anniversary of Antonin Artaud’s death, which means that the copyrights to his literary estate have been lifted.

Infinity Land Press is hereby proud to announce a release of Artaud 1937 Apocalypse – Letters from Ireland by Antonin Artaud, the first English translation for more than fifteen years. The book was translated and edited by Artaud’s biographer, Stephen Barber.
You can buy the book here.

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Mortiis – Secrets of my Kingdom: Return to Dimensions Unknown
Created back in the 1990s and originally released in a highly limited edition form, Secrets Of My Kingdom provides an unforgettable insight into the otherworldly creations of dark ambient godfather Mortiis. An utterly unique and compelling collection of writings and illustrations (created by a number of talented artists), it significantly fleshes out the rich universe that is glimpsed within those early musical releases. Considered a legendary tome by fans, the rare original changing hands for literally hundreds of dollars today.

Considerably expanded with 100 pages of new material, this ambitious 240 page large format (30x21cm) hardback book contains the original in its entirety as well as previously unseen text and illustrations, an extensive new interview with Mortiis, plus words from peers, the book’s illustrators, musicians from the growing dungeon synth movement (including Mark Riddick, David Thiérrée, Albert Mudrian, Juha Vuorma, Proscriptor, Balrog, Forgotten Kingdoms, Chaucerian Myth and more).
The book can be purchased here.

Zazen Sounds Magazine Issue #3
Again the latest issue of Zazen Sounds Magazine has sold-out within a matter of days. A great printed zine out of Greece, created by Nikolaos Panagopoulos of Shibalba and Acherontas. I highly recommend subscribing to their newsletter if you want to hear about the next issue before they are all gone. Panagopoulos says: “The third issue of Magazine is sold out. Few copies as always can be found in our distributors around.We shall return in Autumn with new plans and releases as we already work on them.Any question can be sent to: Acherontasvp9@gmail.com. At this same email also you can subscribe to our newsletter.”

Father Dagon Podcast: Season 2 Has Begun
(3 Episodes Currently Available)
Father Dagon is a serial fiction podcast based on the works of famous weird fiction author, HP Lovecraft. Produced by Dread Falls Theatre, and original soundtrack by Seesar. Season Two airs June 2018, episodes released 1st and 15th of the month. Find us on Twitter @DagonPodcast or www.patreon.com/dreadfallstheatre

Latest Publications on This Is Darkness

Teahouse Radio / Hypnagoga Press – Interview
Over the last few years we’ve seen a huge increase in the output of Pär Boström. Once known only for his oldest (main?) project, Kammarheit, Pär Boström has since created a multitude of wonderful albums, always more or less focused on dark ambient, as Cities Last Broadcast, Altarmang, Bonini Bulga, and now his latest project Teahouse Radio. Near the beginning of this recent bloom in releases, he partnered up with his sister, Åsa Boström, to start the publishing house/record label Hypnagoga Press, as well as collaborate on their first release as Hymnambulae. After my previous interview with them in 2016, not long before I started This Is Darkness, I thought it was time to catch up with the siblings and find out from Pär about the new Teahouse Radio album, and to get some general clairvoyance on the label and future releases from Åsa. Read the interview here.

Terence Hannum – All Internal – Book Review
All Internal is a quick and enjoyable read. One that you could knock out rather quickly, if the story so engrosses you. I found my playlist of dark ambient awaiting review was the perfect accompaniment to this story, at certain times playing things on one end of the spectrum, but as the story took twists, I was adjusting the music’s themes accordingly. An all around enjoyable experience. I’m definitely hoping Hannum does more future work in this vein!
Read the review here.

Mortiis (Era 1 focused) – Interview
Mortiis is hailed by many/most as one of the greatest originators of the now greatly expanding dungeon synth genre. His Era 1 releases considered classics, and highly sought out by the dungeon synth community, as well as by fans of the Cold Meat Industry label, in general, which was home to Mortiis Era 1. With a new round of concerts featuring Era 1 material, a re-issue of his book ‘Secrets of My Kingdom’, and re-issues of all many Era 1 albums, it seemed like a great time to have a conversation with the man behind Mortiis and pick his mind about the new book, his re-emergence within the Era 1 context, the Cold Meat Industry 25th anniversary festival and more!
Read the interview here.

Latest Music Reviews
Find a list of all our reviews here.

Theologian – Reconcile – Review
Artist: Theologian
Album: Reconcile
Release date:  16 June 2018
Label: Cloister Recordings
Read the review here.

Tapes and Topographies – Signal to Noise – Review
Artist: Tapes and Topographies
Album: Signal to Noise
Release date: 17 August 2017
Label: Simulacra Records
Read the review here.

Lesa Listvy – Way Home – Review
Artist: Lesa Listvy
Album: Way Home
Release date: 22 May 2018
Label: Cryo Chamber
Read the review here.

Darkness Descends: A Post-Industrial Compilation – Review
Artist: Various Artists
Album: Darkness Descends: A Post-Industrial Compilation
Release date: 16 June 2018
Label: Live Bait Recording Foundation
Reviewer: Nicolas Dupont, debut review on This Is Darkness!
Read the review here.

156 – Memento Mori – Review
Artist: 156
Album: Memento Mori
Release date: 22 September 2016
Label: Feast Of Hate And Fear
Read the review here.

Eximia – Visitors – Review
Artist: Eximia
Album: Visitors
Release date: 3 April 2018
Label: Cryo Chamber
Read the review here.

Salò Salon – The Scent of Voluntarism – Review
Artist: Salò Salon
Album: The Scent of Voluntarism
Release date: 11 February 2018
Label: White Ashes
Read the review here.

Simon Šerc – Bora Scura – Review
Artist: Simon Šerc
Album: Bora Scura
Release date: 22 April 2018
Label: Pharmafabrik Recordings
Read the review here.

Skincage – Unimagined Space – Review
Artist: Skincage
Album: Unimagined Space
Release date: 10 October 2017
Label: Annihilvs Power Electronix (APEX)
Read the review here.

Sonologyst – Apocalypse– Review
Artist: Sonologyst
Album: Apocalypse
Release date: 15 September 2017
Label: Eighth Tower Records
Read the review here.

Melankolia – Vividarium Intervigilium Viator – Review
Artist: Melankolia
Album: Vividarium Intervigilium Viator
Release date: 12 December 2017
Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records
Read the review here.

Visions & Phurpa – Monad – Review
Artist: Visions & Phurpa
Album: Monad
Release date: 25 April 2018
Label: Cyclic Law
Read the review here.

The Caretaker – Everywhere At The End of Time:
Stages III & IV – Review
Artist: The Caretaker
Album: Everywhere at the End of Time Stages 3 & 4
Release date: Periodically Releasing 2016 – 2019
Label: History Always Favours The Winners
Read the review here.

Taphephobia & Kave – Monuments – Review
Artist: Taphephobia & Kave
Album: Monuments
Release date: 10 April 2018
Label: Cyclic Law
Read the review here.

Stromstad – New Devoted Human – Review
Artist: Stromstad
Album: New Devoted Human
Release date: 8 December 2017
Label: Malignant Records
Read the review here.

Theologian – Forced Utopia – Review
Artist: Theologian
Album: Forced Utopia
Release date: 20 October 2017
Label: Danvers State Recordings
Read the review here.

***You can find a list of all reviews here.***

Submissions
If you are interested in making a submission to This Is Darkness, please feel free to contact us at the following address: info@ThisIsDarkness.com

Help Support Us!
This Is Darkness started up with the help of a few great friends, but we need to keep things running. This is where you ladies and gentlemen come in! We need every little bit of help we can get to keep this thing moving, keep growing in exposure, size, and breadth of features!

If you would like to help support This Is Darkness, you can do so in two ways:
1. You can provide monthly support through our Patreon page here.
2. A one time donation can be made

Another move is underway and then things will be back to normal. This post should cover all releases from mid-December through mid-January. There have, obviously, been a ton of albums released over this last month. With all the awards lists and such being published around this time of year a lot of these albums get lost in the chaos. So, take your time browsing the latest offerings from the dark ambient community!

Music Videos & Teasers

raison d’être – Alchymeia – official album teaser 2017
Artwork by Nihil. Music and video by raison d’être. Releasing soon on Cyclic Law.

Atrox Pestis – Music Video for “Hewn by the Hands of the Damned”

Ashtoreth and Tiloh – Music Video by Tim VDS

Astral & Shit – New Album Teaser

Darkleaks – The Ripper Genome
Documentation of a performance that took place during book launch at Horse Hospital on 11 April 2017.

Hadewych – “Welving” Trailer
Though the project of Dutchman Peter Johan Nÿland, contributions from members of Trepaneringsritualen, Dead Neanderthals, Turia and veteran experimental vocalist Greetje Bijma, help Hadewych to function more as a collective as it amorphously shapeshifts and navigates through a broad swath of styles. And yet, Welving is so finely honed and skillfully crafted, that it works as a singular,whole, never losing a firm grasp on what remains at the core of its unique and dynamic sound. Still, it is nearly impossible to classify or define, utilizing a broad array of instrumentation, working in the monolithic, organic and the acoustic, and filtering it through a complex network of darkened, post-industrial, post-black, ritual hallucinations, and noir-ish Bohren And Der Club Of Gore death-jazz, with a steady stream of insistent bass, percussion, and spoken narrative to propel many of the tracks forward. Hadewych defines their music as black rituals channeling the ultra-grotesque, which is about an apt description as you’re going to find, and yet it’s that vagueness and ambiguity that manages to sum them up perfectly. One of the most unique and exceptional releases under the Malignant banner, and highly recommended for those not unafraid to venture into realms unknown.

ia~mt~hi~ng ~ – Music Video for new track “Transcend”

New Releases & Preorders

Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast & God Body Disconnect
– New Album Released
(Cryo Chamber – LP/CD/Digital)
“Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast and God Body Disconnect collaborates on this foggy noir album.
The invitation came in a cinnamon scented envelope. It had been years since your last visit to the hotel, before the headlines of murder had shut it down. Was it re-opened after all these years?
A bottle of pills later, your car pulled up outside the old building. The lights were on, struggling to cut through the heavy fog. Distant voices and music lingered like smoke as you entered the lobby.
Miles to Midnight is a Dark Jazz Ambient album with a Lynchian Noir feel: A hotel trapped between two worlds and a detective with a traumatized past.
God Body Disconnect’s live jazz drums and cinematic wall-of-sound builds the foundation of the mysterious hotel. Cities Last Broadcast brings ghostly tape loops and melodies stuck in time. Atrium Carceri dusts off his old pianos and shatters reality with low bass rumbles and brings you into the other side of the hotel. For lovers of smokey soundtracks to unwritten movies.”

raison d’être – Pre-orders Available (Cyclic Law – 2LP/CD/Digital)
“It’s with great honour that we present the latest album by Swedish dark ambient stalwart raison d’être. This time Peter Andersson scrutinizes the paths of Carl Gustav Jung’s notions of archetypes and the individuation process. Just like Mise en Abyme, the previous raison d’être album from 2014, Alchymeia is diving deep down to the shadows of the unconsciousness, and back to a dawn of the true Self. Confronting the shadow within is the darkest time of despair. There seems no way forward, only down. All is blackening and decomposed. Suddenly, through an enantiodromia, the ever deepening descent into the unconscious transmogrifies and becomes gradually illuminated. The melancholia is being purified. Alchymeia is in a sense the “raison d’être” of raison d’être, a shadowy journey through our unconscious the individuation process and archetypes. This release also marks the first time a raison d’être album will be available on vinyl.”
CD edition of 500 Copies in 6 panel Digisleeve. 4 Tracks.
Vinyl edition of 200 Copies in Gatefold Double LP. 4 Tracks.
Digital edition in 24bit – 96khz Exclusive to Bandcamp
Releases January 31, 2018.
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/alchymeia

Atrox Pestis – Preorder Available (Chryptus – CD/Digital)
New dark ambient project by Grant Richardson of the death industrial act Gnawed!

Mark 9:43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Genesis 1:6
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide he waters from the waters.

Who are “the damned,” the living or the dead, and which of these is the cruel plague? We have riven great scars in the surface of the planet. Each human age brings with it more terrible capabilities. Do we approach godhood, or something else? The ambivalence of the great powers of the universe is frightening.
Where Gnawed is the bloody heartbeat of humans crushed by their own creation, Atrox Pestis is that same barren world self-reflecting. Pristine bass, distant scrape, the rumination of a world luxuriating in deep, geological time. Those ambivalent forces have set about reshaping our world. What will be created next?

Alone in the Hollow Garden – New Album Released (CD/Digital)
“The second physical offering released at the gateways of the MMXVII Winter Solstice, “Ain Soph Aur” gathers five rituals recorded under a two years span and collected especially for this magic time, when our souls are releasing the old structures and are opening for a new cycle of evolution.”

Andrew Tasselmyer – New Album Released
(Shimmering Moods – CD/Cassette/Digital)
“Vantage Points is an album about place, meaning, and translation. It is literally a tape reel playing back my memories.
When recording this album, I heavily manipulated field recordings from several places relevant to me. Some sounds were trivial, some were remarkable, but each one came from a place that has had a very specific and powerful impact on my life; impacts that I can’t necessarily describe in words.
I recommend it be played quietly, as a low-volume companion for your dreams and reflections…”

Aseptic Void – New Album Released (Eighth Tower – Digital)
“Ideazione di Contrasto is dedicated to a mental phenomenon associated with the fear of losing control and present in OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Every track is a communicative need that reached its final form in music. A journey into the artist’s unconscious, where the echo of every single step resounds in the meanders of a tormented psyche. An experimental dark ambient in which nothing is left to pure aesthetic taste, but moves from an authentic excavation into the psychic process of a mental disorder that imprisons the listener in an abysmal void.”

Astral & Shit – Pre-order Available (Black Mara – CD/Digital)
“This album is something alien but familiar the Earth. That once came out of the Earth and now once again reunited. It was so long ago that we the living can’t appreciate with common sense that has been revealed to us. Alarming and dangerous, but beautiful at the same time, it is Divo.”

El Prêtro Maniaco – New Album Released (Required Rate of Return – CD/Digital)
“Conceived in the Haunted Chapel during the damned year ov 2015.
El Prêtro Maniaco uses & abuses ov psychothropes, EVPs, Ouija board, herbs & stones for magical purposes.
No animal were harmed during the making ov this record.”

Grove of Whispers – New Album Released
“Time rarely weighed upon him, for he had many methods of passing it.
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (1966)”
Grove of Whispers is John Tocher. John does the Sadayatana podcast and plays live several nights a week on stillstream.fm He also releases dark and experimental music at Buddhist on Fire.

ia~mt~hi~ng – New Album Released (Noctivagant – CD/Digital)
IV, the new album by the ritual dark ambient project ia~mt~hi~ng,
is a dark and blackened journey through a range of different ritual ambient styles, making for a dynamic and often hypnotic experience.

Jason Christopher Watkins – New Album Released
(Dune Altar – Cassette/Digital)
“As keyboardist for heavy prog dreamers Ancestors, Jason has become known for creating vast sonic landscapes. On this, his second release as a solo artist, he single-handedly conceived of, designed and constructed his own dark metropolis of sound. Fans of the soundtrack works of Vangelis and John Carpenter are likely to love this record!”

Jim Wylde – Preorder Available (Fuck Labels/Fuck Mastering – Cassette/Digital)
Jim Wylde’s – Bedtime Stories For Lo-Fi Witches is the follow-up album to his 2016 release Songs For the Brokenhearted From The Departed released on IO Sound out of Vancouver Canada.
Here we find him continuing in his off center nostalgic and emotive compositions, dropping the previous distortion drenched keys and building a journey through dark and submerged fables carried on modulated waves.

Martyria – New Album Released (Malignant – CD/Digital)
“With its great textural depth, sepulchral atmospheres, and exotic, richly detailed ritualistic passages, the stunning, self-titled debut from the Greek male/female duo Martyria signifies the arrival of a vital new entry into the world of ritual/dark ambience and a welcome addition to the Malignant roster.
Running 41 minutes spread over five tracks, the disc opens with “Logos”, a haunting piece track of gorgeous female keening, angelically drifting over a bed of primitive Byzantine rhythms and liturgical chants. It deftly sets the tone and lays the foundation for the proceeding pieces, which move from bottomless, subterranean drift and luminescent drones, to more sinister realms marked by slow, tribal percussion, resonating wood instrumentation, and elongated vocalizations. All of it flows seamlessly, rising from tendrils of wood smoke and incense, rooted in spiritual and ceremonial darkness, and bound together by atavistic and organic means.
For fans of Shibalba, Caul, Herbst9, Funerary Call, and Voice of Eye.”

Melankolia – New Album Released (Hypnotic Dirge – CD/Digital)
Ambient / Neo-classical artist Melankolia presents their fourth full-length album ‘Vividarium Intervigilium Viator’. Founded by musician Mike O’Brien, (Appalachian Winter, Veiled Monk, Ritual in Ash) Melankolia has been releasing introspective and thoughtful music since the project’s beginnings nearly 10 years ago.
Mike O’Brien states:
“This album bridged nearly 5 years of hardship and resurrection in my life. Thematically, this album is a journey of OUROBOROS in my personal life; self-cannibalizing at one end, enigma of absolute perpetuality at the other. It wasn’t the project that changed, but me. The music was always there, but I had to learn to extricate it from the ruins of a life that was no more. In this way, the album is a study of personal catharsis”
The nights are long, the air is cold, and winter’s firm grasp is upon us. This is the season of contemplation and reflection. Vividarium Intervigilium Viator is the perfect soundtrack for solitary introspection and a recalibration of your mind, allowing you to feel mourning, loss, resentment, as well as hope for optimism. The physical album is presented in a 4 panel digipack with an accompanying booklet of photography from the composer Mike O’Brien and Silvana Massa.

Silent Universe – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
“Pavel Malyshkin ( Ugasanie ) presents us with his dark space project Silent Universe.
Explore the anomalies that lurk in the infinite dark. Listen to magnetic readings of dark space as you probe the unexplored.
This albums bring dark rumbling sounds in the raw isolated style that is Pavel’s expertise.
Recommended for fans of space ambient.”

Sílení – New Album Released (Cephalopagus – Digital)
“Sílení is an experimental project which has started in 2015 as a way to explore very intense and dark atmospheres.
The debut album, released on the 31st of October 2016,
can be perceived as a disturbing soundtrack of a bizarre and haunting world.
The project is strongly influenced by surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer’s Lunacy (Šílení) and many classic horror films.”

Sombre Soniks – New Compilation Released (Digital Only)
“Thee Longest Night brings forth thee sekond in thee series of Ritual kompilations from Sombre Soniks –
‘Thee New Ritual Movement vol. II: An Introduktion To Kontemporary Ritual Muziks’.
This release features 24 Muzikians from a variety of kountries who were invited to take part, kreating over 5 hours of Ritual Muziks, each with their own partikular styles and tekniques. From purely akoustik rekordings to processed elektronika, this release showkases some of thee best Artists in thee field of Kontemporary Ritual Muziks.
Also inkluded is an 88 page booklet featuring info, links and artwork from each Artist, plus a gallery of artwork and writings from various Occult and Ritual influenced Artists.
As with thee first volume, I decided that I would not master this kompilation due to thee Ritual and highly personal nature of thee kompositions…Therefore thee overall levels may raise and fall a little, but I believe this is best to remain faithful to thee Intended Sound…” – SomSon109

The Null Spectre – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“Wendigo was written as the score to a fictitious film about a group of explorers who become stranded in the wilderness after a severe storm blows through their camp, leaving them helpless as they are stalked by an unseen predator; an ancient entity known as the Wendigo…”

This Is Darkness Recent Posts

Wordclock – Heralds – Review
“It has been apparent since his debut, Endless, that Pimentel was a musician to keep an eye on. That sentiment has never been more apparent than now. With the release of Heralds, Pimentel shows the staggering extent of his ambition and skill as a musician and a studio technician. I simply can’t overstate the magnitude to which this album has moved me, and I strongly suspect that it will have the same effect on many, if not most, readers of this review.”
Read the full review here.

Guest Sessions: Post-Industrial Mix by Miljenko Rajakovic of TeHÔM
The second mix in our “Guest Sessions” series for ThisIsDarkness.com is prepared by Miljenko Rajakovic, the dark ambient and electronic veteran known for his projects TeHÔM and Principia Audiomatica. On this new mix, Rajakovic takes us on a dark and twisted journey through the many varied soundscapes of dark ambient & post-industrial. There are some well known musicians include, and some others that are up & coming in the post industrial world.
Listen to the mix here.

Matteo Brusa (Medhelan/La Tredicesima Luna) – Interview
Matteo Brusa is the man behind the dungeon synth project, Medhelan, and the dark ambient project, La Tredicesima Luna. Hailing from northern Italy, Brusa’s cultural and geographical histories have played a big part in his identity as a musician. I was able to pick Brusa’s mind for this quite extensive interview, which will look into the background of the man, as well as the beginning and future of his musical projects.
Read the interview here.

Trepaneringsritualen – Kainskult – Review
“TxRxP has broken new ground for the death industrial sound while paying proper respect to the style’s inaccessible nature, something Ekelund’s contemporaries often struggle to accomplish. Many projects embrace outside influences as they try to push beyond their template, but this album remains firmly rooted in brain-bashing claustrophobia. Trepaneringsritualen produces something hardcore fans of this music will adore, but also provides enough glimmers of approachability for those lost in the sonic fray — making Kainskult one of the most potent death industrial releases to drop in recent years.”
Read the full review here.

Arktau Eos – Catacomb Resonator – Review
“Veteran listeners of the Aural Hypnox label will find nothing unusual with Catacomb Resonator. It is a welcome addition to an already impressive catalog of releases. For newcomers to the label, Catacomb Resonator should prove to be a perfect album to introduce to listeners. The ritual elements are strong, but the energy levels are more subdued than will be found on many Aural Hypnoxreleases. I can safely recommend this release to any fans of the ritual ambient genre. Arktau Eos are tried and true leaders of the genre, and Catacomb Resonator serves perfectly to reinforce this claim.”
Read the full review here.

Flowers For Bodysnatchers – Asylum Beyond – Review
Asylum Beyond serves as a perfect template for the dark ambient community. It shows how one may focus on themes that could be considered unworthy to the more philosophically driven artists of the genre; and how these themes are still absolutely worthy of our attention. When undertaken from the right perspective, horror ambient can be as entertaining as the best of horror movies. Even more so in many ways, since “seeing the evil” ultimately brings about disbelief and sometimes even humor in horror films. Horror ambient is able to bring us face to face with these horrors without ever removing the fragile veil from the listener’s imagination.”
Read the full review here.

Please consider making a donation!

This Is Darkness has gone live with the help of friends and supporters. I have been disabled since 2015, due to a spinal injury. Any support that can be given is greatly appreciated. Donations will go toward the maintenance of this site as well as additional promotion to increase its reach and influence. You can help through the donate button below,  or follow this link to the This Is Darkness Patreon page here.

Some great new releases this week. There aren’t a lot but they are definitely all worth checking out! There will be some interesting articles coming up soon, which have been in the works for quite some time. Stay tuned!

New Releases and Pre-orders

All Signs of Those Who Left – New Album Released (Throne of Bael – Digital)
Wintertide is an oppressive polar ambient release with plenty of darkness engrained. A great choice for Ugasanie fans, and the “name your price” format makes the decision easy!

Cryogenic Weekend – Preorder Available (Reverse Alignment – 3CD/Digital)
“Oleg Puzan seem to have his hands full. Not only does he frequently release under his solo alias through Cryo Chamber label but also do he have energy left to cooperate with other artists. From ritualistic dark ambient to minimalism, he has made himself a name in the scene and his creativity doesn’t seem to have an end.
About a year ago we saw the release of Dronny Darkos collaboration “Black Monolith” with Ajna on Reverse Alignment. This year we release another cooperative creation with Oleg Puzan; “Polar Sleep” by Cryogenic Weekend. This entity is formed together with fellow compatriot Vitaly Lebukhorski (Oil Texture) and is a visit to the coldest regions of the world where widespread glaciars and the kingdom of snow rule. “Polar Sleep” is an invitation to experience the sounds of a realm where ice never melts.”
Releases February 23, 2018

Feasibility Study – New Album Released (Throne of Bael – Digital)
A mix of all sorts of different styles of ambient music. This “name your price” release is certainly worth checking out. There should be a lot of things here to enjoy for a wide variety of music lovers.

Humanfobia – New Album Released (Kalpamantra – Digital Only)
“Humanfobia, the brainchild of Sábila Orbe returns to the label once again with latest opus “Epitaph 404″. This will be the next / last release before the Suiyase compilation drops on the 14th.”

Ingenting Kollektiva – New Album Released (Invisible Birds – Digital)
“Music by Tarrl Morley and Matthew Swiezynski. Recorded in San Francisco in 1998 using a 78 rpm recording of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit (interpreted by Walter Gieseking), a reel to reel deck, and restraining techniques. The music was also used as a soundtrack to Mr. Swiezynski’s 16mm film Juliette from the same year.
Why the ensemble did not try and get the music published that year is a mystery but Invisible Birds is very proud to be issuing it now, as it resonates so very strongly with the label’s vision.”

Jesús Lastra – New EP Released (Petroglyph Music – Digital Only)
Abnormality of Movement is 23 minutes of thickly layered atmospherics. Hollowed drones interact with chilling samples to create something as colorful as it is bleak. “name your price”

Master Toad – New EP Released (Dark Forest Media – Digital)
The experimental dark ambient project Master Toad releases this latest EP which contains several remixed and remastered tracks along with 5 brand new ones. The sounds are a combination of subtle drones and intricate field recordings. Incredibly atmospheric. “Name your price”

Noctilucant – New Album Released (CD/Digital)
“‘Bleak and Drained of Colour’ is the third full-length album from cinematic dark ambient project, Noctilucant. Bleak continues exploring the post apocalyptic world that originally started on ‘Back to the Mud’ and ‘Oblivion to you all,’ but this time around centers its attention to a single protagonist.
On Bleak Noctilucant is joined by Scottish voice actor Matthew Donnachie (The Jacobite Officer), and together they tell a tale of a man residing in his fallout shelter, while he recalls events that led to his current predicament and his lost love, Emily…
‘Bleak and Drained of Colour’ is a single forty minute song broke into six different scenes.”

O(f)verandas – New Album Released (Sparkwood Records – CD/Digital)
“This album was conceived, performed and recorded by Bernard Iannone / O(f)verandas at Northwood & 4 Communal arts studio, using and Epiphone Les Paul and an array of effect pedals.”

Richard Skelton – New EP & Full Lenghth Released (Aeolian – Digital Only)
“A further addition to the Ridgelines series – musical invocations of hills, mountains and upland landscapes – ‘Hánefsstaðafjall’ is a fell on the south-eastern shore of Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. Previous works in the series are ‘Cappanawalla’ in The Burren, Ireland, and ‘Black Combe’ in Cumbria, England.
Hánefsstaðafjall forms part of a larger collection of work, ‘Towards A Frontier’, produced in Iceland between 2014 and 2016 as part of the Frontiers in Retreat project.”

“In 2013, along with the artists Kati Gausmann and Ráðhildur Ingadóttir, Richard was invited “to live and work in a unique small community where creativity is applied to everyday life in a remote rural setting of East Iceland.” The artists first visited Seyðisfjörður in the autumn of 2014, returning in the spring of 2016, and finally in the summer of 2017. During their last visit, they staged an exhibition at Skaftfell Center for Visual Art.
“Towards a Frontier” is an album of music written and recorded in the mountains of East Iceland between 2014 and 2016. Slowly unfolding over 66 minutes, it is Richard’s most ambitious composition to date, evoking the seasonal shifts of a remote and singularly compelling landscape. ”

Scott Lawlor – New Album Released – (Digital Only)
The Full Moon Series: Volume 12 – December the Full Long Nights Moon is Scott Lawlor’s latest space drone ambient album. Two and a half hours of slowly shifting sounds from the abyss.

Sound_00 + Lefterna – New EP Released (Attenuation Circuit – Digital Only)
Collab 30 is a well-honed experimental ambient collaboration between Tony Dimitrov and Boban Restevski. Drones meet a plethora of field recordings, creating an album that is thought-provoking and meditative. “name your price”

Wordclock – New Album Released (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
On a personal note: this has been one of the top albums of 2017 for me. If you are into dark ambient’s intersections with neo-classical and/or dark jazz, this album will likely send you into a blissful stupor! The guest appearances make this one all the more potent. Amund Ulvestad is on cello and electronics. You may be familiar with Amund’s cello work on the previous Wordclock album, as well as the new Svartsinn album! (He’s also been doing live performances with Svartsinn for the last few years.) George Shmanauri of the fellow Cryo Chamber act Phonothek is on the trumpet. Lastly there is Nuno Craveiro on the Nyckelharpa, a Scandinavian instrument. This is a must-have release!

Sales

Cryo Chamber – Sabled Sun Sale
50% off all digital Sabled Sun releases.
All releases can be found here.
2145
The album 2145 will take you to the desolate landscapes of a fallen future, where a mans voyage after being released from deep freeze hibernation turns into a realization of his own shattered mentality.

2146
The follow up to the album 2145 takes us to the second year after our
protagonist awakens from deep hibernation sleep to a world in ruins.
Seeking signs of life he encounters ghostly illuminated cities still powered.

2147
A shattered man self taught to survive in the harsh world left empty by it’s predecessors, only it’s mechanical children left behind. The protagonist journeys through a burned out world towards the Outer Zones and the rumored space center there, in search for answers.

2148
The fourth album from the Sabled Suns 21xx series, about a man in Hibernation waking up to a world in ruins, takes us through the fourth year 2148. The album starts with our Protagonist finding The Ark. It takes us through robot filled chasms, overgrown laboratories, uplink stations and deteriorated civilization.

Signals I-II-III
Sabled Sun – Signals, is a series of space ambient works that portrays signals that the protagonist from the albums 2145 and 2146 finds on his journey to find out what happened to humanity after waking up from hibernation deep sleep to an empty world void of human life. As such this is an optional look into what happens in the periphery of the main project.
Signals IV-V-VI
Sabled Sun – Signals, is a series of space ambient works that portrays signals that the protagonist from the Sabled Sun – 21xx series finds on his journey to find out what happened to humanity after waking up from hibernation deep sleep to an empty world void of human life. As such this is a look into what happens in the periphery of the main project.

This Is Darkness Week In Review

Horror Ambient – 3 Hour Seamless Dark Ambient Mix
A horrific 3 hour seamless mix of the most chilling and tenebrous dark ambient music released over the last year or two. Dive into this one with all the bravery you can muster. The outer gods meet the most human of fears for an intense experience of 100% dark ambient desolation.
Listen to the mix here.

Stuzha – Siberian Sketches II – Review
“Stuzha once again proves their talents with Siberian Sketches II, this time taking what they learned from Siberian Sketches I as well as Butugichag, and crafting an album that is incredibly relaxing. It could be the sole companion to a lonely evening by the fire during these upcoming winter months. It could also be allowed to fall into the background during any reading, study or writing sessions. Between the combined albums of all his projects: Stuzha, Algol and Black Wanderer, Daniil Kazantsev proves himself to be an incredibly capable force in the genre of dark ambient, and one which I hope will become more well-recognized by the community as time passes.”
Read the full review here.

Nhor – Interview
2017 was an interesting and eventful year for the UK project Nhor. He pushed the atmospheric element for his approach to its minimalist limit, which resulted in a quadrilogy of EPs that formed the Wildflowers cycle. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter shed light on aspects of their respective seasons not often explored in any art-form — let alone through piano ambient music. As this portion of Nhor’s existence closes out, the artist was kind enough to sit down and give some insight into the creative process, hidden meanings and personal significance of Wildflowers.
Read the interview here.

Please consider making a donation!

This Is Darkness has gone live with the help of friends and supporters. I have been disabled since 2015, due to a spinal injury. Any support that can be given is greatly appreciated. Donations will go toward the maintenance of this site as well as additional promotion to increase its reach and influence. You can help through the donate button below,  or follow this link to the This Is Darkness Patreon page here.