Tag: Review (Page 12 of 19)

Nhor – Wildflowers: Autumn – Review on the Periphery

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On October 14, 2017

In On the Periphery

Artist: Nhor
Album: Wildflowers: Autumn
Release date: 10 October 2017
Label: Prophecy

Tracklist:
01. Where They Once Were
02. The Trees Knew Not of Me Then
03. Moonfall
04. We Set Their Bodies Free in the Cold River
05. What We Hid in the Night
06. Fire Promises Guidance
07. Fate



After establishing himself in atmospheric black metal and ambient folk circles, the UK-based multi-instrumentalist Nhor has most recently embraced a unique strand of stripped-down piano ambient music. Over the past six months, he has released two installments of Wildflowers, a quadrilogy of EPs themed after the seasons. Spring and Summer provided intimate explorations of the warmer seasons, a time of rebirth and one of plenty, but Autumn comes as a quiet overture to a period of gradual wilting and panicked preparation with retrospective undercurrents.

Live production, repetitious playing, and modulative fluidity remain central to Nhor’s approach. Within this formula, “Where They Once Were” and “The Trees Knew Not of Me Then” start Autumn strong with two of the cycle’s most dense compositions so far. The former’s tasteful use of octaves skyrockets the dynamism of a trickling moving line, while the latter’s spiraling melody and rushing feel mirrors a blustery October afternoon — all the while maintaining intimate immediacy. Nhor sounds like he’s playing his piano right beside the listener, allowing the instrument’s resonance to overflow to the last echoing tone.

“When the first leaves begin to fall,” Nhor reminisces about autumn, “I am abruptly reminded of everything that I wished to achieve.” With the vibrant colors and spurt of ecological and meteorological activity comes the inevitable realization that the lull of summer is not only temporary, but never long enough. He explores this annual epiphany through his minimalist vein, through the polarized low-end arpeggiations and cutting chimes of “We Set Their Bodies Free in the Cold River.”

The waters and winds of time can suddenly feel like flash floods and gales as life hurtles towards finale, but Autumn still evokes moments of clarity as each note constructs a peaceful head-space in the midst of terrifying change. As the nebulous broken chords at the start of “What We Hid in the Night” take form, stoic understanding coincides with tragic realization.

Imparting the heavenly oracle’s third appearance in Wildflowers, “Moonfall” serves as a reminder that the world’s constant shifts never completely shroud the moon as an unmoving sounding board for both Nhor and the listener. The song’s use of silence and note decay make it the most atmospheric track on Autumn, while its basis in high register further separates it from other cuts — emphasizing Nhor’s ability to compose distinct auras by gradually dealing his hand from song to song.

Autumn confronts fall as an abrupt reminder of the transient nature of the good times summer provides, but Nhor’s thoughts are never hopeless. “As the warmth of our star retreats, I am drawn closer to the fire,” he says. The passionate “Fire Promises Guidance” encapsulates this enduring comfort, as its crestfallen melody imparts somber apprehension through several movements that encompass the entirety of his emotional and sonic palette. With Nhor’s tearful farewell to the jubilation summer brought comes a decision to preserve warmth as winter creeps over the horizon, in the knowledge that coming hardships will fade as surely as good times. The polyphonic concluding track “Fate” comes as a whimsical ode to the inevitability of these cyclical changes, a call to live in spite of them instead of wallowing when they come.

At 23 minutes, this is the longest and most dense Wildflowers EP so far. Using stark minimalism and extreme simplicity, Nhor has again created a cohesive narrative unique to the season in question. Autumn blows with crimson leaves towards a snowy blight, pacifying the maddening race to prepare for winter through its gentle chords.

Written by: Maxwell Heilman

La Tredicesima Luna – Il Sentiero degli Dei – Review

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On October 13, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: La Tredicesima Luna
Album title: Il Sentiero degli Dei
Release date: 13 October 2017
Label: Lighten Up Sounds

Tracklist:
01. Parte I – Fuochi sotto le stelle /
Tra due mondi
02. Parte II- Energie ancestrali /
La luce dorata dell’aurora

Matteo Brusa, of the Lombardy region of Italy, has been putting in a lot of work over recent years, building up his name as a dungeon synth artist under the moniker Medhelan. His last major release, Fall of the Horned Serpent, on the Deivlforst label, brought him into the mainstream of the quickly growing dungeon synth community. Now Brusa takes his music in a different direction, and appropriately under a different name.

La Tredicesima Luna is his new project which creates music that falls under the dark ambient genre as opposed to his Medhelan releases which are a bit of a mix, but for the most part classified as dungeon synth. La Tredicesima Luna doesn’t necessarily follow the current trends of dark ambient. His sounds reach back to an older era, closer to the beginnings of the genre (even if this was a decade or so after the actual beginning of the genre). On Il Sentiero degli Dei, Brusa seems to have drawn a lot of inspiration from Burzum and the other early black metal acts, when they were first testing the waters of the dark ambient genre in short spurts on their otherwise black metal albums.

This connection to the black metal/dark ambient cross-overs seems the most obvious in the second track, “Parte II – Energie ancestrali / La luce dorata dell’aurora”. This track has significant similarities to the final track of the Filosofem album by Burzum, “Gebrechlichkeit II”. It follows a similar chord progression using a similar sounding synth sample. This shouldn’t be a surprise as many artists, particularly of the dungeon synth variety, are quick to point toward Burzum as one of their main influences. Furthermore, many well respected artists in that genre have gone so far as to include Burzum covers on their albums.

But, don’t get me wrong about this comparison. Brusa is certainly not looking to just reproduce something that Burzum did roughly 25 years ago. Instead he takes this style as a foundational element and builds onto it with his own ideas to create something that is arguably much more interesting and innovative than was done by Burzum or his black metal contemporaries.

Particularly the opening track of Il Sentiero degli Dei brings forth brilliant soundscapes of drones and meandering synth which are complemented by manipulated field recordings. “Parte I – Fuochi sotto le stelle / Tra due mondi” conjures aural images of deep dark forests, filled with all the creatures that one might manifest in a nightmare. There is a consistently dark otherworldly presence emanating from those most haunted and daemonic shadow regions of the Earth and its other conjoined realms.

The opener gives us a clear and distinct sense of our surroundings, while the other half, “Energie ancestrali / La luce dorata dell’aurora” gives us plenty of space to brood and meditate upon these dark wonders that we have previously conjured. While the track moves on in a rather static manner for its almost fifteen minute length, it is a testament to the skills and vision of Brusa, that it never manages to feel stagnant or redundant.

The release of this album in an ultra-limited edition of 50 professionally duplicated grey cassettes through the Lighten Up Sounds label/distro means that die-hard fans of Medhelan will likely sweep these copies up in a matter of hours/days. This edition will almost surely become a highly sought out physical release over the coming months/years.

Brusa has done what I’ve been hoping to see over the last few years since discovering Medhelan. He’s severed the tie of Medhelan between his dark ambient and dungeon synth output and created an entity for the sole purpose of dark ambient releases. As he moves further into the depths of this cataclysm it’s likely that an already polished sound will be even further refined on future releases. We might be seeing the beginnings here of a big deal within dark ambient circles. Brusa has already proven capable of this feat in the dungeon synth community.

Written by: Michael Barnett

A Cryo Chamber Collaboration – Tomb of Druids – Review

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On October 11, 2017

In Reviews

Artists: protoU, Aegri Somnia, Dead Melodies
Ager Sonus and Creation VI
Album title: Tomb of Druids
Release date: 17 October 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber

Tracklist:
01. protoU – Eyes of the Shaman
02. Aegri Somnia – Temple of Druids
03. Dead Melodies – Bryn Celli Ddu
04. Ager Sonus – Well of Knowledge
05. Creation VI – Birds Turning Stones

Just when I thought I had figured out the pattern and common elements of the Tombs Series by Cryo Chamber, Tomb of Druids came along and blew me away. There is no doubt for me that this is the best Tombs Series collaboration/compilation to-date. The extensive and bold use of field recordings throughout this album gives it a huge edge over the previous Tombs Series releases.

The use in the foreground of field recordings on this one gives the entirety of the album a smoothness and consistency that was only touched upon in the past. It feels like one neatly flowing experience for the 50+ minute duration of the album. Of course, each artist certainly brings their own flavor to the album. Each set of drones differs, each use of vocal elements, instrumentation or even the movement sounds (walking, placing items on a table) is a little different from the one before. But I get the feeling that some of these field recordings were all from a single source and shared amongst the musicians to help create this synchronization of sounds.

The cover art looks to depict a human sacrifice. Robed and laureled figures stand in the foreground, the bearded male carrying a knife and the stern but beautiful female gazing into the distance. Between and behind them lies their human victim, spread on a table, head dangling lifelessly over the edge. The sacrifice is complete and the druids look to the distant stormy skies for signs of the Gods’ acceptance of their offering.

protoU delivers the opening, and one of the longest tracks, on the album. From the very beginning we are overwhelmed with thick and intense uses of field recordings that protoU has hinted at in the past, but never used so boldly. The outcome is pure excellence. This is the sort of dark, stormy, cryptic field recording laden cinematic dark ambient for which I constantly am searching. The mastering by Simon Heath, the man behind Sabled Sun, surely helped to give these cinematics a full and proper edge, taking them even further toward her goal than she likely would have imagined. While their is plenty going on musically on “Eyes of the Shaman”, in terms of drones, these field recordings are rightly the main and focused element of the track. We can only hope for more of this sort of sound in the future for protoU.

On the following track, “Temple of Druids” by Aegri Somnia, the thunder storm field recordings continue from the protoU track, but enter later in this one. It initially begins with deep crushing drones, intricate field recordings of movements, ritual incantations, a haunted choral/drone section, and other oscillating drones which all combine to add a depth to the psychological effect on the listener, bringing us into the rituals. Distant chants, toward the end of the track, along with the thunder storm kicking in bring the whole experience to a new level of emotion.

Dead Melodies decided to name their track, “Bryn Celli Ddu” which means the mound in the dark grove, after a specific prehistoric site on the Welsh island of Anglesey, dating to the neolithic period, some 17,000 years ago. So we can have a hint from this title at the sort of extent to which this whole album depicts a scene that is long lost and forgotten, tombs that are slowly being erased from history by the constant movements and destruction of modern humanity. The track evokes strong vibes of this period with the use of what sounds at times like the clashing of rocks or wood tools and/or ritual paraphernalia, sounds that continue through later tracks along with the storms. Lush guitar drones build the foundation along with these field recordings of dripping waters as if the rains here had just ended. The drones continue to thicken and become more menacing as the track progresses.

Ager Sonus‘ track begins with campfire field recordings. Deep drones fade in and out of the mix, leaving only the fire as the foundation. A lonely flute-like instrument or synth, and later the ensemble of stringed instruments cut through the mix giving it a dreamy and melancholic sort of feel as the field recordings of movement, dripping waters and distant storms all come together making the experience vivid and highly enjoyable. This is not at all the Ager Sonus we know from their Cryo Chamber debut several months back, giving plenty of room for hope that their next album will be equally enjoyable in a totally different way. The track ends with the recurrence of the thundering storm moving to the foreground as the drones fade out.

Creation VI starts his track with some highly manipulated chanting, that quickly brings to mind old raison d’être, even more so than on the previous Metatron Omega releases in which I’ve made this sort of comparison. Something that sounds like a cross between muted picking of a guitar or tapping on a drum with heavy delay oscillates between speakers as a hollow airy drone starts to move into the background. These manipulated vocals slowly fade out or shift into another sound that continues to move in the background. As the drones become extremely thick and prominent, field recordings occasionally cut through the wall of sound, rocks bashing on rocks, also oscillating between speakers, as many elements of this album have done. Toward the end of the track the deep voiced incantations similar to those of the Aegri Somnia track resurface, adding what ends up being a chilling sort of vibe to the soundscape, even if it’s not intended as some shocking or haunting content.

Tomb of Druids is an absolute success. When I saw that it incorporated all new artist that had never participated in the series previously, with one track each, I was hesitant about how well it would work out. But after a number of listens, it’s absolutely clear that this album is worthy of the Tombs Series and, as I’ve previously mentioned, it is likely the most successful at extracting the correct psychological and perceptive responses from listeners. At this point the series could move in any direction. Taking it into these ritual grounds is certainly an interesting path and one that continuing to follow would likely bring about even more levels of success. Highly recommended for the cinematic and ritual ambient listeners.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Myrkur – Mareridt – Review

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On October 7, 2017

In On the Periphery

Artist: Myrkur
Album: Mareridt
Release date: 15 September 2017
Label: Relapse Records

Tracklist:
01. Mareridt
02. Måneblôt
03. The Serpent
04. Crown
05. Elleskudt
06. De Tre Piker
07. Funeral (ft. Chelsea Wolfe)
08. Ulvinde
09. Gladiatrix
10. Kætteren
11. Børnehjem
12. Death of Days (Bonus Track)
13. Kvindelil (Bonus Track ft. Chelsea Wolfe)
14. Løven (Bonus Track)
15. Himlen blev sort (Bonus Track)
16. Två Konungabarn (Bonus Track)

As much as many outlets have tried to push Myrkur as groundbreaking for having a female vocalist, Amalie Brunn’s approach is a natural progression of black metal as a movement. The genre’s aesthetic lends itself to much more than barrel-chested machismo, and its musical palette accommodates ghostly chorals as well as wraith-like shrieks.

That being said, Brunn’s past work left a lot to be desired in terms of fully fleshed out ideas. The components of solid folk-inspired black metal were there, but it translates more as the result of her musing about how neat it would be to try on black metal for size rather than taking it by the reigns. While Mareridt still falls shy of Brunn’s full potential, the album capitalizes on her strengths in a new and exciting way.

Five of these 11 songs aren’t metal at all (Kveldssanger style, baby!). Brunn had the right idea by hyping the record around its ethereal and delicate leanings, considering the five non-metal tracks stand out the most on Mareridt. From the title track’s opening “yop” onward, she emphasizes her resonance with traditional Celtic instrumentals and vocals throughout this record. This is what makes “Måneblôt” so energizing. Harmonious tremolo picking and rushing blast beats certainly maintain their presence, but the track reaches its summit when danceable string arrangements and percussion contrast and commingle with black metal elements.

“The Serpent” is arguably the weirdest track on the record. Its plodding guitar chugs and drum thuds starkly depart from Myrkur’s past sound, and it emphasizes Randal Dunn’s oddball production. While songs like “Crown” have a vast, yet earthy sound, the harsher elements of this record have a distant, mystical sound that may even throw off seasoned atmospheric black metal fans. For “The Serpent,” this leads to moments that would ordinarily blast listener’s eardrums if played by other bands, but instead levitate listeners into another headspace. This approach provides a freshness previously absent from her sound.

“Ulvide” best exemplifies Dunn’s production steering these songs away from expectations. Warm, sinister modulations suddenly drop into a brittle guitar riff and half-time beat, completely changing the song’s dynamic in an instant. The contrast between realistic Celtic traditionalism and otherworldly black metal becomes more jarring here. Pleasant orchestration suddenly becomes so elusive that one might not even hear certain parts at all without a solid speaker system, but his lack of accessibility allows Mareridt to transcend past confines and bring unique qualities to the table.

Although they’ve certainly improved this time around, Myrkur’s black metal could still use more inventive structure. “Funeral” realizes the most potential in this aspect of her style, as Chelsea Wolfe’s sensual elegance entangles with Brunn’s elfish inflections to a gorgeous effect over an evocative collage of tumbling drums and dreary guitar chords, but “Elleskudt” is memorable more for its ornamentation rather than the solidity of its essentials. Still, Myrkur’s amalgamated tracks like “Gladiatrix” fully come off much more dynamic than ever before.

While her vocal performances and ambient additions remain transfixing, this album’s structure essentially apes the style Ulver perfected 12 years ago with Bergtatt. She might be well advised to look towards Ved Buens Ende’s Written In Waters to see how forward-thinking playing could make her atmospheric prowess timeless.

As mentioned earlier, the true sublimity of Mareridt manifests in Brunn’s traditional songs. Whether it be the echoing percussion and monolithic drones of “De Tre Piker” or the strange rhythmic backdrop of “Kaetten,” Brunn’s skill as a multi-instrumentalist provides a way to keep these songs believably archaic yet profoundly fantastical. The only real complaint I have about these songs is the awkward way “Børnehjem” fits into the mix. It’s droning vocal reprises and witchy spoken word, though compelling, would have translated better if it melted directly into another track rather than standing as a separate idea.

Mareridt sees Myrkur improve sonically, but the room the project has to grow remains. Its distinct atmosphere and instrumentation are a beautiful testament to Brunn’s upward tangent, and upping her songwriting will make her an inexorable force in black metal.

Written by: Maxwell Heilman

Anemone Tube/Post Scriptvm – Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes – Review

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On October 3, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Anemone Tube / Post Scriptvm
Album: Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes
Release date: 1 December 2016
Label: The Epicurean / La Escencia

Tracklist:
01. Anemone Tube – Myth and the Relation to the World
02. Anemone Tube – Recueillement (Sa Propre Mort)
03. Anemone Tube – Irruption of the Whore
04. Post Scriptvm – Buried in Fabula
05. Post Scriptvm – Dark and Nameless Gods
06. Post Scriptvm – Laterne D’Horreur (Lantern of Horror)

Anemone Tube & Post Scriptvm are two well known and respected post-industrial projects which have been releasing music on various labels for well over a decade each. In 2012, The Epicurean label was formed, releasing many of the subsequent works by both of these musical projects. When listening to either Anemone Tube or Post Scriptvm, followers will usually expect deeply complex soundscapes which often fall on the harsher spectrum of the dark ambient, power electronics or death industrial genres. Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes will likely be a surprising release for many, as the sounds on this album are vastly subdued in comparison to the usual sonic intensity of either project.

As a fan of dark ambient that dabbles in death industrial and power electronics, I found Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes to be an exceedingly interesting album. The theme of this opus combined with the funereal dreary soundscapes immediately attracted my attention. Early on in my considering this release for review, I realized that the vinyl version would likely be the optimal listening format for such a work. Upon purchase of that vinyl, I can say that this theory has proven accurate, and I highly recommend any reader that enjoys the themes and/or sounds herein to consider purchasing a copy of the incredibly well-crafted vinyl version of this release. The album would be classified as a “split release”, but I urge listeners to think of this as one whole unified musical experience. The album progresses through the six tracks in a way that feels natural and brings the vision of both artist to fruition without a clash of interests or jarring shift in structure.

Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes takes its inspiration from a classical style of ritual music which, instead of inducing a positive euphoria in its Christian listeners, induced feelings of “dread, existential anxiety and feelings of death and decay”, as these musicians aptly describe it. Anemone Tube & Post Scriptvm decided to create their own ‘Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes’ or, in English, ‘Discordant Death Litanies’ as this seemed particularly appropriate for their musical tastes combined with our infatuation and mad-dash toward an apocalyptic end-time.

Anemone Tube takes the first half/side of the album. Their music, as alluded to previously, is extremely subdued in comparison to the works which I have come to recognize as representative of their trademark sound. The first track “Myth and the Relation to the World” is quite simplistic, consisting of the sounds of some distorted chants and haunted choirs backed by peaceful yet brooding drone-work. It is followed by the equally subdued “Recueillement (Sa Propre Mort)”, which translates to something like Contemplation (His/Her Own Death) in English. This track again features a slowly shifting drone-scape which seems to originate from some lonely-sounding horn. Both of these tracks leave ample room for the listener to become lost in thought, pondering the meaning of life… and death, or to simply meditate on the sounds.

“Irruption of the Whore” is the first move into the more anxiety driven, disturbed soundscapes, which will fully blossom on the Post Scriptvm half of the release. The track consists of bells which shift and distort, a hollow airy drone floating subtly in the background. As the intensity increases further into the track, we hear raspy noises and sounds akin to haunting voices. Chains seem to rattle in the background as other industrial noises combine to form what almost could be considered a percussive beat. This beat, as we move over to the second half, will translate into a beating heart, which provides a foundation for the first of the Post Scriptvm tracks.

Post Scriptvm will gradually build upon the intensity that was introduced in “Irruption of the Whore”. “Buried in Fabula” starts with a contorted passage which seems to have religious undertones. A heartbeat builds the foundation, before drones enter the fold, which blend miraculously well into the sounds of haunted choirs. Feedback and white-noise moves in and out of the mix adding a further sense of anxiety and dread. The sense of increasing anxiety bleeds into the following track, “Dark and Nameless Gods”. Spoken word continues as well from the previous track, with sparse words which are hard to separate from the mix, but give an added measure of darkness and dread to the composition.

The final track, “Laterne D’Horreur”, which translates to English as “Lantern of Horror”, is certainly the apex of Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes. This track continues to descend into darkness and apocalyptic despair. The sounds have an almost futuristic sort of sci-fi feel to them. Field recordings of what sounds like wolves howling cut unexpectedly into the mix. Contorted synths give an effect as if they are raspy gasps for air from some dæmoniac creature. The track slowly subdues and descends into a harsh noise, that never becomes prominent as it mingles with what sounds like cries and cats screaming in terror. This may all sound as if it has become absurd, like some 50s horror film, and indeed it does feel reminiscent of something akin to this, yet it manages to keep its intended atmosphere as well as its integrity throughout this strange experience.

Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes is clearly a triumph for these two veteran artists. The album succeeds in its attempts at creating an atmosphere of religious blasphemy, a kind of funeral music for the dark-minded and irreligious. For a veteran listener of dark ambient and other weird and “spooky” music, I’m delighted to say that Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes manages to instill an unsettling feeling of dread and anxiety in my soul, a feat that is not often achieved. Listen to Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes in the midnight hours, alone in the dark, incense burning and mind open to the dark entities of the night. Or, if it is possible, play this in a cathedralic setting, and witness the utter disgust and terror of some unsuspecting clergy, the effect should be a delight to witness.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Vacant Stations – Clones – Review

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On October 1, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Vacant Stations
Album: Clones
Release date: 25 August 2017
Label: Winter Light

Tracklist:
01. Day
02. Clones
03. Cordon
04. Stanza
05. Five
06. Load
07. Lapse
08. Cluster
09. Penultima
10. Stay
11. Reprieve
12. Rubberneck
13. Publix

If you take a closer look on Winter Light label releases, you’ll notice that they have quite a specific vision of their enterprise and want to create a coherent picture of what they do. Apart from Abbildung‘s All Demons Are Horned all the covers are hazy and surreal, holding a colour scheme which is cold, and yet also warm. Through the music, which may touch different sub-genres of dark ambient, but – on the contrary to the Cryo Chamber releases, which always tell a specific story and to a certain degree are a musical equivalent of a book or movie – they leave a whole lot space for the listener’s imagination. Taking a certain style as a starting point they let you follow it or not if you don’t want to. I wrote about it on the occasion of  the VelgeNaturlig – Opalescent Pust review, so I don’t want to repeat myself, so I’ll just say this: if you expect that their album will take you by the hand and guide you through all the plot meanders, you should look elsewhere.

Clones by Vacant Stations is no different. It’s a fairly new name in the dark ambient business, at least I haven’t heard about it before, but the musician’s skills indicate that he’s producing sounds that didn’t start yesterday. Or simply he is a pretty talented fellow. The science fiction genre is a point of reference here, through the titles, the graphic design containing clouds, strange silhouettes and “zeros and ones”. And the music too, though don’t expect any plain sounds indicating that you’re dealing with a sci-fi based album. You know, the beeping of the computers, the hum of the engines, the sound of opening doors on the space station, all these sounds telling you: hey, you’re listening to a dark space saga, keep that in mind all the time. With Clones, when you hide the digipack in the drawer and forget about the titles, you may treat it like, for example an alternative soundtrack for the “Alien: Isolation” videogame, but you may as well use it as an inductor of the inner journey deep inside your own mind. The music doesn’t distract you, there are no rhythms, no samples of any kind. It is all based on the layers of deep drones intertwining one with another. They mostly are kept in quite dark shades, but there are a few moments of reflection, like in the composition called “Reprieve”. Once again, everything is perfectly mastered by Cruel Sound Works, so when it comes to the quality of the sound, you may sleep well.

I’m aware that my conclusions on this one are quite similar with the ones I drew in the Opalescent Pust review, but it is all because of the label’s bigger picture. They have a plan for themselves and they keep to it. And I’m a big fan of their plan.

Written by: Przemyslaw Murzyn

Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast – Black Corner Den – Review

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On September 25, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast
Album: Black Corner Den
Release date: 5 September 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber

Tracklist:
01. Laudanum
02. Prepare the Stage of Night
03. An Atrementous City
04. A Deeper Dream
05. Wind-Up Orchestra
06. House of Tinctures
07. End of the Century

Occasionally an album will come along that I plan to review, but procrastination comes for a totally different reason than usual. I didn’t want to review this album because that would mean it would no longer be at the top of the list. Black Corner Den is an album that comes just about as close to my idea of dark ambient perfection as I could imagine. Granted this is a wonderful genre with dozens of first class artists (at least dozens). But, this album clicks for me on just about every level. The procrastination was compounded by the fact that this is the first release on Cryo Chamber to have a vinyl format! So, I wanted to wait for that beauty to arrive before I would proceed. Now that I’ve had almost a month with the music, and a week with the vinyl, I’m in a position to speak on it properly.

The combination of Simon Heath and Pär Boström we already know to be a recipe for success. One need look no further than their original collaboration, Onyx. These two gentlemen, along with Robert Kozletski of Apocryphos, created an album in Onyx which would be one of the others at the very top of my list of favorites. Onyx and Echo, the two previous collaborations between Atrium Carceri, Kammarheit and Apocryphos, showed a reserved side of these artists talents. Occasionally there would be some outright melodies in the music, but in general they were both cool, dark subtle releases. Pär Boström taking the guise of Cities Last Broadcast on this project is the first hint that Black Corner Den will show a more gritty edge to the music’s direction. Atrium Carceri can prove to be a wild card. Simon Heath is as likely to create a piano oriented track on the periphery of neo-classical as he is to create something that is squarely post-industrial, occasionally even close to death industrial. Black Corner Den manages to capture a little bit of all these elements without feeling forced or disjointed, which isn’t an easy feat.

The opener, “Laudanum” is the quintessential intro track for a collab between Boström and Heath. There are ghastly voices barely audible in the background, reverberating piano notes and a staticy white noise giving the whole thing a thick hazy texture, even in the 24-bit digital format. Of course, thick reverb, static and other strange background noises all prove to perfectly complement the vinyl format. “Prepare the Stage of Night” might be the track showing the most similarities to Onyx. Yet, it is immediately obvious that this track has been given a heavy dose of Cities Last Broadcast treatment. The feeling of the cool night air immediately draws a comparison to “Night so Close to the Tongue”, but the other sounds surrounding this element, which add an urban feel to the mix, lend themselves more toward the first Cities Last Broadcast opus, The Cancelled Earth. Simon Heath is able to play right into these vibes as Atrium Carceri, as he’s proven time and again on tracks like “Floating Above the City” or “Industrial District”. These vibes are drawn even closer to the surface on the following track “An Atrementous City” which becomes even more urbane and gritty, but balances itself out with a classic example of Atrium Carceri piano-work.

“A Deeper Dream”… This is sure to remain one of my favorite tracks by either Pär Boström or Simon Heath for a long time to come. The track is subtle and melancholic with its gentle droning atmospherics which leave ample space to showcase a simplistic piano arrangement which somehow manages to pack a whole album’s worth of emotion and energy. Maybe it was by design, or maybe I feel this by coincidence, but this track touches me in a way that few artists are able to affect. Listening to this many nights after watching the latest episodes of Twin Peaks: The Return, I can’t help but feel a strong influence from the works of Angelo Badalamenti at play here. That melancholic, forlorn emotion which simultaneously delivers a dose of hope… it’s a hard feeling to produce in a listener, yet it is felt on every single playthrough of this track.

If we are listening on vinyl, we will flip it over at this point. After such an emotional track, in “A Deeper Dream”, Side B brings on a renewed sense of energy. “Wind-Up Orchestra” has a strong feel of Atrium Carceri. This could easily be something we would hear on a new solo album of his. Probably erroneously, I like to imagine that even with his collaborations, Simon Heath has a side-story in the canon of Atrium Carceri playing out. Teasing out this idea, one could imagine that this opium junkie, lying about in the dingy back corner of some late 19th century opium den in London is in fact a protagonist of the Atrium Carceri canon. If one of these main protagonists truly went through so much chaos, a relaxing evening allowing the mind to melt away would hardly be unwarranted. Using Sherlock Holmes as an example, great protagonists often have equally great vices. The hero is rarely a saint, instead they are often as flawed in one way or another as the rest of us. If, indeed, this were to be an actual protagonist from the Atrium Carceri canon, then I would see “Wind-Up Orchestra” as representing a startling awakening from a deep opium-induced stupor, a proverbial bucket of cold water to the face. “House of Tinctures” and “End of the Century” draw the album to a close on, what I would consider, an emotionally positive note. Both tracks seem to show a sense of wonder, hope and fulfillment, where before we were drenched in thick hazes and deep dark brooding emotions.

Black Corner Den is a terrific first vinyl release for the Cryo Chamber label. I couldn’t have imagined a more fitting release to test the waters of this medium. Cities Last Broadcast begs to be played on a staticy record. The content of Pär Boström’s music as well as the technical elements make for the perfect pairing with vinyl. The artwork on this release, courtesy of Simon Heath definitely moves in a different direction from his already wide selection of previous cover-art. It is simplistic and yet elegant, with the opium-fiend resting in the dim corner, pipe smoke wafting passed the moonlight shining through the tiny window. Its a great fit for an enlarged cover-art and the matte finish adds even more to the overall aesthetics.

Black Corner Den is a must have for any discerning dark ambient fan. Considering the numbers of sales already reflected on the Bandcamp page, as of this writing, it seems people don’t need my advice to know an instant classic when they see one. Each track on this album is indispensable. Pär Boström and Simon Heath have truly outdone themselves, which is a rather bold statement considering the discographies of the two artists in question. Hopefully this will be a sign of more great things to come in the future, concerning collaborations between these “two bearded Swedes” as well as vinyl releases on the Cryo Chamber label. After this one, both are clearly warranted.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Metatron Omega – Illuminatio – Review

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On September 24, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Metatron Omega
Album: Illuminatio
Release date: 26 September 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber

Tracklist:
01. Ecclesia Universalis
02. Heosphoros
03. Illuminatio
04. Thy Light
05. Mysteriis De Sanguine
06. Sacrum Noctis
07. Chalice of Eternity

Metatron Omega made their debut on Cryo Chamber in mid-2015 with the album Gnosis Dei. Gnosis Dei was a tour de force in esoteric/gnostic dark ambient music. Thick reverberating drones set the background accompanied by the deep voice of Scorpio V reciting religious texts as if he were raised above some post-apocalyptic congregation. The music speaks its dark sermon directly to the listener. Whether Scorpio V felt that he’d said enough on Gnosis Dei or he decided that spoken word vocals were unnecessary to his ultimate vision, he moved away from this style on the two following albums: Sanctum and this latest release Illuminatio. Sanctum doubled down on the atmospheric, choral and chant components leaving the actual reading of religious texts to the listener and instead providing an ever deeper and denser backdrop to their pious esoteric meanderings.

On Illuminatio, Scorpio V takes all that he learned from Sanctum and further refines these elements. The raison d’être-esque chants and choral elements become even more polished on this release. The voices of this dark choir are at times beautiful at others they are distorted and almost take on a daemonic quality. The foundational elements of drone drenched in a thick layer of reverb have a consistent density. This dense atmosphere brings the darkest images to the mind, as if we, the listeners, were part of this gnostic congregation of the damned. One may easily imagine the remnants of a glorious cathedral, pews rotting and wormridden. The congregation dressed in filthy damp rags, shivering in their seats as a cold and musty wind blows through the collapsed ceiling. An unholy choir stand in the chancel delivering their contorted hymns as a thick cloud of frankincense floats between them and the onlooking crowd. The smoke, burning the eyes and lungs of the congregation, at least masking the noxious odor of mold and decay.

These dark occult images of are likely to materialize differently for each listener. One’s position on religion will likely dictate their reaction to and understanding of the presented soundscapes. Scorpio V focuses his art on what appears to be a well thought-out version of gnosticism, so from his perspective, their is likely a direct religious element to these tracks. This sentiment is likely to be shared with a vast number of his followers. For those of us completely devoid of religious leanings, this Metatron Omega trilogy draws images of the end of religious order, the last sermons and hymns of a dying congregation, making one last pious attempt at reaching the ears of the gods in a broken and dying world. Whatever your thoughts on religion, just as with those classic raison d’être albums, there is plenty of reason to enjoy the beauty of these works. Metatron Omega has certainly come a long way in realizing his visions, the merits of this latest opus, Illuminatio, cannot be understated.

Metatron Omega, as a whole, can be seen from a more cinematic perspective, if one so chooses to take this route in their listenings. The first album, Gnosis Dei, lays out the groundwork for the trilogy, the hermit speaks out to us, explaining his path to enlightenment. On Sanctum, we can imagine the protagonist moving much closer to his ultimate enlightenment, no longer requiring explanation or dictions of any kind. He basks in the energies of the cathedrals he visits and the tomes he has uncovered. The hermit enters the halls of ancient orders and performs the required rituals to achieve his ultimate enlightenment. Illuminatio takes us beyond the earthly realms. The hermit has ascended, he’s become illuminated. He now resides in the aether, amongst the cosmic choirs beyond the limits of the laws of nature and order.

Illuminatio can be enjoyed as an aid to one’s spiritual enlightenment or as a backdrop to reading, studying or secular meditation. The album can be seen as a truly religious experience or as a well-rounded dark ambient album from an artist that is achieving an “enlightened” status among his peers. There is no shortage of great music to be experienced on Illuminatio, it is certainly his strongest release to date. Whatever your goals may be, Illuminatio should prove to be an enjoyable experience for any fan of the cathedralic sub-genre of dark ambient music. Listening to this trilogy as a whole, seeking a greater message or enjoying it as a stand-alone album, dark ambient fans should all find something to draw their interest.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Sysselmann – The Northern Chronicles – Review

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On September 23, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Sysselmann
Album: The Northern Chronicles
Release date: 14 October 2016
Label: Tipi Token Records

Tracklist:
01. Coastal Fairway Northbound
02. Stormwatch
03. Transmigration
04. Juniper Tree Song
05. The Great Horn of the Mountain
06. Plains of Passage
07. Journey Across the Ruins

“The debut album release The Northern Chronicles is a tribute to the collective consciousness of the northern parts of Norway. The field recordings were captured over a two year period during the construction of the SALT Art & Music project at Sandhornøya as well as during the Skrei season at Torsvågbruket. After seven winter storms in as many days, the idea for The Northern Chronicles was finally born.
A celebration of the magical coastal landscape and those who came before us.”

This debut by Sysselmann should be quite impressive to dark ambient fans. A cursory examination of the album will give the feeling that Sysselmann is a veteran of the genre. At no point, over this roughly 40 minutes of music, does the album sound like that of a novice. Each element is crafted with care and delivered to listeners in a way that is highly moving. For this album, I highly recommend the use of headphones, on a dark and chilly night. It will be the perfect respite from these late summer – early fall days, or if you are in the southern hemisphere, it will be one last plunge into the whiteout before the thaw.

“Coastal Fairway Northbound” throws us right into the icy region with sounds of rushing winds and horns that seem to be from a truck, which is further alluded to by the title. As the song progresses tribal drums enter along with the sounds of sea gulls. The track is very literal from the sense of its title. We are left to imagine this lonely man on the cover of the album, making his way from point A to point B through a frozen and desolate region of the North.

The storm from the previous track turns from a windy evening with flurries into a raging blizzard on “Stormwatch”. The setting still seems to be coastal as well, with the faintest hint of crashing waves in the distance. There is a far off sound that seems like a fog horn, but it is drowned out by the incredibly intense winds blowing through. Soon, another wind instrument is introduced, but this one seems more tribal in nature. “Stormwatch” delivers a frozen soundscape on the level of early Northaunt, though it has a more old world and shamanic sort of feel to it from the tribal instrumentation. The winds account for the majority of the sounds on the track, they overwhelm everything else. Field recordings of creaky doors, closer and more high-pitched winds, as well as the horn sound are the extent of the track, and yet it is highly emotional and entertaining throughout.

“Transmigration” is the first track on The Northern Chronicles to have a foundation set in drone-work instead of field recorded soundscapes. Early on, deep throat-singing joins the drone to give it that tribal and natural element that has already featured so heavily on this album. “Transmigration” also moves the album further into its shamanic spiritual territory. As alluded by the title, it represents a death and rebirth. Given the modern feel of the first track, and the old world feel of its successors, it seems that this is the transfer of the soul from that old world body into a vessel from the modern age, or vice-versa. Throat singing and tribal instruments collide with drones and celestial vocal elements to masterfully represent this transfer for us.

The rest of the album continues to showcase these variations in sounds and eras of time. “Juniper Tree Song” has crushingly dense dronework as its centerpiece, while “The Great Horn of the Mountain” combines the throat singing style of Phurpa with the chant style of Shibalba. “Journey Across the Ruins” places us in front of a campfire, as we seem to witness a true, malevolent darkness take form, just beyond the fire’s glow. This track ends the album on a very dark and brooding note, leaving the listener feeling as cold as the depths of this great Norwegian wilderness.

I’m a sucker for the winter/polar variety of dark ambient. Sysselmann has delivered an album that I couldn’t have expected. He, seems to effortlessly bring together all the things that I love about the Scandinavian dark ambient scene. The drone-work, field recordings, throat singing, and meditative properties all work toward a goal of vicariously delivering listeners from ’round the world into a region, climate and age that we could never experience on our own. I would highly recommend this album to any fan of the polar soundscapes delivered by artists such as Northaunt or Ugasanie. Sysselmann doesn’t reproduce the work of these aforementioned artists, instead he carves out his own niche within this style of music, making for a brilliantly unique experience.

Written by: Michael Barnett

 

Erang – The First Age – Review

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On September 22, 2017

In Reviews

Artist: Erang
Album: The First Age
Release date: 15 September 2017
Label: Self-released

Tracklist:
01. 1986
02. The Last Journey of Louis Leroy
03. All Kings Must Die
04. Everything is a Lie
05. Escape of the Lonely Madman
06. Hunt in the Wasteland
07. A Footprint in the Sand of Time
08. Birth of a Shadow
09. La Nuit Noire
10. Through the Darkness of Future’s Past
11. Every Day is the Same
12. Unmasking the Dead Oracle
13. The Underwater Kingdom’s Rebirth
14. Back to the First Age

Five years ago, Erang released Tome I. It was certainly a solid addition to the growing number of like-minded fantasy ambient projects emerging on the Bandcamp platform, but its creator had a much grander vision in mind. Over a dozen releases down the road finds a fully realized musical guide to The Land of Five Seasons, complete with developed characters, places and lore. The First Age comes as both a cross section of the musical development of Erang, but also as a means of tying together a spellbinding dungeon synth narrative.

“Diary of Louis Leron, year 1986… I’ve finally found the last tome, three days ago. The book was exactly what it was supposed to be… They are waiting for me now.” The album’s opening monologue emphasizes the importance of The First Age as a culmination… a definitive enlightenment about the nature of The Kingdom of Erang and its coexistence with our own world. The album’s Bandcamp page provides some clues, allowing listeners to connect the dots as they listen.

After these words, “1986” soon divulges into nostalgic overload, playing every opening track in the discography of Erang in reverse from latest to earliest. While this may translate better for long-time fans, this introduction sets up some of the unique stylistic combinations this album implements. “The Last Journey of Louis Leroy” exemplifies this perfectly with its mixture of medieval and futuristic textures, bridging the gap between Erang’s ventures into synth-wave and his dungeon synth roots with surprisingly natural results.

While there’s still plenty of straightforward dungeon synth tracks on The First Age, their sound has an immensity not commonly heard in this style. “All Kings Must Die” and “Everything is a Lie” feature fleshed out percussion arrangements, expertly layered moving lines and swelling production, inflating its minimalist tendencies to cinematic proportions. Even so, “a Footprint on the Sand of Time” and “Every Day is the Same” still utilize ethereal beauty akin to tabletop role-playing games, maintaining its DIY aesthetic while elaborating on its sonic potential.

While “Escape of the Lonely Madman” reintroduces a recurring character in Erang’s kingdom, “The Underwater Kingdom’s Rebirth” sheds light on a mysterious realm within The Land of Five Seasons. The former’s adventurous tom-tom rhythm and heralding fanfare perfectly encapsulate a foreshadowed event Erang has alluded to throughout his discography, while the latter’s nautical dreariness gives listeners new perspective on The Underwater Kingdom. These world-building songs maintain their musical integrity as Erang uses his songwriting chops to bring his brainchild to life, but the more stand alone tracks are no less noteworthy.
Erang takes contained concepts as opportunities to show off more of his technical facility and atmospheric soundscape construction. “Hunt in the Wasteland” features a triumphant melody at its center under a highly syncopated rhythm structure, but “La Nuit Noire” solidifies itself as the most technical song heard so far in Erang’s discography through neoclassical piano arpeggios. By contrast, “Birth of a Shadow” and “Through the Darkness of Future’s Past” construct spacious landscapes of shimmering tones and dower drones.

Such a diverse array of auras lends The First Age to a wealth of synthetic sounds, which makes each track as unique as any of the others Erang has amassed over his impressive history. “Unmasking the Dead Oracle” encapsulates this pervading skill by using a relatively recognizable dungeon synth template to not only create a memorable song, but also to introduce a new and influential character in Erang’s musical odyssey. In fact, the closing song “Back to the First Age” stands out for being the most old-school dungeon synth cut from the record because every other track on the album treads a singular path in terms of arrangement, production and instrumentation.

Erang has claimed numerous times that this latest album marks the beginning of a time of silence regarding his musical endeavors, and he couldn’t have released a better send off. Even without taking into account the quantum leap it took musically, its narrative encapsulates what has made this project one of the most enduring and beloved in modern dungeon synth.

“‘The Circle is now complete, said the magician…’ ‘this is not a Circle, replied the Dead Oracle… this is a Line…’” this overarching dialogue sums up the significance of The First Age as a simultaneous completion and continuation of Erang’s musical journey. It opens as many doors as it closes — begging for further exploration in The Land of Five Seasons as much as it calls the listener to rest in epiphanic fascination.

Written by: Maxwell Heilman

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