After the very energetic and rhyhmic industrial from Detritus, this is the second release I hear from the young label Fleshmadeword Records. But this time a completely other course is on the menu. No harsh dancefloor attacks, but one long track, a tranquil dark ambient composition. The track is entitled ‘Maelstrom’ and lasts for 21 minutes. The cdr comes in a nice looking brown-coloured, recycled paper sleeve. On the back of the sleeve the only info is: “all music by Vadim Gusis. Recorded at New Jerusalem Stduo, April 2002”. On the cover we see a drawing of a maelstrom or vortex. Nice word is that, ‘maelstrom’. German darkwave band Dronning Maud Land also had an album once with that title, but that is of course not very relevant here.
I know that this Israeli dark ambient project has already released a few albums, which received good critical acclaim. This is my first acquintance with Chaos as Shelter though. And I must say, this is a fine piece of dark ambient music. Don’t expect anything spectacular, in fact the music is quite miminal. It starts carefully, with some shy drones, which gradually grow into a dense tapestry, with more drones and layers added. It reminds me indeed of the whirling of a maelstrom. There is a lot of tension created, which then falls apart again when the sounds get softer and fade away. A fascinating composition, perhaps not an absolute must, but “Maelstrom” is a nice asset for a dark ambient collection.
