Lustmord – Purifying Fire

An influential and godfather-like project of dark ambient is with no doubt Lustmord. This electronic project around Brian Williams is active since 1990. This albums brings together 6 long tracks (playing time over 70 min!) from the period 1995-1998, that were originally released on now obscure records and compilations. Although the tracks come from various sources you still get a sense of unity. It’s hard to describe this ambient album, it’s all about an atmosphere that you have to feel. On me it made a great impression when listening it on my headphones late at night.

The sounds and drones are very rich and mostly give me the feeling of walking through an icy polar landscape. But before you get frozen or static, there always happens something in the music that makes sure you’re sharp and full of attention. The atmosphere is not only cold but also dark and threatening; constantly you have a sense of danger, of an unexpected thrill. The most scary track is ‘black star’, with some hellish howls that gives you the creeps. The final track, ‘of fire & of ice’, is rather accessible, it even has some beats. If this album was a soundtrack I would go see the movie for sure!

artist: Lustmord
label: Soleilmoon
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