Sigillum Dei – Dominus Maleficarum

Monkeyhouse Recordings is building up a solid output of dark ambient releases. Without any concessions they offer obscure soundscapes in which virtually no rays of light are allowed to enter. This time they came up with an album by Sigillum Dei, behind which monicker you can find Gaendaal, who also released on Monkeyhouse as LVTHN and Leviatan in the past. It comes as a pro-pressed cd-r in a dvd box with rather minimal design.
This album, completely based on vocal, electrical and found samples, contains an hour of minimal yet dense soundscapes, with deep bass drones and a bleak apocalyptic atmosphere. Especially in the first track not much happens, except for my speakers trembling and my room filling with ice and smoke. As the album evolves more rumbling machineries and distorted frequencies come to the foreground, but it’s not enough to really capture my imagination and to stand out from the many releases in this style. Something for diehard dark ambient/drone addicts.

artist: Sigillum Dei
label: Monkeyhouse Recordings
details: 4 tracks, 56 min.