Reviews: ambient

(ambient / soundscapes / ritual / drones)

Fear Falls Burning – I’m one of those monsters numb with grace

James Brown had the nick-name ‘the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business’. Dirk Serries from Belgium must be one of the hardest working men of the ambient music scene. From the mid 80’s on he filled dozens of albums with atmospheric music under the name of Vidna Obmana. In 2005 he started a new project, Fear […]

Fjernlys – Ascending Triads & Luminous Arcs

Fjernlys is a new project of Knut Enderlein, known for his work with Ex.Order and Inade. The first release as Fjernlys is directly a double cd, of which the second disc contains remixes by Bad Sector, First Law and others. You could say that Ascending Triads & Luminous Arcs is a typical Loki Foundation release: […]

Letum – Broken

Broken is the second album by Letum. As before you are served dark ambient sounds with a very spatial feeling. Orchestral beauty and gloomy moods are passing over like clouds and spilled out over you as waves.

1997EV – Dead.Ends.Sinful

Punch records keeps surprising lately with a variety of nice sounds. Now they come up with this amazing space age record by 1997EV. The listener is being served a brew of apocalyptic psychedelic drones and hymns.

Drone Records special II

Drone Records from Germany has sent its latest offspring into the world. Five new releases, as always limited 7? singles in special packaging by experimental drone/ambient artists. Again the label has discovered some interesting new acts, including various musicians from countries east of Germany.

Inade – Samadhi State

This cd contains unreleased material recorded in 2000-2002, but remixed recently. Originally this release was meant to accompany an Inade concert in Tokyo, but is now available outside of Japan as well. The album contains eight tracks, amongst which four parts of ‘Samadhi State’, ranging between 4 and 13 minutes. Inside the digipack is a […]

[haven] – Naos

“Naos” is a brand new child of Asphodel – the mastermind of the project [haven]. It’s the second production of the artist (after “The Last Breath of the Lonely Buildings”) and it definitely takes a more oriental turn in comparison to its predecessor. Though a categorization here is a hard act to follow, the most […]

Phelios – Images and spheres

Phelios is a new name in the dark ambient scene. On his debut Images and Spheres, Martin Stürtzer from Germany constructed seven deep and dark soundscapes. The photos of obscure stone structures on the cover already bring you in the right state of mind.

Horologium – The fire sermon

Horologium is the project of Grzegorz Siedlecki from Poland. Lately he has been quite productive with various releases and collaborations on small labels, but The Fire Sermon can perhaps be considered as his ‘official’ debut. The music of Horologium can be described as ritualistic ambiance, with classical and industrial elements.

V/A – Cryosphere

Cryosphere, the first release of Glacial Movements, is a “musical journey that transports the listener into glacial and unexplored lands where icebergs collide and where everything is frozen”. Nine artists were inspired by the glacial theme to produce fitting soundscapes, and they are not the least names in the ambient/drone scene: Troum, Oophoi, Northaunt and […]

Othila – Continents

Othila from France left a good impression on me with their previous releases on Divine Comedy Records. Three years after their 10? Yula, they’re back with a new album. Continents comes in an elegant thin digipack, with lovely photos of mysterious nature, as before an important theme in their ritual ambient music.

Fir§t Law – Chaos Structure

First Law is the project of Andreas Wahnmann, a dark ambient producer from Germany. Well, if you compare him to other Loki acts like Inade and Herbst9, then Fir§t Law definitely sounds less ‘ambient’. His mainly electronic music is too melodic and dynamic for that. Influences from krautrock, psychedelica and symphonic music also seem to […]

Zoät-Aon – Star Autopsy

It’s hard not to like Aural Hypnox – the Finnish label that specializes in dark/ritual ambient. They seem to be doing everything right, especially with their quality over quantity ethos. Zoät-Aon’s ‘Stark Autopsy’ gives us another reason to like the label.

Encomiast – Havens

I really like this album. Encomiast’s ‘Havens’ is part of the Crucial Bliss series, dedicated to short-run and limited releases from experimental acts, and it fits right in here with its unique packaging and provocative content/material.

Moljebka Pvlse – dvnkl

Moljebka Pvlse from Sweden has never disappointed me with its experimental soundscapes. This time the project run by Mathias Josefson releases an album in a wonderful packaging on a rather unknown label, Fifth Week Records.

Artefactum – Chaos elements

Untill some months ago I’d never heard of Artefactum from Poland. But recent split cdr’s on Beast of Prey and Old Europa Cafe and this debut on the respected French label Athanor have put this ambient project around Merissa d’Erlette in the spotlights.

Raison d`être – Metamorphyses

After a few recent releases with old material Raison D’être is finally back with a new album. Metamorphyses is filled with six newly composed pieces. Of course in a way this seventh full lenght album is more of the same.

Archon Satani – Mind of Flesh and Bones

The story of Archon Satani may be known by now. In the early 90’s this dark ritual project lead by Tomas Pettersson and Mikael Stravöstrand from Sweden created various intense releases. After 1993 the duo separated. Now Cold Spring reissues the remastered cd Mind of Flesh and Bones.

Foundation Hope – A call to all redeemers

Foundation Hope left a good impression on self-released cd-r’s with atmospheric soundscapes. The music on his first ‘official’ cd is described by the label as ‘sad and bleak soundscapes for a depraved religious institute, pretending to give comfort and light…’

His Divine Grace – Le Grand Secret

This new His Divine Grace album is all about the “Dots and Bars” conspiracy. The strange circumstances around the death of both Leontin and Sekens are the theme of this absolute great dark ambient record.