I really like this album. Encomiast’s ‘Havens’ comes from the Crucial Bliss division of Crucial Blast Records, a label dedicated to mostly indie, underground, and noiserock from what I’ve seen so far. The Crucial Bliss series is dedicated to short-run and limited releases from experimental acts, and ‘Havens’ fits right in here with its unique packaging and provocative content/material.
There are only three tracks on this one, but they are all extended play, and each is its own journey. I was really impressed right away with “Lunaire”, which starts out with a brilliant Arnold Schoenberg excerpt performed by Megan Garland and Joe Skinner, the duo behind Encomiast. Things get even more abstract from here for the rest of the trip with “Sanctuary” and “Jasli”.
Each song floats further into deep moods and light atmospheres, with compelling sounds that never seem to stop moving, keeping a real pleasant consonance, very listenable. There is definitely an art to making good ambient music, and Ecomiast has found it.
