Murderous Vision – The Times without Gods

This album directly attracted my attention by the painting of Edvard Munch on the cover, who is known for his portrayal of desperate characters. Add to this the albumtitle ‘The times without Gods”, and the somewhat scary artwork by Michael Riddick, and you get the slightest suspicion that it may not be happy popmusic you will be treated to. And indeed, Murderous Vision offers us an hour of very dark and fine ambient. Certainly not an album to play when you want to have a jolly evening with friends or family. By the way, Murderous Vision is a project of Stephen Petrus, who is also responsible for the Live Bait Recording Foundation label and involved in In Death’s Throes.

The first track, ‘I must set this world aflame’, is probably my favourite, rather orchestral, with some treacherous angelic chorals. ‘All dead’ is a dense piece of ritual ambient, composed of muffled noises, drones and whispered vocals. ‘The blood on your hands’ is a more tranquil piece of ambient, with scary screams in the background, and strange machines hammering in the dark, getting really moving towards the end. The other 6 tracks continue this sonic journey to deep and obscure territories, made with a lot of dedication and an ear for details. ‘A crimson offering’ , an epic long track, and the orchestral ‘Fall before Christ’ are further highlights.

“The Times without Gods” is certainly a very succeeded dark journey. An eerie, frightening atmosphere is pervasive throughout the album, but with enough feeling and emotion to give the music a distinct quality. After Dense Vision Shrine the second fine dark ambient album I hear this week!

artist: Murderous Vision
label: Live Bait Recording Foundation
details: 9 tracks