Month: January 2021

Frozen In Time: This is Darkness playlist – January 2021

Here are the dark ambient albums that we at This is Darkness have been listening to this month – some are new releases, but a few are older gems we’ve just (re)discovered. Please check these out by clicking on the Bandcamp links, and consider supporting the artists. Enjoy!


Sonologyst – Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs

The latest release from Sonologyst is a ritual ambient exploration of the veneration of the dead in ancient cults and religions. With this album, Raffaele Pezzella has once again demonstrated his skilful ability to combine dark ambient / drone with field recordings – the end result is music that manages to be dark and unsettling in places, while primeval and soothing in others. This is deep, powerful music that you can lose yourself in – highly recommended!


Various Artists – Music For Abandoned Cold War Places

I’ve had this impressive album of dark ambient / drone / post-industrial soundscapes on repeat play since I first heard it. Over the course of an hour we are treated to twelve tracks that each encapsulate the atmosphere and feeling of abandoned cold war places in some way – some are abrasive and hard-edged, some rhythmically hypnotic, others eerie and haunting. Every track on here is exceptional, and massive credit to label ZeroK for assembling such a strong collection of material. Not only that, but while each of the contributions on this album offers something unique,  they all fit together perfectly to create an incredible listening experience. Outstanding!


Various Artists – Demonology In Dante’s Inferno

For this breath-taking release of dark ambient / drone / noise, Eighth Tower Records invited a group of musicians to create tracks inspired by the series of demonic figures that Dante and Virgil met as they travelled through the nine circle of Hell. The resulting album is a rewarding audio nightmare of echoing passages, otherworldly encounters, and disturbing sonic soundscapes. If you’re looking for something dark and unnerving then this is definitely worth checking out!


Scott Lawlor – New Beginnings and Reflections, Volume 2

To see in 2021, Scott Lawlor has released this second in his annual series of reflective ethereal long-form drone albums. It’s a delightfully minimalist seventy-two minute track that beautifully balances the darkness and the light – meaning the listener is able to find their own meaning within the unfolding meditative soundscape. This is the perfect soundtrack for some relaxation or introspection, to review the year that has been, and to look forward to the year that will be. Wonderful.


HLER – LGM-1

Created from the bursts of radio waves originating from space, this stunning album of dark ambient / drone / post-industrial is one of those which rewards the listener with something new to experience each time it’s played. The music here is mysterious, hypnotic and alien… and yet the audio journey we are taken on has a comforting aspect underlying it all. With LGM-1, Finnish duo Heikki Lindgren & Esa Ruoho have created something truly unique, and this is very much worth checking out.


Hiemal – Shishaldin

Hiemal’s latest release is another wonderfully dreamy drone album, clocking in at over an hour in length. Gradually evolving drones are complimented by subtly used field recordings, creating an audio journey that is perfect for de-stressing and forgetting all of your lockdown blues.

 

Nihil Impvlse – Stasis – Review

Artist: Nihil Impvlse
Album: Stasis
Release date: 17 December 2020
Label: Eighth Tower Records
Reviewer: Rich Dodgin

Tracklist:
01. Krankheitsfelder
02. Psychik Plague
03. Thanatological Singularity
04. Zeitgeist Penthotal
05. A Prison Within A Prison
06. Prophets Of Fall
07. To All Our Futures These Ruins Shall Return

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for something dark, noisy and aggressive as hell… and on days like those, an album such as Stasis by Nihil Impvlse is exactly what I need.

Stasis is “… an exploration, in seven chapters, of the diagrams of the power mechanisms caging us in an invisible prison: civilization… “, and during the course of the album we are treated to an array of harsh noise / drone / industrial, full of jarring, pounding, skull-splitting soundscapes from the depths of hell. It’s bleak, discomforting stuff, but that’s the point.

Each track is also complimented by a sparingly used vocal sample, that provides additional context and example of the political and personal power struggles that bind us all within life’s prison cell. The end result  is an impressive album that challenges and rewards in equal measure – and where each track offers something different, and yet maintains the overall feel of the album.

With StasisNihil Impvlse has done an incredible job of expressing the frustration and futility of modern life; of being trapped as a cog in the grinding wheels of civilisation.

Highly recommended!

Written by: Rich Dodgin

Various – Yig – Review

Artist: Various
Album: Yig
Release date: 29 December 2020
Label: Cryo Chamber
Reviewer: Rich Dodgin

Tracklist:
01. Yig 1
02. Yig 2

Yig, the seventh in Cryo Chamber‘s series of Lovecraftian releases, was recorded by over 20 of the scene’s biggest names working together in collaboration for over a year to write, produce and perform this incredible 2 hour dark ambient soundscape album.

Collaborators included:
Neizvestija
ProtoU
Dronny Darko
RNGMNN
In Quantum
Dead Melodies
Atrium Carceri
Keosz
Northumbria
Beyond the Ghost
Wordclock
God Body Disconnect
Randal Collier-Ford
Hilyard
Council of Nine
Dahlia’s Tear
Lesa Listvy
Creation VI
Aegri Somnia
Ager Sonus
Ruptured World
Alphaxone

And if that isn’t enough to get you salivating, just wait until you hear the music they’ve created – because this is quite honestly one of the best dark ambient albums I’ve heard in recent times.

During the course of the 2 tracks, each over an hour in length, we are treated to an amazing audio journey that takes us from trepidation, despair and horror at at one end of the scale, to soothing reassurance and hope at the other.

The music here has so much depth and is so multi-layered that it’s impossible to describe it all in any detail, but needless to say that each artist has clearly delivered their highest quality work for this album – as evidenced by the fact that there is no filler here whatsoever. Each and every moment of Yig is full of spine-tinglingly, goose-bump inducing dark ambient excellence that draws you under its spell. Not only that, but it all hangs together perfectly, seamlessly moving from dark, brooding soundscape to rhythmic ritualistic ensemble, and from enchanting ethereal layers to raw-edged, discordant drones.

The production quality, as you would expect from a Cryo Chamber release, is simply gorgeous, providing a cinematically dark listening experience in which every sound and each individual note adds something essential to the mix.

Yig is available as a digital download, and as a double CD album that comes in a deluxe 20 page hardcover DigiBook. Inside, the breath-taking artwork of Simon Heath is complimented by journal entries written by Alistair Rennie (Ruptured World).

This is an album that rewards repeated listening – I’ve had it on continuous play for the last week or so, and each and every time I’ve discovered something new and wonderous among the atmospheric field recordings and sonic soundscapes.

Yig is another exceptional release from Cryo Chamber, and anyone who is a fan of their dark ambient albums shouldn’t hesitate to buy themselves a copy of this album. Absolutely outstanding!

Written by: Rich Dodgin

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