Search results: "The Rosenshoul"

The Rosenshoul – Darkly I Listen – Review

Artist: The Rosenshoul
Album: Darkly I Listen
Release date: 14 August 2017
Label: Self-released

Tracklist:
01. Violence My Heart
02. In Her Blood
03. Revenge And A Black Dog

The Australian musician, Duncan Ritchie, will be best known to our readers from his other dark ambient project Flowers For Bodysnatchers. While he started creating dark ambient initially as The Rosenshoul, he had several highly acclaimed albums as Flowers For Bodysnatchers before he was brought into the Cryo Chamber family. Aside from Atrium Carceri, Flowers for Bodysnatchers has become one of the most successful and recognizable artists on Cryo Chamber, that is, if we are to gauge success by album sales and Facebook followers.

The Rosenshoul has been on hold since the 2014 release of Hidden Field. With all the output coming from the Flowers for Bodysnatchers project, I was a bit surprised to see this new album by The Rosenshoul show up on Bandcamp. Surprised, but also delighted. The difference between the two projects can often be quite minuscule. The most noticeable difference between the two project can be seen in track lengths. While Flowers for Bodysnatchers tracks usually run between four and seven minutes length, The Rosenshoul always delivers long-form tracks. Often as long as twenty minutes in length and usually roughly three tracks per album. This long-form style of dark ambient makes for a more intimate and uniform approach to the music. The Rosenshoul tracks have a chance to slowly develop and they can often gently slide from one emotion or energy level to another within the same track.

Flowers For Bodysnatchers takes on a cinematic dark ambient style which incorporates the cinema into the tracks, building a story within itself. The Rosenshoul also has a cinematic approach, but it is less in the active sense; it leans more toward providing the role of a soundtrack. There is no shortage of field recordings, and there are stories being told, but these stories are much more subtle, allowing the listener to take a more imaginative approach to their interpretation.

Darkly I Listen is full of energy, emotion and intrigue. The album comes with a companion poem, which is helpful in conveying a full understanding of the material to the listener.

Darkly I Listen through the raven.
Darkly I Listen through the trees and
through the walls and the windows.
Darkly I Listen into your violent heart.

Now I will come to you.
Come to you as decay and death.
Come to you slowly.
Like the black dog in the blackest night.

And from the bloodiest of shadows I shall
show you the hell you brought unto me.

The only other descriptor we are given to understand the album is this sentence: “Darkly I Listen explores a Victorian era tale of murder and otherworldly revenge.” There is no point in me attempting to tell my personal interpretations of these tracks or how they fit together as a whole. The process should be personal to each listener, and Ritchie has clearly intended for that process to be an integral part of the experience listeners have with his album.

From a technical standpoint the music is a bit more musical than many other dark ambient artists, though this can also be said about Flowers For Bodysnatchers. Flowers for Bodysnatchers most often incorporates piano sections as the direct musical addition to the soundscapes. The musical elements of The Rosenshoul, specifically on this new album, seem to come in the form of string instruments. In all honesty, I’m not sure if these sections are synthesizer created or if they are the actual instruments being played, but my guess would lean more toward the former. The drone-work is quite active, with swiftly evolving drones coming in and out of the soundscapes, changing note and pattern frequently. The real foundation of this album lies in the field recordings. They have a constant presence throughout the album. They are best described as industrial, not the genre, but as in field recordings collected in an industrial district of a city. A picture comes to mind of a scene from Eraserhead, Henry (Jack Nance) wandering through a dark, rainy, gloomy atmosphere in the heart of the industrial district of some nondescript metropolis. This image fits nicely with the descriptor for the album, which describes this as taking place during the Victorian era, which was also centered amidst the industrial revolution of western civilization.

Darkly I Listen is the most ambitious effort yet from The Rosenshoul. This is the first album to be released under that moniker in the physical format. Darkly I Listen has been self-released by Duncan Ritchie and he’s taken the bold step of creating a digipak CD that appears to be quite professionally executed. The cover-art is beautifully dark, evoking just the right sort of imagery for sounds such as these. The gamble seems to have already paid off, as there are only 8 copies remaining for sale through his Bandcamp page as I write this review. So if you are thinking about purchasing a physical copy, you’d best move fast! I would highly recommend this album to just about any dark ambient fan. It should have no trouble with impressing fans of Duncan’s other project Flowers For Bodysnatchers. It is also a real treat for those fans that prefer the long-form style over short, concise tracks. In short, Darkly I Listen should be a welcome addition to the collection of any discerning dark ambient listener!

Written by: Michael Barnett

Flowers For Bodysnatchers – Asylum Beyond – Review

Artist: Flowers For Bodysnatchers
Album: Asylum Beyond
Release date: 28 November 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber

Tracklist:
01. Red Ballerina (Oksana’s Theme)
02. Midnight My Dearest Midnight
03. Ravenfield
04. Phantasma
05. Mechanical Pictures
06. Dear Ernest, You’re Dead
07. A Darker Rebirth
08. Black Catechism
09. White Ballerina (Polina’s Theme)

Asylum Beyond marks a moment in dark ambient which I’ve been waiting to see for quite some time. In a genre like dark ambient, one would expect to find “horror ambient” music around every turn. But the truth is, most dark ambient artists stray quite far from this style. Their sounds usually harnessing something more akin to melancholy, despair or the phenomena of the natural world. We get views into the horror infused world only intermittently. Artists like Atrium Carceri, Svartsinn and Apocryphos have spent time in this area, but few others have fully dedicated themselves to producing utter darkness, in a skin-tingling fashion.

Duncan Ritchie seems like the perfect person to join the small but potent group of musicians that have delved into the horror style. His first project, The Rosenshoul, has always worked in a soundtrack-like fashion; building soundscapes for imagined horrors. But with The Rosenshoul, the focus was never on the cinematic, only the pure musicality of the sounds. Flowers For Bodysnatchers, from its inception, has been a channel for Ritchie to create intricate and often intimate cinematic experiences which actually seek to tell a story. His first two releases on Cryo Chamber, Aokigahara and Love Like Blood, told a story of a broken man, riddled with guilt and heartbreak, who takes a trip to the great sea of trees in Japan, the Aokigahara forest, the most popular suicide destination in the world. On the four artists collaboration, Locus Arcadia, Flowers for Bodysnatchers joined Randal Collier-Ford, Council of Nine and God Body Disconnect to tell a sort of side-story from the Sabled Sun mythos, another product from the mind of Simon Heath (Atrium Carceri/Sabled Sun).

Ritchie puts to the test his experience in story-telling with Asylum Beyond. This album takes all the lessons Ritchie has learned over the years and hones them in on the story of a deranged, and possibly even evil, antique store owner from 1968 in Massachusetts. Ernest Semenov was admitted to Ravenfield Asylum for the murder of his wife and children. Numerous elements on the scene pointed to ritual dismemberment and slaughter. Not long after his admission to Ravenfield, the asylum burns to the ground, killing everyone on the premise aside from Semenov and his doctor, which have both disappeared.

The focus on old burnt-out asylums, ritual murders, secret occult knowledge and the hideous truth that lies somewhere just beyond reach all make for the perfect late-night exercise in the imaginings of the macabre and deranged. The surgical execution of Ritchie in his aural story telling reaches its climax with Asylum Beyond. The album is a perfect example of horror ambient, because it sits on the boundaries between the real and the imagined, the historic truth and the supernatural lore. The listener is given just enough textual information and aural clues to follow Ritchie’s plot, while simultaneously creating one’s own narrative.

From a physical standpoint, Asylum Beyond is also quite unique. On the Cryo Chamber label, almost all albums are mastered by Simon Heath. He has also created most of the cover-art for these albums. On Asylum Beyond, Duncan Ritchie is given full reign over his project. He was responsible for all parts of the creation process: mixing, mastering, photography, and so forth. Asylum Beyond also comes with a 16-page booklet filled with more clues and images to enrich the story, another oddity for the Cryo Chamber discography. So, it’s clear that Heath also sees the infinite talents of Ritchie, and trusts in his judgment.

Asylum Beyond serves as a perfect template for the dark ambient community. It shows how one may focus on themes that could be considered unworthy to the more philosophically driven artists of the genre; and how these themes are still absolutely worthy of our attention. When undertaken from the right perspective, horror ambient can be as entertaining as the best of horror movies. Even more so in many ways, since “seeing the evil” ultimately brings about disbelief and sometimes even humor in horror films. Horror ambient is able to bring us face to face with these horrors without ever removing the fragile veil from the listener’s imagination.

Written by: Michael Barnett

Frozen in Time: Weekly News 15 August 2017

This week we have a lot of self-released EPs and Singles coming from the realm of dark ambient. August is usually a slow time for record releases and this year is no different. However we do have some upcoming releases on Cyclic Law and Cryo Chamber that have just been announce for pre-order, both look like they will be pretty great albums! Be sure to check out the latest publications on This Is Darkness in our summary at the bottom of the article. Stay cool, see you next week!

Music Videos & Teasers

Peri Esvultras – “Balafre”

Peri Esvultras – “Green”

bvdub – Teaser for new album

New Releases & Preorders

A Bleeding Star – New Single
Back with another dark ambient single, A Bleeding Star keeps up their weekly single streak!

Alphaxone & Dronny Darko – Preorder Announced (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
“The fog hangs heavy over the emptied town as you make your way down the crest overlooking the ocean. The streets lie silent but for the subtle click of a stoplight juggling colors. Your hand disappears into the thick fog here and the smell of sulfur from the nearby factory feeds your head. Something about this place feels wrong.
Damp thuds spins you around towards the misty outskirts of the beach town. A white horse disappears into the hills and behind it a trail of other animals flee after it. And then it booms, the sound of the fog horn rolls in from the black ocean and echoes off the buildings, the stoplight sways. Silence afterwards, ear shattering.
The old man was right, they’re coming for us!
Alphaxone’s smooth pads and deep bass meets Dronny Darko’s long form drone and ethereal reverbs in this trip into the fog. For lovers of evolving drone soundscapes.” The album will be released on 22 August.

EMERGE – New Album Released (attenuation circuit – CD/Digital)
narcoses is a 40 minute live track by EMERGE recorded at a live performance on 7/7/2017 at re:flexions ° k15, Augsburg

Haunted Me – New EP Released (Petroglyph – Digital Only)
Haunted Me is an experimental solo project by Claudio Begovic, formed in 2016 and based in Reggio
Calabria (Italy). After playing guitar for a few years in a local Tool cover band, Begovic started composing
post rock and ambient music with his first creatu
re, Ushiro Mawashi. Haunted Me is the natural evolution
of this former project, adding noise and distorted synth organs to spooky vocal samples. Listen to preview here.

Iurta – Preorder Announced (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
“Joint project of Portuguese J. A. (Wolfskin, Karnnos) and A. Coelho (Sektor 304). IURTA is a reflection upon the modern dystopia. Inspired by the works of J. G. Ballard and A. Tarkovski, IURTA’s first full length album deals with the fragmentation of identity, of a mind forged by short-circuited information processes. It is a guided descent into an abstracted insanity, a sonic diary of the verge of mental breakdown through soundscapes built upon cascading drones, harsh textures and minimal sonic oscillations. Neural dark ambient, at times punctuated by a cinematic tone exploring the limits of an inner space.”

Less than1 – New EP Released (Cian Orbe Netlabel – Digital Only)
Less than one (<1) (other projects: R0[nought], Fencepost) is an experimental, drone, dark ambient, field recording, musique concrete project from Uk. This EP is a compilation of unreleased and demos. Listen to preview here.

sp3ct3rs – New EP released (Digital Only)
The latest from musician Jim Wylde comes from his flagship dark ambient project Sp3ct3rs. This one is self-released and digital only.

Sun Through Eyelids – New Single
We get a hint at some of the upcoming material from this dark ambient act from New Zealand.

TeHÔM – Preorder Announced (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
“Special LIVE audio recording of a unique TeHÔM performance for “The Keep Ambient Lodge” at 2016’s Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic. Recorded both through the mixing board as well as from two room microphones to capture glimpses of the live experience. TeHÔM’s music recalls visions of ancient cultures, evoked by hypnotic, abstract and organic soundscapes wrapped in ritualistic and esoteric atmospheres from which a primordial flood of Chaos emerges. ”

Wil Bolton – New Album Released (Hidden Vibes – CD/Digital)
“Night Paths’ is an album of dreamy ambience inspired by reveries of moonlit summer nights, walking aimlessly through forest paths. Made with a refined instrumental palette of electric guitar, analogue synthesizers and looper pedals, asynchronous loops and layers merge and collide in hypnotic lulling repetitions. An array of stomp box effects and crackling amp noise blur and disrupt these tones. Swathes of gauzy reverb and woozy delays and chorusing effects evoke daydreams and soft-focus memories. ”

This Is Darkness Week In Review

VelgeNaturligOpalescent Pust
Opalescent Pust is his first full length album in over ten years, not counting the gterma re-edition of Humus. And it is a very mature piece of dark ambient with all the attributes mentioned above, but mixed in a way that it doesn’t raise any confusion. The drones are dense, sometimes counterpointed by the natural sounds like tiny bells or water streams. It may not have single memorable moments, but it works as one monumental entity. The tracks don’t have beginning nor end, one transforms into another. That was the way Ivo initially constructed this CD, it was later divided into particular indexes. It’s one of these albums which you can place only in your own personal context, made by yourself as it’s floating outside the fourth dimension, you can’t place it in a specific time and space, but have to make up one of your own. For one listener Opalescent Pust may be dark and oppressive, while another will find it soothing and serene. Nothing is obvious here, everything is left for your own interpretation. Even the titles of the pieces are just, I don’t know, to put things in order. Personally, I don’t even care about them, I listen to this CD from the beginning to very last minute without paying attention when one fragment ends and another begins. It absorbs the environment (and the listener’s attention) pretty effectively. Not a bad work, Mr. Santos, not bad at all.
Read the full review here.

AltarmangVoid
The sounds, even on “Sulphur” never become so active as to distract the listener from some other primary goal, such as reading, gaming, studying, etc. But, just as the sounds lend themselves so well to meditation, listeners will also find that a traditional listening session can be quite fruitful and enjoyable. I would recommend this album to any fans of ritual ambient, especially those that lean toward the styles presented on the Aural Hypnox label. While the album is available for download through the Hypnagoga Press Bandcamp page, this latest release on vinyl through Autarkeia is really beautiful and well prepared. It will be a great addition to any fan’s record collection.
Read the full review here.

The RosenshoulDarkly I Listen
Darkly I Listen is the most ambitious effort yet from The Rosenshoul. This is the first album to be released under that moniker in the physical format. Darkly I Listen has been self-released by Duncan Ritchie and he’s taken the bold step of creating a digipak CD that appears to be quite professionally executed. The cover-art is beautifully dark, evoking just the right sort of imagery for sounds such as these. The gamble seems to have already paid off, as there are only 8 copies remaining for sale through his Bandcamp page as I write this review. So if you are thinking about purchasing a physical copy, you’d best move fast! I would highly recommend this album to just about any dark ambient fan. It should have no trouble with impressing fans of Duncan’s other project Flowers For Bodysnatchers. It is also a real treat for those fans that prefer the long-form style over short, concise tracks. In short, Darkly I Listen should be a welcome addition to the collection of any discerning dark ambient listener!
Read the full review here.

Martin Bladh – Interview (re-published from Terra Relicta)
Martin Bladh is a multi-faceted artist. Over his years in the public eye, Martin has worked on numerous visual, musical, and performance art projects. He entered the public realm through his power-electronics project, IRM, with Erik Jarl, and later joined by Mikael Oretoft. He would soon join forces with Magnus Lindh creating the musical force know as Skin Area. Martin has also done musical projects with Sektor 304, entitled Ruby, and with Bo I. Cavefors, entitled The Island Of Death, as well as a number of his own personal musical projects.
Read the interview here.

Please consider making a donation!

This Is Darkness has gone live with the help of friends and supporters. I have been disabled since 2015, due to a spinal injury. Any support that can be given is greatly appreciated. Donations will go toward the maintenance of this site as well as additional promotion to increase its reach and influence. You can help through the donate button below,  or follow this link to the This Is Darkness Patreon page here.

Frozen In Time – Weekly News 7 August 2017

Again this week, we have a ton of new releases to announce. Of particular interest, an interview with Northaunt, and the long-awaited return of The Rosenshoul, with their self-released album, which actually gets a really professional looking digi-pak release alongside the digital. As the summer winds down and we move into fall we should expect to see the frequency of releases continuing to increase. Rest assured that This Is Darkness will keep you up to date on all news and developments surrounding the dark ambient community!

New Releases & Preorders

Anthéne – New Album Released (Polar Seas Recordings – Digital Only)
For the First Time in Years is a long-form track which straddles the boundaries between ambient and dark ambient. A track that is deeply meditative and enlightening.

Francesco Giannico & Giulio Aldinucci – New Album Preorder (eilean rec. – CD/Digital)
Electroacoustic musician, videoartist and web designer, Francesco Giannico founded in 2010 AIPS and in 2013 Oak edition with Alessio Ballerini. His musical approach is better described as a cinematic journey which pushes the boundaries of digital media. He collaborated with many artists like: Kim Cascone, Ben Chatwin, Fabio Orsi, Alessio Ballerini.
Giulio Aldinucci has been active for years as a composer in the field of experimental electroacoustic music and in the research on soundscape. He wrote music for theatre, video art, documentaries and short movies. With Attilio Novellino he launched the project Postcards from Italy.
Giannico & Aldinucci’s works have been released on some labels such as Time Released Sound, Unknown Tone Records, Dronarivm and Home Normal. After their first release on Dronarivm in July 2016, they present their second album together.

Gailes – New EP Released (Digital Only)
Rafael Anton Irisarri’s project Gailes uses field recordings and minimal dronescapes to produce a sound that is somber and comforting in its darkness.The album was written, recorded and produced at Black Knoll Studio (New York) between January 22 – 25, 2016 during a snow blizzard, which lasted 24 hrs.

Iurta – New Album Preorder (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
Joint project of Portuguese J. A. (Wolfskin, Karnnos) and A. Coelho (Sektor 304). IURTA is a reflection upon the modern dystopia. Inspired by the works of J. G. Ballard and A. Tarkovski, IURTA’s first full length album deals with the fragmentation of identity, of a mind forged by short-circuited information processes. It is a guided descent into an abstracted insanity, a sonic diary of the verge of mental breakdown through soundscapes built upon cascading drones, harsh textures and minimal sonic oscillations. Neural dark ambient, at times punctuated by a cinematic tone exploring the limits of an inner space.
Releases 23 August 2017.

Kaa – New EP Released (Digital Only)
Kaa, the side-project of Italian dark ambient artist Vortex, has released a new EP which has a jazzy neo-classical feel. The darkness remains present but is certainly not overwhelming.

Med Gen – New Album Released (ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ – Digital Only)
“This album reveals mysteries of Nature encountered at intuitive levels of perception. Unspoken, non-verbal, but available in the streams of sounds, repeating the patterns of nature, embossed with its voices. Enchantment of wanderings and untold fairy tales…
«The idea of this album is five natural places of power, which are unusual and magnetic in their own way. Some of these places have “gates”, specific points of entry to the location. Some of them have few smaller zones, which are forming the whole organism. All locations were visited in the night time to obtain field recordings, photo and video materials. But even in the process of many years of examination all these places have certain novelty because each explored place opens few more other locations. Influence of one onto another is highly unpredictable». ”

Monty Adkins – New Album Preorder (eilean rec. – CD/Digital)
Monty Adkins is experimental sound artist based in remote countryside of the north of England. His work is deeply influenced by the visual arts and psychogeography resulting in collaborations with a number of painters and digital artists. Inhabiting a post-acousmatic sensibility, Monty’s work draws together elements from ambient, acousmatic and microsound music producing a soundworld characterised by slow shifting organic textures derived from processed instrumental sounds. His work can be found on various labels including Audiobulb, Cronica, Signature, and empreintes DIGITALes. He presents on Eilean Rec. his sixth solo albums since 2009.

Noctilucant & HollowHecatomb – New Album Released (Grey Matter Productions – Cassette/Digital)
“No one recovers from the disease of being born, a deadly wound if there ever was one.”
– Emil M Cioran

Phantoms & Mirages – New Two Track Single Released (Digital Only)
Phantoms & Mirages is Embers Below Zero side project focusing on darker and more experimental atmospheres. These two tracks are a short prelude of things to come.

Proxus – New Album Released (Cian Orbe – Digital Only)

raison d’être & Troum – Teaser and cover art revealed (Transgradient Records – CD/Vinyl/Digital)
This is the second part of the collaboration that started with ‘De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu’, released 2015. A creation of nine separate “worlds”, existing only at the moment you immerse into it.
Releases September 1, 2017
Raison d’être sound sources used and processed by Troum 2013-2017 (deranged and reframed, morphed and transformed). Additional material recorded by Troum 2013-2017: guitars, voices, flutes, accordeon, cello, violin, didgeridoo, dombra, tapes, found sounds.
CD released by Transgredient Records, TR-12.

Randal Collier-Ford – New Album Preorder (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
The last entry in the apocalyptic series, the accumulation of events that has brought the listener to this point, Promethean is the closing chapter of the worlds transformation.
Promethean picks up years after the event of The Architects destructive era of eradication, as well as the years of darkness and reflection within the Remnants album. The album opens with a transmission from an unnamed wanderer, facing down the sight of an opening maw in the Earth, speaking of his next destination; his search for answers. The album takes him, and the listener, through a new world, a reshaped world, with new eyes to see what remains, what was, what will be. Until he reaches his final destination, his final transformation, the point in time to change his path forever.
Promethean is a multilayered effort to tell an overarching storyline, through multiple timelines and multiple realities. To allow the listener to dive deep into each tracks meaning in their symbolism, how they tie the album together, as well as the series.

The Rosenshoul – New Album Released (CD/Digital)
Darkly I Listen through the raven.
Darkly I Listen through the trees and through the walls and the windows.
Darkly I Listen into your violent heart.
Now I will come to you.
Come to you as decay and death.
Come to you slowly.
Like the black dog in the blackest night.
And from the bloodiest of shadows I shall show you the hell you brought unto me.

Sana Obruent – New Single Released (Digital Only)
This is an audio collage of the Sana Obruent track “Intermission” and audio from the cassette tapes that were made by heiress Patricia Hearst who was kidnapped on February 4, 1974 in Berkeley, California. Audio from cassette tapes are from Day 59, April 3, 1974 – Day 80, April 24, 1974.
Track was recorded and mixed at TSC studios somewhere in California – August 2017.
Patty Hearst is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Hearst. She was was kidnapped by a left-wing terrorist group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) in 1974. After being isolated and threatened with death, she became ‘supportive’ of their cause, making propaganda announcements for them in the form of audio tapes and taking part in illegal activities. She was found 19 months after her kidnapping, by which time she was a fugitive wanted for serious crimes.
She did jail time but there was much discussion about her situation – she was possibly brainwashed (Stockholm Syndrome) and therefore had her sentenced commuted by President Jimmy Carter and pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

Shelter of Trees – New Single Released (Digital Only)
Shelter of Trees deliver another descent into the imagination with “Among Spiral Friends”. The music is extremely subtle, a perfect companion to relaxation, meditation or sleep assistance.

TeHÔM – New Album Preorder (Cyclic Law – CD/Digital)
TeHÔM’s next release “Live Assault” (live album recorded in Czech Republic 2016 @ Brutal Assault Festival and their “Keep Ambient Lodge”) will be out soon through Cyclic Law (95th Cycle) in a 4-panel matte laminated Digipak CD and La Esencia Records (LER016), spanish label, in LP Vinyl Picture Disc version including “Exta Assault” CD with 3 more studio tracks, some nice postcards, etc.
Here are some short previews. Pre-Order available AUGUST 22nd 2017.

Thangorodrim – Gil Estel preview (Deivlforst Records – CD/Digital)

Winterblood – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Minimalismo Arcano is the latest self-released album by Italian dark ambient / dungeon synth artist Winterblood. Minimalismo Arcano, contrary to its name has a broader spectrum of sounds than most of his previous works. There are sweeping drones, analog manipulations and somber pianos, among other things, coming together to form one of his most personal and introspective works to date.

This Is Darkness – Week In Review

Northaunt – Interview
Hærleif Langås is the man behind several dark ambient acts, including: Northaunt, Therradaemon and The Human Voice. I was lucky enough to pick Hærleif’s brain about some of his inspiration over the years, information about upcoming releases and the frailties of the human condition, among other things. An interview with this Norwegian artist, one that has dedicated so much of his career to music of the coldest variety, seemed like a fitting way to give us a bit of rest and distraction from the scorching summer months.
Read the full interview here.

Leonard DonatDeer Traps
Alexander Leonard Donat is best known for his project Vlimmer. Vlimmer is a genre bending project which touches on dark ambient, darkgaze, darkwave, indie and krautrock among other things. His latest release Deer Traps is released as Leonard Donat also on the Blackjack Illuminist Records label, where most of his works can be found.
Deer Traps takes a significantly more subtle approach than albums under the Vlimmer name. The album is decidedly lo-fi, giving it a sort of warm rusty feel that could almost touch on the emotions conjured by The Caretaker and the like. Yet, contrary to the comparison, the actual sounds beneath this hissing and cracking are presented in the most minute of detail.
Read the full review here.

protoU & HilyardAlpine Respire
Alpine Respire is a perfect fit on Cryo Chamber. It has all the attention to detail one would expect of this label. The field recordings are crisp and give life to the entire album. The drones are varied, sometimes taking on hollow natures other times so dense that they literally seem to crush boulders. protoU and Hilyard make a fantastic pairing, their skills seem to be relatively overlapping, as are their goals. This album is overflowing with field recordings. For listeners that love to hear the elements of nature transported to their speakers, this is the perfect album to add to their libraries. the drone work is also top-notch. The combination makes for some brilliantly dark ASMR enriched music. It is the perfect companion to a late night of reading, a stroll through nature, or a critical session of active listening on a high-quality headset. I, for one, will surely be returning to this album very often.
Read the full review here.

SiyanieMystery of Life
The two musicians are known from their other projects, as both Vresnit and Neznamo are already recognized members of the ever-growing Russian ambient/experimental family. Mystery Of Life is their fourth album, including the collaboration with the mentioned Neznamo. I know that our page is called This Is Darkness and Mystery Of Life is somewhat distant from the pitch-black or grey ambiances (check the cover), but there’s a certain form of depth which most of the shades of ambient share. The spirituality, the detachment from the mundane world. But, while dark ambient artists often wander through the wastelands, sometimes in the literal meaning, sometimes as a metaphor of the dark corners of the human soul, the artists like Siyanie (Russian word meaning “radiance”), search for a harmony with nature, a contemplation in a peaceful solitude.
Read the full review here.

Please consider making a donation!

This Is Darkness has gone live with the help of friends and supporters. I have been disabled since 2015, due to a spinal injury. Any support that can be given is greatly appreciated. Donations will go toward the maintenance of this site as well as additional promotion to increase its reach and influence. You can help through the donate button below,  or follow this link to the This Is Darkness Patreon page here.

Frozen In Time: Weekly News 24 July 2017

To start off the week, I’d like to mention another friendly reminder (since we haven’t made any recent progress on this front) that This Is Darkness is run by a disabled individual severely lacking in the funds department. So any help that could be given through Patreon, here, or through a one time donation (at the bottom of the page press the donate button) would be extremely helpful. If you think these weekly news updates are essential to the scene, please consider supporting the zine.

With that business out of the way, we have a ton of new releases this week to cover. You will also find a good bit of ongoing sales from some of the leading dark ambient labels, so now is the time to get some music!

In the last week on This Is Darkness, we’ve released the ‘Dark Ambient Classics Mix’, as well as reviewed the latest albums by Pär Boström’s new project Bonini Bulga, Council of Nine’s latest opus and a retro-review of an old Vond album, a side-project of Mortiis from the late 90s.

Enjoy! May the darkness forever guide your paths!

Music Videos

Creation VI
Fresh off the release of his latest album, Deus Sive Natura, on Cryo Chamber, CreationVI has released a music video for one of the album’s tracks, “Cycles of Life”.

New Releases and Preorders

Ajna – New Track Released (Digital Only)
After his recent collaboration with Dronny Darko, Black Monolith released on Reverse Alignment, Ajna has released a new track which likely gives some preview of his next album, though not explicitly stated as such.

Andrew R. Grant – New Project / Album Released (Digital Only)
“I’ve decided to take this whole ‘trying to freelance as much as possible’ thing a little more seriously, so I created a new Bandcamp page for my solo work that doesn’t fit under The Vomit Arsonist. The header for the page says ‘dark ambient sound design & scoring’ and that’s exactly what this is: a score to a film that does not exist, though I do hope to shoot it. I also have several other similar releases that are finished, although I’d like to work on physical releases for those, but that’s a different discussion..
I have no hopes of getting any kind of soundtrack work from this one single page, but I needed a place to put this stuff. If you like it and want to buy it, that’s cool. I’m not asking you to, though. it’s short.
So.. yeah. I make creepy weirdo sounds and I want to put them in your movie or video game or radio play or podcast or whatever. really.”

A Bleeding Star – New Single Released (Digital Only)
By now frequent readers should know what to expect from the dark ambient project A Bleeding Star which has been on a pattern of weekly single releases. While I generally don’t like to entertain weekly output from single artists, these singles are short tracks which, in my opinion, are given enough time to be properly created before release.
“Violin’s In Season: Crestfallen?.?.?.?I’m Headin’ to My Final Destination?.?.?.?Go Enjoy thy Freedom”

Kristian Westergaard – New Track Released (Digital Only)
“Kristian Westergaard is a Danish composer and sound artist living in Barcelona, Spain working in electronic music. Westergaard’s music is constantly searching and evolving but with great sense of direction, with a physicality only possible to achieve with a sensitive instrument and a sensitive player.”

Liturgia Maleficarum – New Track Released (Digital Only)
“New track from upcoming release. Recorded in one night in June 2017. Liturgia Maleficarum is the sountrack of the most hideous nightmares of your subconscious. ‘Sinite Parvulos Venire Ad Me” is a new track from their upcoming album.”

Nocht – New Album Released (Digital Only)
Seattle based dungeon synth / black ambient artist Noct releases his latest album, Lore of Sorrow.
https://nocht.bandcamp.com/album/lore-of-sorrows

protoU & Hilyard – Preorder Available (Cryo Chamber – CD/Digital)
Alpine Respire immerses you in field recordings from two continents. Warm drone contrasts raindrops and the call of animals in the wild. This damp album invites you to explore the unreachable corners of the Earth. From the harshest mountains to the darkest forests. Recommended for fans of Field Recording and slowly progressing drone. Available in 24 bit. Releases July 25, 2017.”

Sombre Soniks – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“Sombre Soniks is proud to present thee full performances from ‘Thee Sakrament IV’ event that took part on thee 15th June 2017 at Haunt in Stoke Newington, London. It featured a Drone set from raxil4, a live performance of thee recent ‘Fault Line’ release from Guy Harries and a full Blood Ritual from Akoustik Timbre Frekuency. Harmergeddon also took part providing bakground Visuals for raxil4 and Guy Harries.
Thee release also inkludes a pdf booklet with info for each of thee Artists involved and photos from thee event itself!”

Shelter of Trees – New Track Released (Digital Only)
“An Unholy Breach” uses sub-bass drones and daemoniac field recordings to create an atmosphere steeped in darkness swirling with an aura of evil energies.

sp3ct3rs – New Album Released (Digital Only)
“pulled those three large meditative medicative tracks into an album which is now released for pay what you like. thank you all for your support”
“a triptych of medicative meditative pieces designed around granular synthesis…”

The Wyrm – Preorder Available (GH Records – CD/Digital)
“These invocations to the old powers were described as a pact with the Devil, when the truth is that the demons of a religion are always the gods of its predecessor.
After nearly two thousand years of papist rule, the ancestral gods began to resurface. In Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britain … there were many who wanted to turn a blind eye to their traditions, recovering the promethean essence of Europe.”

Urals Vector Plant – New EP released (Human Lessons – Digital Only)
This album is the first dark ambient works by Japan based Human Lessons. Deep drones and mesmerizing field recordings create an interesting and engaging atmosphere for the listener.

Urs Wild – New Album Released (Eighth Tower Records – Digital Only)
“Urs Wild is a musician and sound designer from Switzerland working on multiple ambient music declinations. Hidden Universe is his first full length album, and it’s the first individual release of Eighth Tower Records. The Urs Wild ambient music is fluid and cinematic. His eidetic textures tell us a story that is never really unveiled, but at the boundaries of an abstract consciousness of something we barely perceive. Something that is confined into a hidden universe. A dark minimalism, crossed by ‘gentle’ noise and oblique synth passages, that explores the territories of space, ritual and dark ambient.”

Waeltaja – Preorder Available (GSP Productions – CD/Digital)
This interesting new dark ambient / dungeon synth album releases on 1 Aug 2017.

Sales!

Cryo Chamber
“In this weeks sale we are focusing on two artists that have each released 2 albums on Cryo Chamber. Keosz and Randal Collier-Ford Save 50% on their digital downloads here.

Loki Foundation / Power & Steel
25 % off all titles!
Use code: 25daysLOKI
16/07/2017 – 10/08/2017
Check out their discography here.

The Rosenshoul
50% off all albums on Bandcamp
“Leading up to the release of the new album from The Rosenshoul next month we’ll be offering the albums Hidden Field, Low Winter Sun (Deluxe Edition) and Yokai at 50% off! That’s only $3.50 USD per album or $5.25 USD for the full discography!”
Check out their discography here.

Worms of the Earth [New Interview Coming Soon On This Is Darkness!!!]
“Myself and, as it is intrinsically linked, this project are in the midst of a major rebirth, always moving towards a more ascended state. It’s been a long journey through the darkness, but the path is becoming illuminated. I’m working on some big things for the fall and beyond. In the meantime, I’m having a sale on my two ritual ambient albums Sitra Achra and Azal’ucel. Use the code “rebirth” here for 40% off either or both of these albums!!”

This Is Darkness Week In Review

Dark Ambient Classics Mix
This mix features some of the greatest tracks throughout the history of the dark ambient genre. It contains a who’s who of several decades worth of post-industrial music as it evolved into what we know today as dark ambient. The mix was created by Przemyslaw Murzyn, who is currently the only other contributor to This Is Darkness. Przemyslaw has a fantastic resume in the dark ambient scene, as he’s been publishing dark ambient news and reviews on his website Santa Sangre for years. He is also an artist himself in the dark ambient project Embers Below Zero. I hope you will all enjoy his mix!
Listen here.

Bonini Bulga – Sealed
It seems that the coming years will be ripe with output from Hypnagoga Press. Whether this will continue to be the sole production base for the siblings, Pär and Åsa, or if some of these other locations hold introductions to new partnerships and collaborative output is anybody’s guess. But, if we consider what we have already seen as an indicator, we are in for one hell of a collection of works.
Read the full review here.

Council of Nine – Trinity
Trinity is obviously the last part of a three album sequence. It is a closure to everything that Council of Nine has done within his three solo releases. This leaves a big question mark for listeners as to what will come next. Trinity being the most personal of these three releases it seems quite possible that we will now move into some territory that is much less connected to the artist’s personal life and more aligned with his external interests. Trinity can be seen as the closure to his period as a new artist. What comes next will come from a musician that has honed their skills for several years, and is prepared to deliver their craft with a purpose and mastery that can only come from a veteran artist. For now we have plenty of great Council of Nine music to keep us entertained, and we can patiently wait to see where this artist will direct his attention next.
Read full review here.

Vond – Green Eyed Demon
For long-time fans of Mortiis, there will be nothing new here aside from the beautifully crafted re-release editions. But, for newer fans, just recently discovering his older phases and side-projects, Green Eyed Demon, as well as the other Vond albums, should be a delightful discovery. Vond definitely shows off a side of Mortiis’ talents that should be highly attractive to fans of dark ambient music. Its gritty production is a reminder of the old days of the dark ambient genre, back before everything could be done with a computer and midi controller. It’s also a reminder of the varied nature of Mortiis‘ interests. I would love to see these old albums draw enough attention to maybe get Mortiis to consider opening the vaults of Vond for one more chapter.
Read the full review here.

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This Is Darkness has gone live with the help of friends and supporters. I have been disabled since 2015, due to a spinal injury. Any support that can be given is greatly appreciated. Donations will go toward the maintenance of this site as well as additional promotion to increase its reach and influence. You can help through the donate button below,  or follow this link to the This Is Darkness Patreon page here.

All Reviews

All Reviews published on This Is Darkness

156 – Memento Mori (2016)
A Cryo Chamber Collaboration – Tomb of Druids (2017)
A Cryo Chamber Collaboration – Tomb of Seers (2017)

A Cryo Chamber Collaboration – Yog-Sothoth (2017)
Abbildung – At the Gates of Ouln (2019)
Aegri Somnia – Endtime Psalms (2017)
Aeoga – Obsidian Outlander (2017)
AFFECTVS & Lamia Culta – Blessings from the Darkness (2017)
Ager Sonus – Book of the Black Earth (2017)
Aindulmedir – The Lunar Lexicon (2019)
Ajna & Dronny Darko – Black Monolith (2017)
Ajna – An Era Of Torment (2017)
Altarmang – Void (2017)
Anemone Tube & Post Scriptvm – Litaniæ Mortuorum Discordantes (2016)
Anima Nostra – Atraments (2017)
Arktau Eos – Catacomb Resonator (2017)
Arktau Eos – Erēmos (2018)
Asath Reon – Buried Visions (2017)
Ashtoreth – Morana (2017)
Atrium Carceri – Cellblock (2003)
Atrium Carceri – Codex (2018)
Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast – Black Corner Den (2017)
Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast & God Body Disconnect – Miles To Midnight (2018)
Atrium Carceri & Herbst9 – Ur Djupan Dal (2018)
Atrox Pestis – Self Titled (2016)
Atrox Pestis – Hewn by the Hands of the Damned (2018)
AWARE – The Book of Wind (2017)
Bellkeeper – The First Flame of Lordran (2019)
Black Box Memories – Transmissions (2017)
Black Wanderer – Hostile Territory (2017)
Bleach For The Stars – The Time For Silver Flowers (2017)
Bonini Bulga – Sealed (2017)
Bridge To Imla – The Radiant Sea (2017)
bvdub – Epilogues for the End of the Sky (2017)
Cadabra Records – Fungi from Yuggoth (2017)
Cadabra Records- No Ordinary Fairy (2017)
Cadabra Records – Pickman’s Model (2016)
Cadabra Records – The Call of Cthulhu (2018)
Cadabra Records – The Muse of Hyperborea (2017)
Chelsea Wolfe – Hiss Spun (2017)
Council of Nine – Davidian (2019)
Council of Nine – Trinity (2017)
Creation VI – Deus Sive Natura (2017)
Dahlia’s Tear – Through The Nightfall Grandeur (2018)
Danny Mulhern – Reflections on a Dead Sea (2017)
Dead Melodies – Legends of the Wood (2017)
Depressive Silence – Mourning (1996)
Desiderii Marginis – Songs Over Ruins (1997)
Desiderii Marginis – Vita Arkivet (2018)
Dødsmaskin – Fullstendig Brent (2017)
Dronny Darko – Abduction (2017)
Druhá Smrt – The Way & The Virtue (2017)
Eighth Tower Records –Superspectrum (2017)
Eislandschaft – Tales of the Frost (2017)
Encounters – Beneath the Forces of Contradiction (2017)
Elegi – Bånsull (2017)
Erang – The First Age (2017)
Eximia – Visitors (2018)
False Mirror – SIGINT (2018)
Flowers For Bodysnatchers – Alive with Scars (2019)
Flowers For Bodysnatchers – Asylum Beyond (2017)
X-Navi:et – Machina Nova (2017)
God Body Disconnect – Sleeper’s Fate (2017)
Hezaliel – Paradise Lost (2018)
Hoor-Paar-Kraat – The Place of the Crossing (2017)
Husere Grav – Entropy & Illusion
IMPERIVM LVCIFERI – Self titled (2017)
Infinexhuma – Frontier (2021)
In Quantum – Memory 417 (2019)
Isegrimm – Ik Gihorta Dat Seggen (2019)
Jarl – Hypnosis Colour (2017)
Kammarheit – The Starwheel (2005)
Kaya North – That Comes From The Tree And The Mist (2019)
Keosz – AVA (2017)
Kryptogen Rundfunk – Liquid Circuits (2017)
La Delaïssádo – New Print-Fanzine (2021)
La Tredicesima Luna – Il Sentiero degli Dei (2017)
Leila Abdul-Rauf – Diminution (2018)
Leonard Donat – Deer Traps (2017)
Lesa Listvy – Way Home (2018)
Manifesto – Hive (2018)
Martyria – Self-titled (2018)
Mebitek – Art Has No Diplomacy (2017)
Med Gen – Brittleroots (2018)
Medhelan – Ticinum Insubria (2017)
Melankolia – Vividarium Intervigilium Viator (2017)
Metatron Omega – Illuminatio (2017)
Monocube – The Rituals (2106)
Mortiis – The Unraveling Mind (2017)
Moss Covered Technology – And His Many Seas (2018)
Mount Shrine – Winter Restlessness (2018)
Myrkur – Mareridt (2017)
Nam-Khar – Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa (2018)
Nhor – Wildflowers: Autumn (2017)
Nhor – Wildflowers: Winter (2017)
Northaunt – Istid III (2018)
Northaunt – Night Paths (2017)
Northaunt & Svartsinn – The Borrowed World (2013)
Northumbria – Markland (2017)
øjeRum – Nattesne (2019)
Old Sorcery – Strange and eternal (2019)
Otavan Veret – Syvys (2018)
ΠANθEON – Discography Overview by Abby Helasdottir (Gydja)
Peter Bjärgö – Animus Retinentia (2017)
Phonothek – Red Moon (2017)
Polterngeist – Levels of Perception (2017)
protoU & Hilyard – Alpine Respire (2017)
Psionic Asylum – Coma (2017)
Rafael Anton Irisarri – The Shameless Years (2017)
raison d’être – Prospectus I (1993)
raison d’être – Alchymeia (2018)
Randal Collier-Ford – Promethean (2017)
R.C. Kozletsky – Pulsed in a Dull Glass Bell (2016)
Ruptured World – Exoplanetary (2018)
Salò Salon – The Scent of Voluntarism (2018)
Senketsu No Night Club – Shikkoku (2018)
Shibalba – Psychostasis – Death of Khat (2017)
Shinkiro – Archive: Volumes I-III (2018)
Shock Frontier – Tumult (2017)
Sielwolf & Nam-khar – Oppressfield (2017)
SiJ – The Time Machine (2017)
SiJ & Item Caligo – Queer Reminiscence (2017)
Simon Šerc – Bora Scura (2018)
Siyanie – Mystery of Life (2017)
Skeldos – Ilgės (2018) / Ilgės – Caretakers of Yearning (2019 re-issue)
Skincage – Unimagined Space (2017)
Sky Burial – Chapel Image (2017)
Sonologyst – Apocalypse (2017)
Stromstad – New Devoted Human (2017)
Стужа​(​Stuzha) – Siberian Sketches (2016)
Stuzha – Siberian Sketches II (2017)
Svartsinn – Collected Obscurities (2017)
Svartsinn – Mørkets Variabler (2017)
Sysselmann – The Northern Chronicles (2016)
Sysselmann – Live at Mir (2018)
Taphephobia – Ghostwood (2018)
Taphephobia & Kave – Monuments (2018)
Teahouse Radio – Her Quiet Garden (2018)
TeHÔM – Live Assault (2017)
Templum N.R. – Memoirs of the Recoilers Pt.1 (2018)
Thangorodrim – Gil-Estel (2017)
The Caretaker – Everywhere at the End of Time: Stages I-II (2016/2017)
The Caretaker – Everywhere at the End of Time: Stages III-IV (2017/2018)
The Rosenshoul – Darkly I Listen (2017)
The Vomit Arsonist – Meditations on Giving up Completely (2017)
Theologian – Forced Utopia (2017)
Theologian – Reconcile (2018)
Trepaneringsritualen – Kainskult (2017)
Ugasanie & Dronny Darko – Arctic Gates (2019)
Vacant Stations – Clones (2017)
Vacuum Aeterna – Project:Darkscapes (2017)
Valanx – Radiant Orbs of Abzu (2017)
Veiled Monk – The Acolyte’s  Burden (2017)
VelgeNaturlig – Kundalini (2018)
VelgeNaturlig – Opalescent Pust (2017)
Visions & Phurpa – Monad (2018)
Vladimir Hirsch – Scripta Soli (2017)
Vond – Green Eyed Demon (1997)
VRNA – La Vecchia Madre (2018)
Winterblood – Waldeinsamkeit (2017)
Wordclock – Heralds (2017)
Wound – Up in the Starry Ether (2018)

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