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
VelgeNaturlig – Opalescent 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.
Altarmang – Void
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 Rosenshoul – Darkly 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.
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talents of the artist are at an all time high on From The Depths. Each track feels unique, yet fits perfectly into the whole. Add to this successful combination of sounds the beautiful artwork and A5 digipak of the physical edition, and we are left with a powerful all-encompassing work of art. Paranoia Inducta has proven with From The Depths that they still have plenty of energy and potential for this almost 15 year old project. In fact, some of the best work may still be yet to come. Where the next chapter in the story of Paranoia Inducta will take us, we must wait to discover.
uniquely relevant to our times. It asks the hard questions of humanity and refuses to allow the listener to ignore the warning signs. I could absolutely recommend this to fans of the more primal forms of dark ambient, while there is also much here to entertain fans that prefer a more industrial infused sound. It will be interesting to see where they take their sound next, if they will continue delving into these topics and this format, or if they will veer off into a totally different direction. The level of skill seems to be there to make either a worthy endeavor.
They leave behind the aspects that didn’t seem to fit their style as well. For many artists of all genres, the sophomore release is always the best indication of their longevity. Will they hone their skills further, tapping into a wealth of ideas and talents, or will they stall, grasping for new ideas where there is little left to be found? Phonothek clearly fit the latter, and they seem to be set on a path of excellence which won’t fade anytime soon.
an artist that fully embraces the contradiction. Art Has No Diplomacy is certainly not your average dark ambient album, often leaving that genre classification entirely. Yet, thematically and cinematically the sounds should be welcome to the ears of many dark ambient fans. Mebitek provides us with an original take on the fringe elements of ambient and electronic genres, paving his own path. Enjoy Art Has No Diplomacy in those moments of despair or cynicism when the mind needs something more than gentle field recordings and drones.
artist. It provides us with a totally fresh set of ideas from its creator. There are likely many more directions that Black Wanderer can be taken in the future. The focus on these older alien-influenced sci-fi films doesn’t necessarily have to stay as the primary subject matter for Black Wanderer to keep its template and hold the attention of listeners. While technically it isn’t quite as innovative as the latest Stuzha album, it still holds a great deal of emotion and interesting content.
the discography of Noctivagant, yet it holds its own character, stands apart from its brethren as an unique album in a sea of uniformity. Psionic Asylum incorporates a little bit of many different variations of dark ambient on Coma, giving it a value to a highly diverse set of listeners. Fans of cinematic, drone and ritual ambient styles should all find reasons to enjoy Coma. It is nice to see Noctivagant keeping their standards high while simultaneously taking risks with lesser known projects.
