Artist:
Caul
Album: The Long Dust
Year: 2013
Label: Malignant Records
Genre: Dark Ambient
Website: www.malignantrecords.com
Album: The Long Dust
Year: 2013
Label: Malignant Records
Genre: Dark Ambient
Website: www.malignantrecords.com
Basics:
Caul is one of those artists of whom I’ve heard the name many times over the years, but for some reason never actually checked out the music. I think one thing that turned me off was that a bunch of his releases are 50+ minute 1 track albums, which I’m not a fan of. Anyway, this is his latest, released via Malignant, which is 12 tracks of melodic droning ambient and provides a good indication for why I have heard the name Caul so many times over the years.
Caul is one of those artists of whom I’ve heard the name many times over the years, but for some reason never actually checked out the music. I think one thing that turned me off was that a bunch of his releases are 50+ minute 1 track albums, which I’m not a fan of. Anyway, this is his latest, released via Malignant, which is 12 tracks of melodic droning ambient and provides a good indication for why I have heard the name Caul so many times over the years.
Good stuff:
+ Upon turning this on, I immediately regret not having heard this project in any true capacity previously. The Long Dust is composed of exquisitely beautiful, deep atmospheres with a distinct cinematic edge. This is the score to the wondrous mystique of untraveled lands. The album artwork is a fitting depiction of how this album “feels”. While the meat of the compositions lies in the tranquil, pulsating drones and subtle melodic plucks & strums, Caul does a fantastic job of incorporating additional elements such as percussion on “Desert Buoy”, and the brilliant eastern flavor of “The Unwept Waste”. Tracks like the aforementioned “Desert Buoy” and the title track “The Long Dust” showcase Caul’s talent for expertly utilizing many different elements to build a cohesive song which captivates the listener as it opens the gate to a new realm. All of the songs are passages to the same realm, but each is a unique exploration of that place. It’s a bit hard to easily categorize this record because while it is certainly ambient, it’s also beyond “ambient”; subdued film-score would be the most appropriate description I can come up with. To top it off, the mixing and production is absolutely grandiose.
+ Upon turning this on, I immediately regret not having heard this project in any true capacity previously. The Long Dust is composed of exquisitely beautiful, deep atmospheres with a distinct cinematic edge. This is the score to the wondrous mystique of untraveled lands. The album artwork is a fitting depiction of how this album “feels”. While the meat of the compositions lies in the tranquil, pulsating drones and subtle melodic plucks & strums, Caul does a fantastic job of incorporating additional elements such as percussion on “Desert Buoy”, and the brilliant eastern flavor of “The Unwept Waste”. Tracks like the aforementioned “Desert Buoy” and the title track “The Long Dust” showcase Caul’s talent for expertly utilizing many different elements to build a cohesive song which captivates the listener as it opens the gate to a new realm. All of the songs are passages to the same realm, but each is a unique exploration of that place. It’s a bit hard to easily categorize this record because while it is certainly ambient, it’s also beyond “ambient”; subdued film-score would be the most appropriate description I can come up with. To top it off, the mixing and production is absolutely grandiose.
Bad stuff:
- I really dislike the
post-rock elements of “Relic” and “Anointing” but this is due to my personal
aversion to guitar and acoustic drums, especially in ambient. However, if you
are a fan of post-rock style music than I think you will get more out of these
tracks than I.
Summary:
A must have for fans of melodic ambient. That’s all there is to it. Ambient music is all about being deep, visionary, evoking unnamable profound sentiments, etc and this nails it all. I am going to check out his previous material as soon as I possibly can!
Overall Rating: 9/10
1 comment:
Thanks for reviewing this album, I really enjoyed it. Anointing was my favorite track!
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