Issue 3 is about 99% finished and will be released within a week or so. However, I've gotten a few albums recently that unfortunately were not able to make it into this issue and I'd like to take a minute to bring your attention to them:
Phelios - Gates of Atlantis
[Malignant Records]
I'm a huge fan of Phelios and consider him one of the more underrated artists in the genre. I have been impressed by every album of his that I have, and this is no exception. Gates of Atlantis carries on much in the same way as the previous release Astral Unity - the crushing celestial drones, subtle melodies, and heavy tribal-esque drumming. The Lovecraft influence is still present as you can tell from titles like "Temple of Yith" and "The Shadow Out Of Time", and this is indeed a fitting soundtrack to boundless cosmic horrors. This release feels somewhere between standing on a space station observing the destructive force & beauty of a massive black hole and a shamanic ritual on an alien world. The production is absolutely fantastic and as a result this album feels incredibly huge, deep, and lush. A must own!
Innfallen - Weathered Road To A Burning Bridge
[self-released]
These guys impressed me quite a bit with their debut Three Days Of Darkness on the (defunct?) First Fallen Star label which remains one of the darkest ambient albums I've come across. After some years they have returned with this release, which is unfortunately not on a label (someone needs to pick them up). However, it is a 2xCD, with the second CD being remixes from Invercauld (whom is one of the members). While I don't feel this album ventures into the depths of desolation & darkness that the last one did, I find it to be differently, if not more, atmospheric and generally more unsettling. This time around they utilize weird creepy melodic content and a plethora of sfx/samples which presents a very cinematic vibe and gives the feeling of being trapped inside a nightmare (the opening track "Unsound (Foundation of Waste)" reminds me of music they would play in a Nightmare on Elm St film when the kids are trapped in a dream.) Other tracks give off the ambiance of a super creepy abandoned carnival shrouded in fog (not in a cheesy way), a desolate dilapidated town, or any given scene from Silent Hill - this could, and should, absolutely be a movie or video game soundtrack.Overall exceptionally atmospheric and haunting, check it out.
Shock Frontier - Mancuerda Confessions
[Malignant Records]
Shock Frontier is a new death industrial project from Rob K of the sadly now defunct dark ambient duo Psychomanteum. Shock Frontier is on the opposite end of the spectrum - this time the listener is thrust into a blazing furnace of crushing shrieks of noise, heavy (but deep) drones, and piston-like percussion that beats you into the ground. It does retain a bit of the transcendental mood that was highly present in the Psychomanteum material, but now the listener must trek through horrific pain to find the secrets of that which lies beyond. The audio equivalent to something like the film Martyrs - the listener is grotesquely punished and brutalized, yet through this a path to an elevated consciousness is opened. Not a record for the feint of heart. It's repetitive in places, but it has more to offer (layers, variety, depth) than a lot of the typical lo-fi, straight-forward death industrial. For fans of stuff like Stratvm Terror who like their ambiance with a lot of noise, distortion, and suffering.
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