Wounds of the Earth

Instant Pyrolysis - "The Asylum"

2012-02-02T12:13:00.005-05:00

Artist: Instant Pyrolysis
Album: The Asylum
Year: 2012
Label: self-released
Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone
Website: http://www.instant-pyrolysis.com

Basics:
A dark ambient album based on asylums you say? Obviously the immediate point of comparison is going to be Atrium Carceri,which is certainly hard for anyone to match, as Atrium is for sure one of the absolute best acts in the genre. Unfortunately, Instant Pyrolysis doesn't come anywhere close. While "The Asylum" sounds better than you'd expect from a self-released dark ambient album, at it's heart it's still a straight-forward, minimal drone album.

Good stuff:
+ Cool, if cliched, theme.

+ Production and mixing is good for this style. Really glad to hear an album that is not over compressed.

+ Although it's pretty much solely comprised of drones, they are well crafted and sound good. They are dark, unsettling and evoke a sense of dread. When he does sporadically use other elements they are likewise rather good - quiet, panned whispery voices ('The Voices Inside (pt. 1)'); the exceptional female choir on 'Commital'; muted, distant banging; or some other kind of sound effect. I wouldn't necessarily say that these songs remind me of an abandoned asylum, per say, but they do offer a dark mood.

Bad stuff:
- Nothing happens. The songs are pretty much all comprised solely of drones; very little happens within a given song and all the tracks sound nearly identical. The drones themselves are fine, but not enough to carry a piece.

- You've heard everything that happens here before and there is absolutely nothing to make it stand out from all the other dark ambient CDs in your collection; except that perhaps you will remember even less about this one after listening than you would with another album.

Summary:
Not necessarily a bad album, just a boring one (even the cover art is super generic). Even for a fan of drone, there isn't a whole lot here to latch onto. It's kind of like going to a real abandoned asylum: it's dark and you can't see that well so there is some inherent level of creepiness, but the rooms and hallways are really quiet and nothing happens. There is never any genuine sense of danger or mystique. In fact, it could be any unlit building that just happens to have no one occupying it at the time. Do you want the soundtrack to an empty room with some old cabinets and dilapidated wallpaper, or do you want a fucking crazy, disturbing soundtrack to a horrific place that slowly unravels your own sanity - with lunatic patients freaking out, screaming, whispering incoherently, fighting orderlies, getting tortured; the sounds of spelunking into the blackened depths of the aberrant mind of schizophrenic psychopath trapped forever in a padded room; the discovery that this building you're currently standing in houses the hundreds of unquiet souls of those whose blood stain the wall and they are trying to cross over to inflict their phantasmal rage on you......the latter? yeah, that's what I thought.
If you're going to attempt to do the same theme that one of the major players in the genre is known for than you need to bring your A game, and it was not brought here. This guy has potential though, and if he could evolve his compositions and actually tell a story with them, he could certainly make something worthwhile in the future.

Overall Rating: 5/10

Oxyd - "Liveforms"

2012-02-02T11:15:00.002-05:00

Artist: Oxyd
Album: Liveforms
Year: 2012
Label: Signifer / Aliens Production
Genre: Ambient, Electronic
Website: www.signiferonline.com

http://www.label.aliens.sk/

Basics:
"Liveforms" is the new album from Oxyd, whom you may know under their other moniker Disharmony. According to the press release, this is a collection of live recordings, which would explain the name, although I'm not sure what exactly that means as this does not sound like a "live" album, per say (and honestly, that's a good thing). All the tracks flow into one another as you would expect in a live set. I'm not really familiar with this project, but I do have some knowledge of Aliens Production. One important thing about this album: for whatever reason it seems to be billed as an IDM album; don't be fooled, it's actually almost completely ambient with very little beatwork.

Good stuff:
+ This album carries that "Aliens Production" sound, for lack of a better descriptor. What I mean by that is it sounds very big, digital, and synth heavy. "Liveforms" is an ambient album, and as such it employs a lot of organic textures and sounds (bells, choirs, chanting) which "feel" organic yet "sound" digital, if that makes sense. I guess the closest analogy would be a computer simulation of a forest or a temple - a futuristic, synthetic simulacrum of an ancient place. This album has an extremely vivid dreamy feel to it, as if you're traversing alien forests coalesced from fragments of your deepest thoughts. There is no singular place or time that it takes you to, rather it feels like a collection of many things blending into something oddly familiar yet creepily alien. As a reference I would say more (inverted) psybient or stuff like Future Sound of London rather than the typical "dark ambient" we generally cover.

+ In general, this album is really solid. The songs are extremely atmospheric and complex. Layers of pads complimented by heavy use of sound effects and minute bits of sound which really add to the ambiance. This isn't directionless droning ambient - these are thick, constantly evolving soundscapes which have visions to conjure for you. The best tracks are those that start in one place and finish in another: an example here being 'Propulsion' which opens with an eerie, almost haunted house vibe coupled with clanking & distant choirs and slowly builds into a pounding industrial-ish beat with a possessed, cinematic factory mood. Occasionally a part will break out, such as the middle/end of 'Voices In Me', that sounds straight out of an Ultimae Records album.

+ As mentioned above, each track feeds seamlessly into the proceeding one, so in essence this is one big long track. They accomplish this perfectly, as there are no awkward or even noticeable crossfades.

+ I'm a huge fan of the use of monk chants, even if they don't integrate terribly well into the music.

+ The production is fairly tight, and things sound clear and big. Sometimes too big...

Bad stuff:
- The main flaw is that occasionally this album feels overly compressed/limited, which is a big detriment to ambient music. This kind of stuff really should not be IN YOUR FACE ALL THE TIME. 'Aura' is a big offender, as there are annoyingly noticeable points where every element is fighting for space in the mix. Any time there is percussion this squashing seems to be a problem, since they seem to be of the mindset that drums need to be louder than all else - it's ok to have percussive elements be quiet or slightly obscured by other things, I promise.

- The only track here that has a beat all the way through is 'Emphatic Clone' and, even though it's an ok track, I didn't feel that it really fit with the rest of the album.

Summary:
A solid ambient album if you are looking for something complex and otherworldly. If a Solar Fields album got corrupted by darkness and a legion of hooded priests, this is what you'd get. Solar Fields' "Movements" + Raison's "Enthraled By The Wind of Lonelienes" anyone? This has made me want to go back and check out some of their previous work.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Aythis Interview

2012-01-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

Interview with neoclassical / ambient producer Aythis. Be sure to check out her latest album "The New Earth" released via Twilight Records.

for more information: official site or facebook

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

I started Aythis in 2006, the first release “Doppelgänger” was released by the english label Paradigms Recordings and that's how it all started. I would describe Doppelgänger as raw, obscure and minimalist sometimes. With the second album, Glacia, I wanted to write more sophisticated music melting different synth sounds and deeper constructions. For the last album, The New Earth, I wanted to mix Glacia's more sophisticated sound with natural elements. I used acoustic guitars sometimes. I would say that The New Earth melt the simplicity of doppelganger with more complex melodies of Glacia.

What inspires you to make music? What draws you to the medium of ambient / neo-classical music?

I'm very visual when I write music; it might come from dreams, movies, nature or simply life experiences...
I find a lot of freedom in this style of music, there are so many possibilities, you can either focus on the sounds you chose or focus on melodies & harmonies. I find this genre very complete; it’s not just about making things loud using distorted sounds. I like doing this too, but not in Aythis.
Ambient music makes the mind wander, it can become very deep and profound, you can live your worst nightmare while listening to ambient music. I hope some people find their nightmares while listening to mine :)

Your track for the compilation is “The Ground is Burning”. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?

I was inspired by the french movie called Antichrist, from Lars von Trier. There's almost no music in this movie and I wanted to imagine its soundtrack. As the movie is somehow disturbing I wanted it to be heard in the sound, a sound that would make you feel unease.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear/techniques/etc ?

I use an Intel i5 3.1Ghz, EMU 404 soundcard, Sonar as sequencer running with Windows 7. Kontakt with many different plug-ins and soft synths. I built my own drum kit that I run with the software Battery. As Instruments in Aythis I use a Korg Triton LE, a Yamaha acoustic guitar, Jackson electric guitar, with clean effects from Pod Xt, electronic drums Alesis, Yamaha studio Monitor speakers, 4 track mixer to record audio, audio technica microphone.
I don't have any techniques, either I'm inspired or I'm not... I don't force myself to write because nothing good comes of it. I like to know what I will do before starting a new song. Going into a song blindly doesn't do it for me.

You are also in two doom metal bands, Lethian Dreams and Remembrance. How does this impact or inspire your solo material, and how is the writing process different for each of your projects?

The process of writing is different, because in Aythis I have to compose everything on my own, starting from scratch while in Lethian Dreams or in Remembrance, either I start with some riffs (guitars or synth) then the other band member, Matthieu Sachs, completes with his ideas, or it goes the other way around.
In Lethian Dreams, I never use synth as basis for writing a song, I always prefer using the guitar. The music isn't synth based, it's only used as background most of the time.
My other bands don't inspire me for Aythis. It's another kind of inspiration, that's why I like having 3 bands to dispatch all the things that inspire me when composing. There're obviously similarities between my 2 other bands and Aythis; for instance I use a lot of synth in Remembrance but the feeling is different, Doppelgänger (the first Aythis album) is maybe closer to the first Remembrance release because both albums have a funeral atmosphere.
Writing is sometimes easier/faster in my other bands because there are 2 people involved, so if one is stuck, the other might come up and help in the progress, but at the same time I feel more free in Aythis.

What can we expect in the future from Aythis?

I'm working for a new album that I hope to complete within the next few months.

c.db.sn Interview (2012)

2012-01-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Our second interview with the brilliant IDM producer c.db.sn. He has recently release his debut full length album on Tympanik Audio called "At The End Of It All". Make sure to grab it!

more info: www.soundcloud.com/c-db-sn

www.facebook.com/cdbsn

Hey Chase, what’s new with you since we last talked?

A ton actually! I've released a split EP with Denver IDM artist Scaffolding on Denver label Plastic Sound Supply, I've recorded guitar tracks for a collaborative track with Anklebiter, and my debut album on Tympanik Audio was released in mid-December. It has been a busy few months!

Tell us about your split with Scaffolding (a seriously good musician btw). It’s 1 original track by each artist and a remix of each other’s track. What was the inspiration for your track, and would you work in this format again?

Lui (Scaffolding) and I have a ton of mutual friends in Denver; it’s actually kind of a small city in that regard. He was at a show that I was playing and approached me about doing a split for release on Plastic Sound Supply, the aesthetic was also agreed on - we were shooting for ambient IDM in the vein of Arovane. I was already a fan of Scaffolding's music so I agreed. I really like the split ep format; it’s great to be able to collaborate in that way and not have to commit to a full length release. If the opportunity presents itself I would love to release other split.

You recently released your debut full length “At The End Of It All” via Tympanik Audio. Tell us a bit about this album; what inspired it, how you composed it, etc. There is a lot of ground covered; there is IDM, post-industrial, ambient, some dubstep, and some post rock. Do you foresee all these styles sticking with you in future work?

"… At The End of it All" was released in December and it was a long time in the works. Some of the material on there dates back to 2003! I tend to be really hot and cold when it comes to production, I'll have periods where I am quite prolific and other times where it’s just not happening. I'm of the opinion that if I force work it will never be good, so sometimes I'll start a track and come back to it (sometimes several years) later to finish it up with a new perspective. Regarding the question of future work, it is a bit too soon to say, but the tracks that I have been working on have been featuring more shoegazer atmospheres and post rock guitars; this isn't to say that my next record will be guitar driven per say, but I've had the opportunity to do some guitar work and have really enjoyed the freedom of doing so. I'll still be employing similar rhythmic structure; I have a hard time getting away from that.

My Favorite track on the album is actually “Airport [Never Land]”. This one is short so I kind of assumed it to be an interlude of sorts. I find the pads and melody to be absolutely beautiful; some of the best I have ever heard. What inspired this track? Do you have a personal “favorite” track off the album?

It’s funny that you mention that, that version of Airport is an edit from a longer song - it was a "second movement" in the song. I nearly released the whole thing but the more I listened to it, I found some of the elements redundant in the context of the album. Never_Land was a big change of mood and timbre in the original and I thought it was more effective as an interlude. In terms of inspiration, the beginning of the composition was written in an airport in Texas while waiting on a Flight to come home from a funeral. I fly a ton for work and airports tend to put me in a specific mood; "Airport [Never_Land]" is the soundtrack for that mood. As far as a favorite song on the record, the opener "This Stillness of Hours" is probably it, that or "A Silent Sea", for the same reason, both have a pretty big sound in terms of ambiance and I'm really happy with how hard the percussion hits. They both nod to dubstep, which is alright by me; I really like the half time meter, it makes those two tracks feel really heavy. They're my 2 favorite to play live for that reason as well.

Your track for the compilation is “Lost Transmission” which is a bit of a departure from your usual style in that it is completely ambient. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?

I really enjoy ambient music. Your compilation was a great opportunity to focus on the genre for a specific release rather than have a long term goal of a full length album. The composition of "Lost Transmission" came about rather organically, it started with some sound design using Native Instruments soft synth Absynth and the rest of the parts fell into place. There are quite a few lo fi textures in there as well, I really enjoy employing the juxtaposition of big atmosphere and crackly static sounds. The concept behind "Lost Transmission" was a scenario I made up in my head to "score". It’s the soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi film in which the protagonist is lost in deep space and his or her distress calls are not being received. I wanted to capture the expansiveness of deep space and the sense of mourning, the protagonist in this story knows there is little hope of rescue.

Speaking of space, we as a race have progressed technologically to a point such that space travel and colonization could become a reality. How do you feel about the possibility of mankind’s extension beyond a single planet into space and the exploration thereof?

Hate to be all gloom and doomy, but at the rate we as a race are going, in order for our species to continue we will NEED to occupy another planet. I'm not sure it will come to that though, we're exploiting our resources and destroying our planet at a rate which I feel will ultimately doom us. I like to entertain the idea but I think we have a long ways to go before we can start colonizing other planets. I don't think we have that kind of time.

You’ve been working as an Ableton Tech for a few national touring acts, such as Mike Posner. Obviously this music is not much like your own, but how has this job influenced your personal sound and style?

I try to separate the two as much as possible, keep my work as a tech and engineer separate from my original work. With both I use Ableton Live, but my compositions and the work I do for other acts is drastically different. When I work my "dayjob" I'm working with pre-recorded stems and track elements, usually from Pro Tools sessions, finding ways to utilize them in a live setting and often not changing the content all that much. When I'm composing for c.db.sn, I dive deep into Ableton as a sound design tool; I'm creating my own world of sound. In terms of influence, I think the biggest has been the ability to work on my own music with whatever tools I have available, and wherever I happen to be. I end up doing a lot of composition on flights and on tour busses on headphones. I end up doing a LOT of work with the mouse. (:

What do you have planned for the future?

Right now it’s looking like two tours back to back, keeping me on the road basically from Jan-April. During that time I intend to demo new material and to remix the aforementioned collaborative track with Anklebiter. It'll keep me busy enough! I've had a few requests to do tracks for a couple of net labels as well, we'll see if I can get enough work done on the road to make this a reality.

Quick Looks 1/26/12

2012-01-26T11:14:00.002-05:00

Human Error - "Finite"

First full length from Human Error, released via the netlabel CRL Studios. Finite is a straightforward slab of atmospheric electronica with nods to IDM, glitch, and related styles. Human Error seems to have a proclivity towards epic open pads, as they make an appearance in every track. The album has a kind of melodramatic & futuristic air to it, brought to life by the pleasant melodies and aforementioned pads. The synths on this album sound really good and are easily the highlight. The drums are very linear, but they are mixed well and mesh with the synths. The overall is production is solid, although you will have to adjust the volume knob occasionally over the album's duration. This album reminds me of the better tracks from Undermathic. Most of the tracks are slow, atmospheric electro-y style. The biggest flaw of "Finite" is simply that nothing about it is terribly noteworthy. There is nothing particularly negative about it, however there isn't anything that will set this apart from all the other IDM albums you own. From the straight forward beats and minor stutters of "Continue" to the almost obligatory dubstep bassline in "Puppet Show" to the plucky, airy melody of "The Re-animated Man", this album hits all the trends without excelling in any - you've heard it all before. That said, this guy certainly has potential and I'm curious to see if he is able to step up his game and evolve on future releases. I encourage fans of Tympanik, Crazy Language, Halbsicht, etc etc. to give this one a listen. While you will certainly find something here to enjoy, I doubt this will stand out much amongst your collection. 6/10

Dead Hand Projekt - "The Lost EP"
New EP from this industrial/ebm act on Vendetta Music. Despite this act only releasing since 2010 or so, from the music on this EP you'd swear someone handed you a demo from 1992. I am not at all familiar with this band or their material, but this EP reminds me of older industrial like Pig or NIN but without the guitars and complexity. So, basically it has all the amateur aspects of older industrial releases when there was significantly less access to technology and production equipment, but sadly without any of the notable qualities that led those records to capture people's attention. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot to say about this: it's only 4 songs long and each of them is short, extremely straightforward and unimaginative; all of them more or less consist of: a bassline, 2 synths, a steady, soporific drumbeat, a bunch of undiscernable samples, and effected vocals. Soundwise it is super amateur, gritty and muddy. Unnecessary over-compression has lead to noticeable distortion and ugly artifacts (starting to seem like a staple on vendetta releases, ugh). I imagine that this band is much more exciting to see live than hear on CD. This stuff isn't my thing as you can probably tell, but track 3 "TheTiredWillFight", easily the best on the disc, seems like something fans of Chemlab or Pig or something of that era might like - it's got that driving bassline, high energy, and vocal style straight out of that era. The final track "SuckItDry" is only noteworthy because it contains some of the most disgusting guitars I've ever heard in my life (and that certainly isn't a compliment). There are some ok atmospheric elements here and there, but they get buried within the muck and sallow tones. If you miss the grittiness and simplicity of 80s/early 90s style of industrial/rock, but don't want guitars and don't mind annoyingly squashed-to-shit, zero dynamics music, than this may be for you. Otherwise, this will only serve to remind you why the industrial scene has fallen off so much. Grab a Brain Leisure or Neon Cage Experiment album from Vendetta instead! 2/10

new / upcoming releases

2012-01-25T17:28:00.000-05:00

Here are some new / forthcoming releases you'll want to check out:

Cyclic Law has recently released new albums from Therradaemon, Peter Bjargo, Mulm, and is re-issuing some Karjalan Sissit albums.

Famine released a free digital album "Milk, or 10 Sephiroth" on his new label executive.netlabel

Triarii recently released their new EP "Exile" via Eternal Soul

Herbst9 has recently released a new album via Loki Foundation

Mind.in.a.Box recently released their new album "Revelations" via Metropolis

Hecq released a new 12in "Enceladus" via Ad Noiseam

The Carapace (side project of Scrap.edx) recently released a new album "Moments in Time" via Signifier

Oxyd is releasing a new album "Liveforms" via Signifier & Aliens Production

Caithness and Tabor Radosti have re-issued very old out of print material via Kalpamantra

The Last Gambit (side project of Mnemonic) has released a new album "Songs for People Who Like Us" via Halbsicht

new label - CRL Studios

2012-01-25T17:20:00.000-05:00

CRL Studios is a new-ish netlabel masterminded by James Church aka Lucidstatic. While he has used this label to release his own work in the past, he has begun putting out a string of releases from other artists (many whom you will recognize from Lucidstatic collaborations) such as Human Error, Toothgnasher, Makina, Angel of Violence, etc. Looks like several more thing in the pipeline currently. Probably something to check out for fans of electronic / idm / breakcore / etc

link: CRL Studios

Lost Kadath interview

2012-01-24T08:39:00.000-05:00

Interview with the dark ambient project Lost Kadath. For more info go: here

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

My solo project was born during the first days of September 2005. At first the name was only Kadath, but then I’ve changed it, putting the term “Lost” near it. The choice of this name came after reading “The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath”, from Lovecraft, that has hypnotized myself. I didn’t know anything about this music, so I’ve tried to make something “dark”, but after a year my friend (actually the singer of my Doom Metal band) suggested to listen to some projects like Mz.412, Atrium Carceri and Svartsinn, and I realized that this kind of music was what I was looking for.

What inspires you to make music? What draws you to the medium of ambient music?

The main inspiration comes from some of my tough times, for my tribute to Lovecraft and for other things like abandoned places, great landscapes, sunsets, paranormal presences and so on... Then I transform into themes which are the perdition into unknown dimensions, where time becomes secondary, unreal, releasing echoes of screams from a damned soul.

Your track for the compilation is “Voidum MMVII”. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?

This track has taken inspiration from a tough time passed about 4-5 years ago, and at the same time for my interest into the cosmos, of what there’s beyond our Solar System, beyond the known space... I have spent many moments during the night to watch the sky in my places and begin to imagine about these things.
I have composed it using lots of samples, modifying them at the best to get the right mood of the track, to express the journey of a human being who is lost in the space, and at the end of the track it’s devoured from the great void.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear/techniques/etc ?

For writing process I use Reaper, and Fruity Loops for other things. I use many samples and to put something else in the structure of the track, something like pads or particular effects, I use Absynth 5, connected with an M-Audio Axiom 25 Advanced. About techniques I like to record or take some vocal samples, and then put a very low pitch mixed with a strong reverb, or other effects. Sounds like demons or aliens who are growling in an abandoned church. This is a particularity that I sometimes put in my tracks.

You are also the drummer for the doom metal band (EchO). How does that influence your solo ambient material?

The main thing that binds them is my taste in music: I like dark, heavy and melancholic stuff. I’ve taken the occasion to use my solo project to write a one minute and half track, during the recording sessions of the demo entitled “Omnivoid” , and actually I’ve written some interlude parts for our gigs to give much more feeling on our songs and big sensations to the audience. I tested them the first time during the gig with Dornenreich and Agrypnie in our hometown, and the result was satisfactory, receiving positive feedbacks.

What can we expect in the future from Lost Kadath?

Actually I’m writing a three-tracks EP for Kalpamantra that will be available for free from his Bandcamp page, then I’ll write something for a physical product. Maybe in the future I’ll do some live sessions. Can’t wait to write something for your next compilation, same thing for Kalpamantra, I found myself very well with both!

Parhelion Interview

2012-01-23T11:21:00.000-05:00

Interview with the ambient musician Parhleion. For more information check out: here
Don't forget to grab his debut full length album "Midnight Sun" from Cyclic Law!

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

Parhelion started around 2006/2007 as a solitary studio endeavor. It was a way for me to experiment sonically and to pursue more abstract sounds/music. Basically, it was a creative outlet for me to explore certain ideas and thematic concepts I had through the ambient medium.

What inspires you to make music? What draws you to the medium of ambient music?

Well without trying to sound too cryptic, making music (or any creative expression really) is just something I’m drawn to do without any real explanation for why. It’s simply something I have to do.
For me inspiration is always rooted in the natural world and the pursuit of and experience of truth, which should be the aim of any art really. And yes, I realize that this statement does sound incredibly pompous.
Ambient music is something I work with because I find that it is very open and allows for a lot of textural nuances and in many ways liberates one from certain restrictions found in other forms of composition. Especially when one writes pieces around concepts like the arctic landscape, ambient music tends to be one of the best ways to sonically reflect these environments.

Your track for the compilation is “Dark Star Origins”. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?

The theme for the compilation was “dark celestial atmospheres.” Reference is made to the Eridanus Supervoid, the largest known supervoid in the galaxy, and the questions of origins its existence presents. I used the idea of space/void/isolation and in particular the more significant question of universal origins as the inspiration for the track. In essence it is about trying to fathom the unfathomable.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear/techniques/etc ?

My setup is fairly simple. I’m running Logic on my Macbook Pro and have a MOTU 828 audio interface for input. I use a few pedals and have a couple of rackmount effects (delays & reverbs). I also run my guitar through the Sans Amp rack-effect which functions like an amp without actually having to use an amp.
The latest addition to my setup is Omnisphere by Spectrasonics which is an amazing collection of pads and sounds that I’ve started using heavily. I also use WAVES plugins and tons of reverbs and delays within Logic. In a nutshell that’s my studio.
Regarding techniques, it’s mainly just lathering everything in reverb. Over the years you learn to sculpt the sound and mix in such a way to get the desired sonic result.

Tell us a bit about your debut album “Midnight Sun” on Cyclic Law. I’m guessing the inspiration is ice / water? Will this be a reoccurring theme in future works?

The concept behind “Midnight Sun” was to write an album inspired by the arctic and man’s relationship to the landscape. Ice and water are of course prevalent themes running throughout. And yes, both of those elements will continue to be recurring themes in future works.

What can we expect in the future from Parhelion?

My goal is to make 2012 a productive year. I have a completed collaborative album which I did with Zac Keiller. We are still working on the visual aspect of the project so we’re not quite ready to release. We want to get it out there as a comprehensive package. In addition I have another collaborative record in the works and am hoping to either complete an EP or another full length within the next year. We’ll see how everything turns out.

Mystified Interview

2012-01-19T11:58:00.005-05:00

Interview with highly prolific ambient/drone producer Thomas Park aka Mystified.

more info: http://www.mystifiedmusic.com/

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

Mystified has been around since about 2002. I am mainly an ambient project-- also drone, dark ambient and other genres. The main birth of my project happened when Robin Storey of Rapoon agreed to collaborate with me (on "Music For Transit"), which was a great inspiration and motivational force. Since then, Mystified has taken many different forms. Currently I am experimenting a lot with creating layered organic drones using actual acoustic instruments (like the trombone and flute).

What inspires you to make music? What draws you to the medium of ambient music?

I love to create. As of now I have no children (I hope that will change), so I channel a lot of my time and creative energy into music. Making music also has been a dream of mine since seeing DJs spin as a teenager.

My attraction to ambient is due to great artists like Robin Storey and Brian Eno for showing me some of the minimal sides to music and for breaking rules so I can break them, too.

Your track for the compilation is “Where God Lives”. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?

My inspiration for "Where God Lives" came from my friend Martin Hekker, author of groundbreaking internet comic "Manmachine". "Manmachine" is an epic science fiction comic. In it, the main character, a robot, journeys in a spaceship to the place where God lives. He literally rides a probe into the body of God. This imaginary journey inspired my track.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear/techniques/etc ?

I have a number of sound sources like trombone, flute, pan flute, and others like kazoo, slide whistle and so forth. I have a Linear recording device, a shortwave radio, and I mix everything down using a 64-bit Windows 7 PC and Sony software. Lately I have greatly enjoyed recording acoustic sources and processing them using software.

You have a pretty large catalog of material. How do you stay inspired to constantly write new material, and how do you keep it fresh (the writing process for yourself, and the music itself for the listener)?

Well, if I write it, I want it to interest me. I want to want to listen to it. So it's not really for success, but for enjoyment that I write, and that keeps it always fresh.

What can we expect in the future from Mystified?

A PBS special I helped to score called "Diamond In The Dunes" is due out in 2012. Also, there will be a collaborative cd with musician Shane Morris on Spotted Peccary / Lotuspike in mid-2012. And lots more, I promise.

4 way split - "The Unreality of Time"

2012-01-11T14:03:00.003-05:00

Artist: Cogwheel + Psychomanteum + Rasalhague + Taphephobia
Album: The Unreality of Time
Year: TBA 2012
Label: Kalpamantra
Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone
Website: www.kalpamantra.com

Basics:
In August 2011 Kalpamantra released the free EP version of The Unreality of Time, the four way split between ambient acts Cogwheel, Psychomanteum, Rasalhague, and Taphephobia. Coming in 2012, they, along with an as-of-yet undisclosed partner label, will releasing the full length version, which features 12 tracks, in hardcopy. I'm going to go out on a limb here and surmise that the overall theme of the split is Time.

Good stuff:
+ Cogwheel

Cogwheel is the only act that I am not familiar with at all. They don't seem to have any releases out, which is a shame if their work here is an indication of their typical output. The first track is an industrial ambient piece in the vein of Atrium Carceri or Tholen: chthonic, deep drones and distant machine sounds flow heavily through darkened subterrain . The second track sounds quite like Psychomanteum actually, as it is a calm yet transcendent melodic, droning piece. The third song is similar to the first but with a semi-annoying vocal sample playing over most of it. Their production isn't the strongest of the bunch, but the songs themselves exploring interesting and fittingly obscure territory.

+ Psychomanteum

Perhaps the most known of the bunch, the Psychomanteum name should ring a bell from their recent debut album "Oneironaut" on Cyclic Law. Their work here is pretty similar to that, in all the right ways. Their tracks are colossal, epic, melodic, droning and do justice to titles like "At The End Of Infinity". "Time is Only Myth" was my favorite track from the EP and is a great meditative piece in the vein of the newer Raison d'etre. Good, spacious production on these gives a sense of being enveloped by space, the void, the endless light, or whatever your absolute emptiness of choice may be.

+ Rasalhague

Rasalhague is another new name who put out his debut "Rage Inside The Window" on Malignant last year. I'm not terribly familiar with it, but I like the tracks here more than what I remember from said debut. The sounds presented here are kind of in the same vein as Psychomanetum, in that they are long & somewhat droning pieces, however I would say that these are the most active on the release. There is more industrial and organic feeling surrounding these. "Collapsed Symmetry Forgotten" feels like being marooned on a cold, dead alien planet with little to do but contemplate and wonder. "The Point of Intersection of the Timeless" conjures the same epic transcendent feeling that runs through the rest of the split. "Persistent Illusion On Perpetual Minds" utilizes pulsating drones that provide a hypnotic rhythm which, combined with the layered melodic droning synths, create a suitable framework for meditative practice. I remember his full length to be pretty noisey, whereas these tracks do not utilize noise and are thankfully not abrasive.

+ Taphephobia

Taphephobia has likely been around the longest of the 4 acts and has several prior releases. I am only mildly familiar with his work. If you heard his split with Coph'anate Tryr, also on Kalpamantra, than you will know what to expect: invariable, droning soundscapes. Although these tracks are boring, they carry an extremely organic tone, and if you allow yourself to be sucked in, they will transport you to frozen, grey shores or the cold, endless forests of the north. "Burning the Concept of Time" combines a moving, deep earthen drone with disquieting crunching sounds and intermittent static. Kind of reminds me of Megaptera. "Fri Deg Selv..." has the longest title on the album and transports you to the frozen woodlands and icy shores near the arctic circle with its foggy, evolving drone and buried, ancient choir. Even though I find these to be a little more boring than the previous acts' work, I can't say that they don't work alongside them.

Bad stuff:
- The main flaw here is the lack of global mastering - each act has their own level of mixing (volume, limiting, wideness, etc) which results in an inconsistent feel overall. Then opening track "I" by Cogwheel is ridiculously quiet, despite their other two songs being of an acceptable volume. Hopefully this will be addressed prior to the final release.
- 4 of the 12 tracks are available for free download on another release, which always works against an album.

Summary:
A fantastic idea, and one that works as well in practice as it does in theory. I only wish that more labels did this sort of release. "The Unreality of Time" works as a fitting sampler of each band showcased, but it's more than just that: it is a strong and cohesive album as a whole. Fans of droning dark ambient will want to get this one for sure.

Overall Rating: 8.5-9/10

check this: Compilation For A Cat

2012-01-11T13:39:00.002-05:00

Saw this last night and thought it deemed a repost. Excellent compilation of music up for donation to raise money to help a cat get expensive surgery. Features tracks from Arcana, Raison d'etre, Desiderii Marginis, Peter Bjargo, Gustaf Hildebrand, In Slaughter Natives, Kammarheit, Sophia, The Floating World and tons more. 37 tracks in all! check it out and donate money to help a cat.

full info and download:
http://compilationforacat.bandcamp.com/

The Carapace - "Moments in Time"

2012-01-10T13:53:00.004-05:00

Artist: The Carapace
Album: Moments in Time
Year: 2012
Label: Signifer / Force of Nature
Genre: IDM, Ambient, Electronica
Website: www.signifieronline.com

www.forceofnature.cc
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
The Carapace is the new IDM-ish side project of rhythmic noise act Scrap.edx. He released the free teaser EP "Interpretations In Time" in 2011 on Force of Nature Productions, which included a few of the tracks here and numerous remixes. Now, the full length is brought to you as a joint effort from Signifier and Force of Nature. Unfortunately, this release appears to be digital only.

Good stuff:
+ This is a really good modern IDM/ambient release. There were hints of IDM on the most recent Scrap.edx record, but in general this resides in a completely different spectrum. The tracks here are highly spacious cuts of electronica with a focus on atmosphere and mood. There are sparse, yet vivid & deep ambient sections; complex, glitchy beats; and facile, catchy melodies. The tracks generally have a steady, non-intrusive flow to them as they slowly build and evolve over their duration - they have many parts while remaining coherent and focusing on a single mood. "Moments in Time" is a very even blend of IDM and ambient - it's chill enough to work as tranquil background music, yet sophisticated and engaging enough to work for intimate listening as well. The beats are what I expect from this kind of music - clicky, highly variant, unpredictable, yet still able to maintain good groove and swing. The synths (melodies & patterns) are typically kind of "simple" (not the sound design), but don't let that deter you - they are used perfectly for this kind of sound; there are many layers of whooshing, rises, beepy melodies and nostalgic 8bit/analog-ish runs. The production overall is super tight: the drums hit hard and are super crisp, the synths sit perfectly in the mix, and the tracks have a brilliant amount of overall space and "bigness". It reminds me of the style that a lot of newer "netlabel" IDM acts are doing, but without a doubt stands above them. Kinda sorta along the same lines as Huron, adamned.age, DNN, Planet Boelex, etc.

Bad stuff:
- I think the biggest obstacle for this release is simply that it is only 8 tracks long, and 3 of them are available for free on a prior release.

- The Carapace has already developed a very specific sound (which is good), but these songs tend to sound overly similar at times and there are definitely instances where I think to myself "didn't I just hear this element/section?"

Summary:
As a whole, this reminds me of older N5MD when they were mainly releasing emotional IDM - stuff like older Arc Lab, SubtractiveLAD, etc. Definitely a must hear for people who like moody, spacious, and intelligent electronica. Be sure to grab the free "Interpretations in Time" to get a feel for his style, and if you enjoy that release than you will want to pick this up for sure. Fans of Halbsicht, Soft Phase, Tympanik, Hymen, Crazy Language, Sutemos, Lovethechaos, etc. grab it!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

BUY THIS ALBUM: c.db.sn - "...At The End Of It All"

2012-01-09T14:41:00.000-05:00

c.db.sn (whom you will hopefully recognize from our compilations), as released his debut full length "...At The End Of It All" via the fantastic Tympanik Audio. Fans of IDM will absolutely not want to miss this one. I've always felt that c.db.sn is one of the top up & coming IDM producers out there, and this statement is fully proven by the album. ATEOIA is a great mixture of IDM percussion, huge ambient atmospheres, dubstep, and even some post rock. He has a penchant for beautiful, catchy melodies; absolutely colossal atmospheres; and extremely spacious mixes. This album is certainly one for fans of the IDM-ier side of the N5MD roster. Get it!

this release @ tympanik: here
this release on discogs: here

check this: Roto Visage - "La Coquille et le Clergyman"

2012-01-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

New experimental/ambient release from Roto Visage:

Here, Roto Visage presents his own sound track to the surrealist film “La Coquille et le Clergyman” (The Seashell and the Clergyman, 1928), created by Antonin Artaud and Germaine Dulac.

"In the most simplistic terms, The Seashell and the Clergyman concerns a clergyman who is obsessed with a general’s woman; he has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism. To be sure, there are established characters and a general storyline, but these are quickly forgotten by the audience as the film casts its strangely hypnotic spell.
Although accounts differ, it seems that Artaud disapproved of Dulac’s treatment of his scenario. The version of the film presented here, for lack of a better choice of words, is the “director’s cut.” When the film was originally distributed in the States, the film canisters were mixed up and the resulting sequence was not what was intended by Dulac. Most commercial versions of this film, including those found on YouTube, are of improper sequence.

Transflux Films originally commissioned Roto Visage to create the soundtrack for a version of the film that was edited in accordance to Artuad’s screenplay, though that version never materialized. Roto Visage ultimately wrote material to two different versions of the film, one of which is presented here."

for more information and additional download links: here

downloads
Video

Audio

Quick Looks 12-22-11

2011-12-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

Kristoffer Nystroms Orkester - Overlook Hotel

New LP from KNO (Megaptera + V:28) released via Malignant Records. This is a really great record (unfortunately looks like vinyl only at this time) which I have been enjoying quite a bit lately. It's a fantastic mixture of deep drones and industrial percussion and noises. There are a bits of harsh noise, creepy vocal samples, and synth squelches, but never too abrasive or haphazard. Though mainly more towards the ambient end of things, there are two really good heavy industrial tracks. The songs are well crafted, and quite diverse in their makeup. Overall, the record has a good flow and the listener will not become bored. The album is called Overlook Hotel and I gather that the idea is to transport the listener into the inner workings of a disquieting, abandoned old building - and they absolutely succeed in this! Very dark, haunting moods are masterfully manifested. Definitely one to check out for fans of Megaptera's "The Curse of The Scarecrow", Steel Hook Prostheses, Stratvm Terror, etc. This is on the more atmospheric side of those.

Illuminoscillate - Legacy of Sodom

On this free digital release Illuminoscillate gives us four kind of long, gritty ambient tracks based on 120 Days of Sodom. It starts off well with a heavy droning piece steeped in noise and filth, which is by far the best of the 4. This definitely conjures dark and unsettling moods. As above, fans of Steel Hook, Megaptera, and Stratvm Terror would dig this. The release drops off a bit following this opener, with less of the dark heavy drone, instead replacing them with "lighter" / weaker drones with annoying, overly loud spoken word bits. I always skip track 2, but tracks 3 and 4 are kind of back to the interesting sound of the opener. This release could have highly benefited from some mastering, but it's neat for a free release. Fans of creepy, kind of minimal death industrial might want to give it a shot. Nothing life changing for sure, but it's worth the price of admission. [download here]

[WOE010] V/A - "IV: Eridanus Supervoid" OUT NOW

2011-12-08T12:53:00.052-05:00

Wounds of the Earth Compilation IV: Eridanus Supervoid
.tracklist.

1. Visions - Eclipsed
2. Parhelion - Dark Star Origins
3. Nordvargr - Transmitting Emptiness
4. New Risen Throne - Orbiting Gates
5. Dahlia's Tear - Hydrangea Wept In Emerald Lake (re-mastered)
6. Emme Ya - IV- Call Of The Hidden God
7. Coph'antae Tryr - Moem pt. 1
8. Coph'antae Tryr - Moem pt. 2
9. Psychomanteum - In The Wake Of Abeyance
10. Svartsinn - ...But The Fire Burns No More
11. Worms of the Earth - Drawing The Twelve Sigils Of Set-heh
12. Roto Visage - Window Well
13. Lost Kadath - Voidum MMVII
14. Bunk Data - Angelus Rector
15. Phaenon - Cosmogony
16. Bloodstalker - Transmission
17. Mystified - Where God Lives
18. Nors'klh - La Marche Dissonante
19. Osman Arabi - Snakes, Lizards and Shamans
20. Triangular Ascension - Post Nubila Phoebus
21. Cyasta Fractis - The Hope Is Dies Here
22. Aythis - The Ground Is Burning
23. The Earth King - Entering The Cosmic Vagina
24. Veniculture - That Is Poetry
25. Circle Six - Caina
26. Ghosts In The Clocktower - V4641 Sgr
27. Access to Arasaka - Holo
28. c.db.sn - Lost Transmission
29. Millipede - The Island Of Perelandra
30. Famine - Everyone Is Medicated (Sincere Trade remix)

free digital release, comes in mp3 or flac format, and 10 pages of high quality artwork!

compiled by Dan Barrett for Wounds of the Earth 2011.
artwork & mastering by Dan Barrett. Many thanks to all the amazing projects that participated in this work and all those that support Wounds of the Earth!

IV: Eridanus Supervoid by Wounds of the Earth (ZINE)

due to expected high traffic, please download from one of the other sites if the bandcamp runs out of free downloads or is down.
download from bandcamp || preview all / download all (mp3 or flac): here
mirror 1. archive.org || view all files: here || full release: mp3 | flac
mirror 2. full release: mp3

*"Transmitting Emptiness" originally appears on full length Interstellar 2 [205 recordings]
*"Hydrangea Wept In Emerald Lake" originally appears on the full length HESTMOEIRCG [ravenheart]. re-mastered for this compilation
*"But The Fire Burns No More" originally appears on full length Traces of Nothingness [cyclic law]
*"Drawing The Twelve Sigils Of Set-heh" is from forthcoming full length Azal'ucel

Quick Looks 12-05-11

2011-12-05T16:46:00.001-05:00

Esoteric Sob - Abnormal Psychology

Standard netlabel IDM. Sounds like a watered-down mixture of Amorph, aAirial, Coax, and countless others. Big pads, piano-esque sombre melodies, and clicky beats. Good formula, but nothing you haven't heard before. The pads and melodic elements are fine, if extremely straightforward. The pads can get a little too "big" and eat up the other elements on occasion. The percussion is highly underwhelming - generic, repetitive, unchallenging, etc. Every song sounds nearly identical. There are three remixes featured here, though I've not heard of any of the acts. They are a little more exciting than the source material, but nothing terribly substantial. The Miktek one is the most complex and interesting, as it gives a complete facelift to the original and injects some much needed movement and energy. The Cellar Door mix adds some female vocals, which is neat, but the source drums sound terribly out of place. Overall, there is nothing on this record that particularly stands out; it's just a drop in the sea of free netlabel idm releases. There is potential here though - there isn't anything that is offensively bad about this release. Esoteric Sob needs to develop an identity and build upon that by giving their tracks more complexity and direction - something to stand out from the competition and give people a reason to want to choose to listen to this record versus the other fifty thousand idm albums that they could put on instead.

Tapage - Overgrown

New release from the prolific Tapage. I have never been a fan of his stuff, and this album doesn't change my opinion. There are some cool sounds here, but most of it feels too flimsy. Most of the compositions seem to be little more than a pad-ish sound, the occasional melodic content, and some haphazard percussive elements. A lot of the stuff here feels too lackluster and/or random for me to get into - it lacks groove and coherence. I don't really get a sense of atmosphere out of this. I wouldn't recommend it. Everyone else seems to love this guy's work though so who knows. Check out "Xylopax" and "Crab" - these kept me interested the most; if they don't grab you, it's not likely that the other tracks will. The Tapage / Meander album was very good, but this doesn't make the cut.
**A friend of mine just explained the appeal of Tapage to me. He said it's like post-druqks Aphex Twin. I more or less hated druqks...so now it makes sense. That said, if you like the later RDJ/Aphex type stuff, give this a shot.

Quick Looks 11-29-11

2011-11-29T16:28:00.001-05:00

Vortex - Rockdrill
Latest release from Cyclic Law. This guy has a prior release on Tesco, though I've not heard it. This is one of the darkest albums I have heard in a while. Right up there with New Risen Throne, Konau, and Innfallen. Lots of reverbed clanging and banging in the vein of good CMI stuff. The songs are dynamic and have a good amount of stuff happening within them for this style. Unfortunately the production on this is pretty muddy and it sounds very old, though that likely lends to the abysmal atmosphere. Definitely one to check out for fans of extremely dark ambient.

New Risen Throne - Loneliness of Hidden Structures

Amazing new release from NRT. Cleaner production than his other releases, but as crushingly dark and depressing as ever. Continues on with his trademark style of huge drones with low, pitch shifted samples and distant clanging that brings to mind frozen, dead forests and desolate cathedrals in hell. An absolute MUST HAVE for fans of minimal and evil dark ambient. Features remixes from Northaunt and Nordvargr.

aAirial - Together EP

A short EP from IDM/ambient producer aAirial. Most of the tracks are just piano and subtle pads. Very subdued and quiet atmospheres. Imagine "Le Fil Du Temps" stripped of all the percussion and the melodies played with a piano and that's what you basically have here. Music for sadness and longing. 'You + Me - Us' is the only track to feature his typical glitchy beats, though even these are a bit held back in comparison to other material. If you are a fan of aAirial or sad piano ballads in general, check it out. Nothing mind-blowing, but worth a listen.

Mytrip - "Low"

Originally released as an ultra limited edition cassette, this 2 song album of gritty dark ambient is now available in digital format. Both tracks are 26 minutes long and apparently were recorded live, or were constructed from live recordings. These tracks have a raw, lo-fi feel to them, and while there are some interesting sections that conjure visions of ghostly passages or dark, chthonic depths, a lot of it feels like it would have been better to have experienced live - it just doesn't translate that well to disc. There is only so much one can do with long passages of muddy, rumbling drones. It's kind of like more amateur Wolfskin. Would be curious to hear what this guy can do on a studio album rather than just live takes. I think this would definitely appeal more to fans of black metal (probably why it was released on a label which also features black metal).

Integral - "The Past Is My Shadow"

2011-11-29T14:08:00.002-05:00

Artist: Integral
Album: The Past Is My Shadow
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: IDM, Cinematic, Modern Classical
Website: www.tympanikaudio.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"The Past Is My Shadow" is the new 2xCD release from IDM act Integral. Their debut album "Rise" is absolutely fantastic and I have been long awaiting this release (it's been 3 years since the debut). Apparently this album is made up of various older works by the duo. At first, this premise lends one to believe the potential for success to be low ("oh boy, a bunch of demos"), but thankfully, this is very much a collection of songs, not simply demos nor rough works, that is more than worthy of full release.

Good stuff:
CD 1
+ I was quite surprised when I popped in this disc, as it sounds absolutely nothing like their debut. Instead of IDM/ambient, this disc is more akin to a film score with IDM influence. It opens up with guitar and pads that remind me of a modern film noir. This style continues on throughout the disc, and while this is certainly not my preferred genre, this is no denying the immense talents of this act. They are able to build tracks that are monumentally interesting and complex. Everything on this disc has an organic vibe to it, likely from the emphasis on traditional instruments - including the aforementioned guitar, violin, strings, and piano. There are beats in these tracks which, for the most part, are somewhat subdued to give provenience to the atmospheric and melodic elements; some tracks, however, do contain unrestrained flurries of drum hits. As I mentioned, the entire disc has a very cinematic feel to it, albeit more complex and active than most actual movie scores. There are hints of the Integral style here, and upon knowing the composing artist I can say "yes, that makes sense", however if the producer was unknown I would not immediately credit this to Integral. Definitely interesting to hear them doing something different, and doing it very well I might add. The track lengths vary, though moreso to the long side (6 of the 10 are 7-9 minutes). Despite this, there is never a time on this disc where I feel my attention slipping to other things. Integral achieves a vast feat by being able to deliver continually moving & evolving songs that remain interesting for this long. Fans of Blackfilm and newer Subheim should really enjoy this stuff.

CD 2

+ This disc returns to the IDM style of "Rise". The sounds of bizarre alien jungles and plains return in full force. Morphing organic instrumentation, ethereal melodies, and intricate, clicky percussion make for wonderfully deep moods and beautiful, visionary soundscapes . No human dialogue can accurately describe what I am hearing on this record, you truely need to hear it and be immersed within it. This is what I was really hoping to hear on this album and they delivered. This style doesn't quite sound as developed as it does on "Rise", but the resemblance is undeniable. The complexity, dynamic song structures and clean, full mixing is certainly still there. The use of traditional instruments from disc 1 continues on many of these pieces; you will hear what sounds like violin, piano, and possibly acoustic guitar, though they manage to utilize them in such a way that fit perfectly with the synthetic elements and otherworldly atmosphere. Again, the tracks are generally rather long (6-9 minutes), but they remain captivating throughout and never dull or lacking enough content to fill the duration - in fact it's quite the opposite, every track is absolutely filled to the brim with layer upon layer of cohesive, interesting elements. Integral is one of the most unique IDM acts of the last decade or so, and this CD showcases why. Extremely cerebral, challenging stuff.

Bad stuff:
- Not much here to complain about.

Summary:
Integral is easily one of the most fascinating and talented IDM acts out there today. You need to own their material. Buy this now. If you don't own "Rise", make sure to pick it up as well.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Normotone - "Inward Structures"

2011-11-17T10:06:00.005-05:00

Artist: Normotone
Album: Inward Structures
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: IDM, Electronica
Website: www.tympanikaudio.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
This is the debut album from Bruno Laborde's Normotone moniker. Apparently he has been involved in other projects such as Neon Cage Experiment. "Inward Structures" is a mixture of complex, clicky, IDM; organic atmospheres & melody; vocals; emotive, post rock sentiments, and a healthy dose of chaos & uncertainty.

Good stuff:
+ The album opens up with "Some Few Words" which is a harbinger of what is to come. It begins with a nice, highly organic ambient section which slowly introduces glitchy elements until a beat surfaces and things start to plod along before it takes a turn towards chaotic IDM and a final descent into a long ambient outro. This track sets the tone of this album, as it introduces most of the elements you will be hearing for the next 12 tracks.

+ The sound design is good. There are a number of beautiful melodies and emotionally driven atmospheres presented here. The large assortment of percussive sounds and sound effects are typically well done while never becoming repetitive or rehashed, and Normotone does a solid job of fusing the synthetic idm-ish beats with the earthly synthlines. There is even some pleasant sounding acoustic guitar on a couple of tracks. I can definitely see why Tympanik was interested in this.

+ You can't say this record lacks diversity! Each piece flirts with multiple genres, and has a plethora of stuff going on within it, typically with several distinct sections. There are extremely glitchy IDM songs, mellow IDM numbers, even a couple of slow vocal ballads. A number of the tracks contain vocals, though each time they are provided by a different vocalist - adding further diversity.

+ Normotone is at his best when he is making tracks like "Forms and Functions" which features a steady, driving beat accented by numerous glitches & distorted sounds complimenting n elegant melody. Unfortunately, it descends into an abyss of utter madness at the end, but oh well.

Bad stuff:
- The biggest flaw here is the composition. While the sounds are primarily good, the tracks typically lack flow and cohesion. A good bit of this record sounds like a tornado of random noises layered on top of each other with no driving force or purpose to guide it somewhere.

- The male vocals never seem to fit with the tracks in my opinion. Most of them are basically spoken word, and seem overly bland in harsh contrast with the active music.

- The mixing on this album is frequently rather awkward and jarring. Certain sounds (typically distorted hits of some kind) will be much too loud, stick out annoyingly, and feel very abrasive. In some songs the drums will be too up front and drown out all the melodic content, but then in others the drums will be too far back in the mix.

Summary:
"Inward Structures" is a mixed bag for me. At times it sounds like a very organic version of the recent Access to Arasaka full length "void();" - with layer upon layer of sound swirling about in utter chaos with lack of solid form. At other times it sounds like straight forward emotional IDM with a touch of post-rock influence. There are many excellent elements utilized here, but the overall composition is inconsistent and does not retain my attention. While there are many things that happen during this record, too much of it feels absolutely sporadic and incoherent, and as a result I don't want to bother listening to it. If Normotone could work on the lackluster mixing and creating steady, driving elements (percussion, melodies) to glue these tracks together and give them a sense of direction, he could make some amazing music.
There are two remixes here, the first is a boring thing by Polygon which features neat auto-tuned vocals which don't fit with the bland music at all. The second remix comes from One Droid And Its Man, and it is a droning piece which meanders along slowly, complimented by slow, brooding drum hits. This feels kind of like some of the post rock stuff coming from N5MD, and though it's kind of boring and repetitive, it's not bad.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

BUY THIS ALBUM: This Morn' Omina - "L'Unification Des Forces Opposantes"

2011-11-17T09:03:00.001-05:00

I feel like this release needs no introduction. It's the new This Morn' Omina and by now everyone should know what they sound like. This is one 2xCD and comes from Ant Zen, as usual. I finally got my hands on a copy and it's fantastic. It reminds me a lot of The Drake Equation which is one of my favorite releases from them. The songs are all 7-10 minutes, but the lengths work well and don't feel overblown like 7 Years of Famine. Pretty much goes without saying that everyone should own this record, especially if you like pounding tribal rhythms.

this release on discogs: here

GET THIS ALBUM: Esem - "Scateren"

2011-11-17T08:50:00.001-05:00

Whatever happened to Esem? He had a couple of great IDM releases and then was never heard from again. Oh well. I recently re-discovered his work and am highly enjoying it. He had one full length on Merck which should be tracked down if possible, and a free full length called Scateren (as well as various singles) released via Kahvi Collective. All of his material on Kahvi is free to download. Fans of IDM should absolutely not miss this guy's work.

Esem on Kahvi: here
on discogs: here

new & forthcoming albums to check out

2011-11-08T11:26:00.002-05:00

idm:

enabl.ed has just released "sound.paper2 ep" on brainstorm lab (free download)
tapage has just released "overgrown" on tympanik
integral has just released "the past is my shadow" on tympanik

dark ambient:

aspectee has just released "jour cinq" on black drone
bunk data has just released a new split called "cybernetic recursion" on endless ascent (free download)
new risen throne has just released "loneliness of hidden structures" on cyclic law
vortex has just released "rockdrill" on cyclic law

Compilation IV flyer update

2011-10-26T23:16:00.003-04:00

Updated to reflect a few of the recent submissions:

coming December 2011 !

Stuff i've been into lately

2011-10-20T16:04:00.003-04:00

Here are a few albums that aren't new, but I've been really into lately which you should check out if you haven't:

Atrium Carceri - "Phrenitis" [Cold Meat Industry]
The most recent Atrium release. He is still going strong after all these albums. This is him doing his usual but lots more piano than anything prior. I am really digging it and can't stop listening.

Ulf Soderberg - "Vindarnas Hus" [Slow Moon]
Ulf Soderberg (aka Sephiroth) makes some of the best "tribal" ambient ever. I mean tribal in the most ancient scandinavian way possible. Seriously amazing stuff, definitely worth seeking out.

Lamia Vox - "...Introductio" [Ewers Tonkunst/Indiestate Distribution]
I love the Lamia Vox track on the recent Saur Maas compilation from Kalpamantra, so I went and bought her full length. It's pretty droney but very dark and I am liking it a lot.

This Morn Omina - "The Drake Equation" [Ant-Zen]
I still haven't gotten the new album (apparently sold out in a lot of places in the states), but I keep this one on repeat. Such amazing tribal industrial with fantastic production. This is a short album, but very worth having, every song hits hard.

Subheim - "Approach" [Tympanik]
One of the most beautiful, dark, downtempo/IDM albums. It's not super complex, but it is perfect at what it is. A must own for fans of dark beautiful music.

Arovane - "Icol Diston" [DIN]
This is a CD compilation of his old vinyls. One of my favorite IDM releases ever. Arovane absolutely kills it. This one and Atol Scrap are must own for IDM fans.

Ametsub - "The Nothings of the North" [Mille Plateaux]
Really beautiful clicky / glitchy downtempo stuff with bits of future jazz and IDM. Reminds me of playing Katamari Damancy. Smooth and dreamy sounding, yet still ultra complex and layered.

Misc. new and forthcoming releases

2011-10-20T15:45:00.004-04:00

Nordvargr recently put several albums up for pay what you like on bandcamp: here
Phelios recently re-released his album Passage, remastered with bonus. Will be available from Malignant, Loki, Black Drone and possible other distros
Terra Sancta released a new EP Sunken|Buried|Forgotten via Malignant
Triarii re-released their last album Muse In Arms via Eternal Soul
Enduser released a new album Even Weight on cd&vinyl via Ad Noiseam
Detritus released a new album Everyday Explanations via Ad Noiseam
Igorrr released a new 2xCD album Poisson Soluble / Moisissure via Ad Noiseam
Plaid recently released a new album Scintilli via Warp Records

N5MD has recently released new albums from: Dreissk, Aerosol, Dalot and Tobias Lilja

Compilation IV flyer

2011-10-17T22:45:00.003-04:00

GET THIS ALBUM: Halgrath - "Liquid Mind"

2011-10-17T11:04:00.002-04:00

When looking for new dark ambient, I tend only to look at the "established" labels, and ignore the sea of (typically terrible) no name releases. I saw on the Cold Meat site that Halgrath is one of the artists they plan to release in the near future, so I decided to check out her older work. I really didn't expect a whole lot from this album, whose title and artwork are more likely to be connected to a generic psytrance release (plus the ultra cheesy um black metal... i guess... logo), considering it was released on a no name netlabel whose download link takes you to mediafire (or some similarly named download site of questionable legitimacy). Regardless, I decided to take the plunge because it was free, and I was pleasantly surprised by this album. Though it's not the best dark ambient you will hear, it's certainly worth the admission fee and could fit in with the roster of an established label. Somewhat atypical noises and dark, evolving atmospheres abound, with lots of drones and prominent use of quite eerie female vocal oohs. The vocal fragments are definitely more creepy than pleasant, but in general they fit the atmosphere. The production is pretty good, better than what I expected. I was listening to this the other day and my girlfriend thought it was Atrium Carceri, so that should speak positively for it and give an idea as to how it sounds. It's free, so check it out. I am definitely interested to see what the follow up album brings.

check it out: here
on discogs: here

Unbelievable dark ambient compilation from Kalpamantra

2011-10-12T08:40:00.000-04:00

Kalpamantra has released a number of solid compilations of dark ambient/related material in the past, but their new compilation Saur Maas goes above and beyond just about any other compilation, ever. They bring you an astounding 72 (!!!) tracks, with an incredible number of major acts included. And best of all, it's completely free! Absolutely do not miss this. Artists include: Visions, Allseits, Phelios, Atrium Carceri, Brighter Death Now, New Risen Throne, Vestigial, Kammarheit, Troum, Psychomanteum, First Human Ferro, Shrine, Tabor Radosti, Phaenon, Phragments, etc etc.

download: http://kalpamantra.bandcamp.com/album/saur-maas
on discogs: here

SubtractiveLAD releases free remix EP

2011-10-06T15:43:00.000-04:00

N5MD artist SubtractiveLAD has launched a new website and along with it a free EP of remixed versions of his old tracks. If you are a fan of emotional and ambient IDM, SubtractiveLAD is definitely an artist you should be familiar with. Grab this free release now: here

W.A.S.T.E. - "Liquor, Drugs, and Hate"

2011-10-04T10:53:00.001-04:00

Artist: W.A.S.T.E.
Album: Liquor, Drugs, and Hate
Year: 2011
Label: Vendetta
Genre: Power Noise
Website: www.VendettaMusic.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Power Noise has really faded away in recent years, leaving only shitty derivatives (TBM, ugh) in its wake. If you're like me and love the style, than you've no doubt realized how rare it is to find a good new release from the genre. Thankfully, WASTE is one act that is still carrying the torch of true power noise. If you know WASTE than you will have a good idea of what to expect from their most recent album "Liquor, Drugs, and Hate". WASTE makes straight-up-no-frills powerful, harsh power noise. WASTE is actually one of the more abrasive acts (thankfully they continue this - most acts seem to go soft as they age) as they pile on layer after later of noise and crunchiness.

Good stuff:
+ The album starts off with a brief, but fitting, dark spoken sample before getting right to business and beginning the pummeling. One thing that I really like about WASTE is their straight forward, incredibly mechanical crushing sound. This is the perfect music for being angry and violent, and it's got a great industrial feel to it. "Liquor, Drugs, and Hate" pretty much just beats you senseless for it's entire 11 track duration, seldom amping down (volume wise, or other) to give you a breather. The good thing about WASTE is that they noticeable put effort into their compositions and, despite the fact that everything is distorted and compressed to shit, there is still a good amount of things happening in each track -- with as much variety from track to track as is possible with this style. I remember getting "This is What We Seek" in 2006 and it's great to see these guys evolve and become much better producers and song writers. WASTE does a good job of balancing dance-ability, harshness, and variety which are the main things I look for in good power noise.

+ 'Steel Toed Rampage' just might be the heaviest song EVER and is an absolute must have for any power noise fan.

+ One of the things that I really like about power noise is the ability of the good artists (imminent starvation, mono no aware, etc) to do more than one style of track. With tracks like "Sometimes You Don't Come Back", "Butcher Knife" and "Part 1 of Some Shit to Come", WASTE show that they are also able to utilize dark atmospherics and toned down percussion quite well.

+ The Synapscape remix kicks ass! I really enjoy their added distorted vocals.

Bad stuff:
- Some of the stuff on this album feels rushed, namely the slower tracks like "Sometimes You Don't Come Back". These tracks have great elements in them, but they are overly repetitive and I feel that they could have been fleshed out further; full songs instead of linear interludes.

- The other three remixes are pretty bland, overly repetitive, and I skip them every time. The Doomer mix is the most interesting, however 'Omega 3' is one of my favorite power noise tracks ever, so it's damn near impossible to top the original.

- While the production is solid for the style, the album is reaaaaally limited/compressed, resulting in a very squashed feel. It's not quite as bad as the recent Organic Cage from Vendetta (most horribly squashed release ever), but it's still beyond noticeable. On the one hand, this is less of an issue with harsh power noise as it gives it something of an added intensity, but it undoubtedly gets abrasive and fatiguing on the ears, especially during the slower tracks which are supposed to be less intense and don't need to be peaking constantly.

- Album is definitely too short.

Summary:
Aside from some of the remixes, this is pretty much a must own for any true fan of power noise. Put this album on and kill.

Also, this stuff translates really well in a live/club environment, so if you get the chance to see these guys definitely do!

Overall Rating: 8/10

New & Forthcoming dark ambient

2011-09-28T16:41:00.001-04:00

Some new / forthcoming albums:

In Slaughter Natives has a new 3xCD of live material coming out Oct 23 via Infinite Fog Productions
Dawn & Dusk Entwined has a new release coming out in Oct
New Risen Throne has a new release coming out in Nov via Cyclic Law
Vortex has a new release coming out in Nov via Cyclic Law
Coph'antae Tryr recently released a 2xCD collective of material via HORUScyclicdaemon
Brighter Death Now finally released his new 3xCD 'Very Little Fun' via Cold Meat Industry
Sonmi451 has released a new ambient album 'Star Atlas' via Time Released Sounds
Wilt + Horchata released a new album via [OHM] Records
Mystified has released a new album via Dark Winter
Cisfinitum has three split releases out so far this year, including one with The Law-Rah Collective and one with First Human Ferro

Cyclic Law has acknowledged some forthcoming albums for 2012 including Therradaemon, Mulm, Peter Bjargo and some re-releases of Karjalan Sissit
First Fallen Star has acknowledged some forthcoming releases for 2011/2012 including Svartsinn, Infallen and Nors'klh

New dark ambient compilation coming soon from Kalpamantra

2011-09-19T11:41:00.003-04:00

This looks to be INCREDIBLE. Full details should be coming in a few weeks.

Ex_tension - "Desert"

2011-09-19T11:23:00.002-04:00

Artist: Ex_Tension
Album: Desert
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: Technoid, Tribal, Industrial
Website: http://ex.tension.free.fr/
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"Desert" is the new release from Ex_Tension and the second one this year, following a recent release on Signifier. Similar to that record, this is a re-release of old material; this one is re-mastered with 2 bonus tracks and 5 additional remixes. For some reason the remixes are all consolidated into one track (I guess to mirror the lengthy title track). After a fairly strong release on Signifier and a great track on the "These Sounds Must Meet.." compilation, I was quite looking forward to this album. However, it failed to meet my expectations.

Good stuff:
+ The remixes are quite good and vastly better than the original piece. They do a good job of utilizing elements from 'Desert', yet transmuting them into something far more interesting that successfully engages and entertains the listener. Access to Arasaka does a brilliant job of diving into glitchy idm territory that brings to mind a cyberpunk outpost in a desert wasteland; Totakeke infuses the best aspects of his complex technoid style with the tribal overtones of the original; Zentriert Ins Antlitz provides their psychedelic ambient stylings with something similar to their album on Tympanik, but with a driving beat; and Geomatic provides a great mix thickly laden with their trademark futuristic, space alien tribal sound. I really wish these mixes had been given separate tracks, but I will give Ex_tension the benefit of the doubt and assume there was some artistic reason for combing them into one 23 minute piece.

Bad stuff:
- Pretty much everything else. I know that this is a re-release, and it is sadly quite evident that these tracks are older material: they feel very amateur. There are fleeting moments of lucidity in the form of good sound design or percussion or melody, but overall these tracks feel lackluster and directionless. It's as if Ex_Tension didn't quite know what they wanted to do with themselves, or perhaps simply didn't know how to take themselves to the place they wanted to be. To be honest, these feel like old b-sides, and not particularly worthy of a new album (or release at all). The opener, 'Desert', is an astounding 31 minutes in length, and despite this enormous duration, it never really does anything worth writing home about. It is very slow moving and overly minimal; none of the many sections catch or retain my attention. It is not until almost 20 minutes in that a steady beat kicks in and I start to care, but by that point it is far too late. The mixing is sloppy and the composition is mediocre at best, with long periods of completely languid sections. The other three tracks are varying degrees of bland. They simply plod along without offering any catchy/memorable melodies or driving percussive sections to catch the listener's ear. They offer the occasional decent pad for atmosphere, but that alone cannot carry these tracks. The production is muddy and the composition flimsy.

Summary:
Weak, disposable original tracks that are overshadowed by some solid remixes. If you can purchase the remix tracks on their own, I would suggest doing so, but don't bother with the full album. If you are looking for a much better technoid/tribal hybrid record than check out their recent release "Freedom" on Signifier...or just get a This Morn Omina album.

Overall Rating: 4/10

Erode - "Horizon"

2011-09-08T09:23:00.002-04:00

Artist: Erode
Album: Horizon
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: Atmospheric IDM
Website: www.erodemusic.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Erode is the IDM project from Alexander Dietz. What's interesting is that Dietz is one of the guitarists for the german metalcore band Heaven Shall Burn. I actually enjoy that band a lot, so I was excited to see what he would bring to the table with an electronic album. To be honest, this really is not something I would expect from a metal guy. Either way, this album was co-produced by Mike Cadoo of gridlock/bitcrush/dryft and is another fine addition to Tympanik's ranks of emotional IDM.

Good stuff:
+ As I mentioned, Mike Cadoo was a producer on this and you can certainly hear the influence. The album is reminiscent of Cadoo's work, with the huge pads, driving melodies and steady uptempo beats. There are a number of very Cadoo-esque pads in here (think Dryft), and some of the beats could be straight off the first Bitcrush album. These are great elements and I'm very glad to hear another musician working with this style.

+ The album intro track '10950' starts off slow, but it builds to an interesting crescendo and, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really love the guitar work on it. It sounds like the interlude to a well-crafted melodic metal track and just works so well. I honestly would have liked to hear him try this more. Apart from this track there are no other noticeably guitar-esque sounds on the album (excluding one of the remixes).

+ Most of the album follows a standard formula and uses the same types of sounds in basically every song; however, the style presented here is great and it's cool to have that consistency to be able to know that each successive song will contain some elements you enjoy. The tracks are generally focused around a (or a stack of) large, somber pad(s), coupled with a steady, industrial-tinged, beat (think early Bitcrush). The beats are linear, though composed well, and there is enough variety in the tracks structures to keep things interesting. The tracks tend to have several interludes and different segments, and occasionally a dominate melody will surface. Some of the tracks, such as 'Overcome' and 'Disengage', feature long, moody ambient sections before breaking into percussive, melodic fervor.

+ One other thing that I want to mention is the packaging. It is in the usual, good quality, matte, 1-fold digipak, but it comes with an 8-page booklet as well. The art on here is very beautiful (digitally enhanced photos of rainy landscapes) and aptly conveys the mood of the album. I wish more albums had this level of packaging.

Bad stuff:
- The two remixes on this cd. The kadrage remix is absolutely terrible. I have no idea what he is going for (droning ambient maybe?), but it just sounds like a hollow, directionless mess of the same, poorly chosen, loops ad nauseum. I love ambient. This album has a lot of good ambient sections...and this is not one. The final track is Erode's remix of another german metalcore band called Deadlock. For that reason alone, it's an interesting idea, but when it comes down to it, it's not a very good song. The female sung vocals and the male growls clash comically with the upbeat, lighthearted IDM sentiments. Overall it's not terrible, and it's definitely worth at least one listen, but the actual album songs are much better.

Summary:
This album is basically the second coming of Bitcrush - "Enarc" (but sadder!), so there isn't much here that is not to like. Though straightforward, it definitely delivers. If you like heavily emotional IDM with a trace of industrial influence (and not much in the way of glitching or DSP craziness) than don't miss this! Will definitely please fans of Tympanik. Can't wait to hear what he does next.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Osman Arabi - "Beast Mutation Rituals"

2011-09-07T10:08:00.002-04:00

Artist: Osman Arabi
Album: Beast Mutation Rituals
Year: 2011
Label: Kalpamantra
Genre: Dark / Ritual Ambient, Experimental
Website: http://kalpamantra.bandcamp.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"Beast Mutation Rituals" is the new release from the fairly prolific Osman Arabi (maybe you know him from his other projects 20.sv, Seeker, Shamanic Death Trance, etc.). This is a single 25 minute ritual of extremely dense, crushing, darkly arcane soundscapes.

Good stuff:
+ This is an INTENSE release. "Beast Mutation Rituals" pummels you with primordial ferocity from start to finish. It reaches it's feral, blackened tendrils down into the the twisting corridors of your subconscious; disassembling every bit of you quark by quark, and, by some ancient design, it reconfigures this slop of minutiae into something infinitely strengthened and more horrible. All this while repetitively beating your higher consciousness into oblivion. The intensity comes from the quite dense mix; there are many elements at play at all times, with little downtime. There is an ever-present bed of thick, black, droning ambience, and over top of this foundation is a continuously evolving mixture of sparse, ritualistic drumming; mutilated samples; haunting pads; and heaps of bizarre, shifting dissonance. You are kind of hearing the same type of stuff throughout the entire 25 minutes, however, everything is consistently moving, pulsating, and changing with hypnotic fervor, so it never feels repetitive or boring. The mix is so thick, and so much happening within that it is impossible to actively follow it all; it's best to just relax, close yourself off from the world and let your subconscious receive and be dismantled by it. I wouldn't say that this is expertly programmed or even necessarily terribly thought out or coherent; instead the beauty of this is that Arabi has channeled pure, unrefined, feral chaos (and I mean this in a sincere fashion, not just in the sense of someone making a cacophony of random pointless noises and squelches which is also "chaos"), and upon listening, one can actively feel oneself descend into it with no protective measures.

Bad stuff:
- Mix could be cleaner and the ritual drumming stronger and more powerful.

Summary:
This is certainly on the more experimental and interesting side of the dark ambient spectrum. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Aural Hypnox and the like, and those into more ambient PE and death industrial like Steel Hook Prostheses and Megaptera. The length is seemingly a bit short for a release, but I find that 25 minutes of this is the perfect duration. This is a free digital release, so don't pass it up.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Heathen Harvest is back!

2011-09-06T12:58:00.000-04:00

Not sure if I am really late to the party on this one or not, but Heathen Harvest zine is back! Check out the new website (notice there is a new URL) here: http://heathenharvest.org/

V/A - "Emerging Organisms 4"

2011-09-01T11:39:00.008-04:00

Artist: Various Artists
Album: Emerging Organisms 4
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: IDM, Ambient, Technoid, Dubstep, Shoegaze
Website: www.tympanikaudio.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
This is the newest in the series of Emerging Organisms compilations from Tympanik Audio. Like the previous compilations, the focus is on atmospheric and emotive IDM; however, on this edition the dubstep and shoegaze influence is more apparent. It looks like Tympanik is shooting to become the successor to N5MD and/or Ad Noiseam. Not a bad path at all.

Good Stuff:
+ Disc 1. The first disc opens with a rather boring, shoegaze-y drone track from Hecq. It serves as a good intro to set the mood, I suppose, although the extremely abrupt ending is obnoxious. Up next is Architect doing his trademark blend of IDM and dubstep. Access to Arasaka follows with a beat-heavy track that manages to sound rather different from his other work; it starts off slow, but builds momentum and gets great about halfway through. It's nice to hear a new track from Ab Ovo's Diaphane, especially considering that it's good and certainly could have fit on his excellent debut album. The atmospheric IDM mood continues through the Frank Riggio and To Travel Without Any Certain Destination (thankfully a huge departure from his terrible power noise project last days of s.e.x.) tracks. Displacer changes things up a bit with a very...Displacer-y...sounding track. It's nice to see him moving back towards a percussive IDM sound. Things get a bit more somber with an extremely atmospheric, moody piece from Stendeck alongside a great, crunchy piece from Dryft that is reminiscent of the old Gridlock - 'Further' sound, layered with the huge, modern Cadoo-style pads. Nebulo delivers a more tranquil piece with subdued atmosphere and lots of clicky percussion. Up until this point, I was familiar with all of the artists on the disc, however I don't know any of the final four. Regardless, I should know better than to doubt Paul Nielsen, as he has compiled a disc which does not stop kicking until the very end. Ocoeur and Boy Is Fiction both deliver strong, emotional and very atmospheric IDM pieces. Logical Disorder delivers a more mechanical sounding track, though still beautifully atmospheric, with a hint of industrial influence delivered through crunchy bits of percussion. The first disc ends with a fitting piece from new Tympanik signee Erode; it opens with a long brooding ambient section before opening up into pensive, dark IDM.

+ Disc 2. The first disc is an extremely promising affair, and is certainly a difficult act to follow, however the second disc is equally as strong. It opens up with a fucking brilliant downtempo, tribal-tinged, track from Subheim. Up next, Miroslav delivers an n5md-style IDM track with long ambient intro which breaks into chaotic IDM. A decent track, but plagued by weak production. The follow up track is Keef Baker, and he takes the same idea but develops it further and much more spaciously, adding fantastic piano lines and soaring melodic sections. Tapage provides a clicky idm/ambient track with acid influence, which seems and is in fact weird, although he pulls it off. Up next is KiloWatts who offers a dark track that is thick with cavernous reverb and very interesting, melodious jazz-y bits. Matta provides a song that sounds very Matta-y, with pling-y synths and subtle cut up vocals, although the low end is definitely much more subdued than usual, which actually helps it to fit in with the rest of this comp quite well. Port Royal follows. Let me say that I'm not really a fan of shoegaze nor post-rock, but this track is so goddamn beautiful and sad. Wonderful, refined vocals are mixed with fuzzy, melancholy atmospherics and kind of straight forward, albeit fitting, electronic percussion. SE keeps with the post-rock mood and provides a track with quiet beats and loads of guitar plucking. Mobthrow is kind of in the same boat as Matta here; he delivers a track that focuses more on atmosphere and less on his usually heavy bass. This track is not too far off from the vinyl we recently reviewed. Great attenuated use of subbass mixed with a wonderful, spacious atmosphere. Things get back to IDM with Flaque and a huge, beautifully melodic track featuring excellent cut up female vocals from one of my personal favorite up-and-coming IDM producers: c.db.sn. Unfortunately, Disc 2 ends on a low note and the final three tracks are varying degrees of mediocre. The Anklebiter track is very melodic, emotional and dynamic, but suffers from weak, claustrophobic production. The Bola track is worth a listen, but it is on the weaker side of the spectrum.

Bad stuff:
- Honestly, there is very little to say about this collection that is negative. Paul Neilsen, aka Mr. Tympanik, has compiled one of the best compilations I have ever heard, one-upping himself yet again. If I had to make critiques, I would say that I was a little disappointed with the Hecq track; I know everyone loves his stuff, but I find his ambient to be too minimal and boring. The Dj Sajko remix of C.H.District is mediocre, but pales in comparison to the original.

Summary:
This is an incredible collection of music. Even the producers whose other work I have not liked came through and delivered excellent, memorable tracks for this. If you are a fan of IDM/ambient/whatever than you *NEED* to own this CD. Despite being a young label, I think this collection easily equals, if not surpasses, any compilations put out on the "big" labels: hymen, n5md, ad noiseam, etc.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

GET THIS ALBUM: 4 way split - "The Unreality of Time EP"

2011-08-29T09:09:00.000-04:00

"The Unreality of Time" is a new 4 way split between dark ambient producers Cogwheel, Psychomanteum, Rasalhague, and Taphephobia, brought to you from the Kalpamantra label. Apparently this free EP is part of a larger project which will be released in hardcopy at a later time. This is an amazing split; every artist comes to the table with a very strong, well developed track. All four tracks are droning dark ambient, but none of them are boring or overly repetitive. Considering these artists come from the Cyclic Law, Malignant and Reverse Alignment labels, it's somewhat obvious what the sound and quality will be like. Don't miss it!

download it: here
this release on discogs: here

peep this: new releases from Halbischt Records

2011-08-25T10:27:00.003-04:00

Looks like there are some exciting new releases from German label Halbischt, who is reponsible for bringing you albums from Mnemonic, DNN, adamned.age, Pleq, and a few others.

Firstly, there is a HIGHLY limited new full length from Mnemonic ambient side project Architrav entitled "rendezvous with a green fairy". This is limited to only 50 hardcopies(!) so don't wait. It comes in handmade, handnumbered packaging. It is also available as an unlimited digital release. I am a huge fan of their first release which was very good cold, stark ambient soundscapes, so I picked this one up as soon as I saw it announced. You can preview the entire album on the website.

check it out: here

Secondly, there is a new release from idm/ambient project DNN called "When Things Stop To Move". This one seems like a logical follow up to his debut release, in that is is more melodic minimal idm / ambient with top-notch production. This album features remixes from Bitcrush, Huron and SE. Fans of newer IDM should not pass this one up. You can preview the entire album on the website.

check it out: here

V/A - "These Sounds Will Have to Meet Somewhere in Between Volume 1"

2011-08-22T09:48:00.008-04:00

Artist: Various Artists
Album: These Sounds Will Have to Meet Somewhere in Between Volume 1
Year: 2011
Label: Signifer
Genre: IDM, Rhythmic Noise, Technoid, Ambient
Website: www.signifieronline.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
'These Sounds Will Have To Meet...' is the first compilation for new US label Signifier. Immediate comparisons to Tympanik's 'Emerging Organisms' series are quite likely. This is a collection of some rather good idm/noise/ambient with industrial influence. It's extremely refreshing to see a label (especially in the states) who is both interested in releasing this style, as well as one who is releasing good, quality, known acts. Fans of the aforementioned styles should definitely recognize many of the names here. The compilation is 2 discs; the first being the lighter more idm/atmospheric stuff and the second being the noisier, harsher stuff.

Good Stuff:
+ Disc 1. Tonikom starts the first disc off strong, and provides a very good indication of what is to come, with her mid-paced atmospheric track "Insense". Things move slighly into shoegaze/post rock territory with LAN Formatique's "All Fears Unfelt", with its huge drifting somber pads and sullen melody. The comp takes a brief step in a completely unanticipated direction with Normotone's "Gardens of Sorrows" featuring bits of acoustic guitar, female vocals, and light glitching. Millipede provides beautiful spacey/retrosound soundtrack ambiance with glitchy beats on "The Measure of The Infinite Dance". Zero Degree provides an amazing track with their trademark 10 minute highly atmospheric rhythmic ambient "Bury Me With The Silence". Then things veer into tribal territory, beginning with the fantastic Geomatic remix of Tzol'kin and continuing through "Le Complexe (Significant Mix)" from Ex_tension that is somewhere between This Morn Omina, Asche, and VAC. Next up is Lucidstatic, providing his trademark brand of atmospheric breakcore, this one is more on the atmospheric side. The disc stays strong until the end, as we journey through a long, dark, brooding piece from Vuxnut that builds from haunting mechanical ambience into crushing atmospheric noise; a pulsating technoish track with creepy spoken word from OTX; a drum and bass piece from Embodi; and a slice of electro from Signifer's own Cruise [Ctrl].

+ Disc 2. The second disc opens equally strongly with Oil 10's typical retrofuture-ish techno, this time with added chopped up, glitchy female vocal sounds, on "Synchro 4 All (Resynchronized mix)". Next up is a chaotic breakcore track from Signifier's own NXV, followed by a track from Lingouf that really caught me by surprise - it's dark dubstep! Quite good too, I might add. After that there are a few misses which fail to gain my interest, however we move into technoid territory with a great, atmospheric track from Syntech, followed by a slightly less interesting piece from Disharmony + LPF12 which still manages some really interesting alien atmospheres. Autovoice keeps the trend going with his retrofuturish track "Thought Machine", with it's spaceship ambiance. The end of the disc dives full speed ahead into into full on rhythmic noise madness, beginning with "S.O.S. From Overseas", a typical highly crunchy outing from Greyhound. Next we have the brutal, chaotic wall of sound crush that is "Scab Collector" from WASTE; a highly distorted, repetitive technoid piece from Fractured Transmission; and a more atmospheric rhythmic noise track from Worms of the Earth with chopped up female vocals. All in all, this disc is a little weaker in my opinion, but there are still many solid tracks.

Bad stuff:
- Honestly, in it's 27 track duration, there are very few weak links to be found. There are a few bombs though, including Dazzling Malicious' comically amateur...whatever he is going for, Aphorism's structureless mess of random sounds, and Kraftmaschine's pointless 5 minutes of unchanging fuzz.

Summary:
Like all compilations, there is a good deal of variation here and not everyone is going to like every track. However, the signal to noise ratio is quite high, and there are many, many more solid tracks than there are weak ones. Props to Signifier for gathering such a good collection of material from these styles of music, and I hope to be reviewing many more of these compilations down the line. Definitely a must check out for fans of idm/ambient/noise / Tympanik, Hymen, Ant Zen, Hands, Force of Nature, Hive, etc!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Mobthrow - "Pitch Black EP"

2011-08-15T11:23:00.004-04:00

Artist: Mobthrow
Album: Pitch Black EP
Year: 2011
Label: Mindtrick Records
Genre: Dubstep
Website: http://www.mindtrick-records.com/
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
New 12in EP from dubstep producer Mobthrow. To be honest, I don't really listen to or follow dubstep much, but I'll give this one a shot. The only other thing I've heard from Mobthrow was the Mutant Dubstep EP which didn't grab me, however I'm liking this one more.

Good stuff:
+ Style. I am really digging the A-sides of this release. I can't stand most popular dubstep which seems to be very minimal and directionless, ditching the atmosphere for easy to digest club appeal. I am glad that this release is not like that at all, and in fact it actually reminds me more of the stuff I first heard when "dubstep" came out - quasi-dark, sad, heavily atmospheric stuff with an emphasis on bass, but not crazy wobbles all over the place. The A sides have really great pads and synths that create bold, somber atmospheres. It's actually a bit like Burial (minus vocal samples and lo fi) but with new, modern production. The bass is well done; it fits in nicely with everything else, doesn't overpower, and only occasionally steps out front, becoming the center of attention with it's twisted modulations. You can hear the groovy dub influence all over these tracks (but thankfully not like, overtly reggae). I think there is some techno influence here as well, but maybe this is just how dubstep sounds nowadays, I don't know. The B-side of this release, 'Enter Dubcore', is more of a drum and bass affair, and, although weaker than the A-sides, it's pretty neat once the modulating bass kicks in.

+ Production. What I've heard from this guy has always had solid production, and this release most definitely carries on that trend. Huge sound without being squashed.

Bad stuff:
- I was disappointed with the Hecq remix. There is some really cool stuff happening here, and a lot of subtle technical wizardry...but the bass sound is so annoying that it detracts a lot from the appeal of this track. It ends up feeling directionless and disposable. I was hoping for something more frenzied and glitchy like his own track Sura.

- The only real negative thing about the Mobthrow tracks is that they are all fairly repetitive, but that seems to be par for this dubstep thing.

Summary:
Definitely one for the Ad Noiseam crowd. If you like atmospheric dubstep with big production and no stupid Rusko style basslines than you should check this out for sure.

Peep This: Suicide Commando - "The Suicide Sessions" Set

2011-08-09T15:55:00.000-04:00

To be honest, at this point I am almost ashamed of admitting to being a suicide commando fan. Despite his recent work, I try to remember him for writing two of the (if not the) greatest terror ebm albums ever: construct/destruct and mindstrip. Fuck, those are great albums. Anyhow, I was quite excited to stumble across this the other day: The Suicide Sessions, despite the dumb name, looks to be a SICK collection of his early dive-esque work, all remastered, along with some discs of "b-sides" (mainly looks like the remixes and singles from around that time...which is fine because I've always thought his b-sides were nearly as good as the albums, if not occasionally better). It's 6 CDs in all. This collection contains the albums Stored Images, Critical Stage, Contamination, and Construct/Destruct. Obviously those albums sound pretty dated now, so I am really curious as to how they will sound remastered. I thought the old Hocico material sounded GREAT after the remastering on Cronicas Letales, so I am expecting good things here as well. This Suicide Sessions set just came out like a week or so ago on Out Of Line, so I have yet to see it sold in the states, but I plan to buy it asap. Definitely a huge collection, especially if you don't own those albums in hardcopy.

on discogs: here

Peep this: Taphephobia vs. Coph'Antae Tryr - "Counting The Days"

2011-08-05T09:49:00.000-04:00

New release from Kalpamantra label. These are two good up-and-coming dark ambient acts, and this free digital release is a good introduction to them. I have enjoyed the Coph'Antae Tryr songs on the free Kalpamantra compilations, but was never able to find an actual release from him until this. Fans of droning dark ambient should definitely check this out. 6 tracks.

download this: here
on discogs: here

Siginifer Label Interview

2011-07-28T10:18:00.002-04:00

Signifier is a brand new US label specializing in Industrial, Power Noise, IDM, and more. Earlier this year they released their debut, Ex_tension - "Freedom" and are gearing up to release several more things before the year is up, including a huge 2xCD compilation featuring acts like Oil 10, Zero Degree, Lingouf, Millipede, WASTE, LAN Formatique, Greyhound, Tzolk'in, and tons more. There are never enough labels pushing these styles, and after speaking to the passionate founder of signifier, Shannon, I am very confident that this will quickly evolve into something great. This is definitely a label to keep an out for, as it will hopefully help bolster interest in this type of highly underappreciated music in the states.

What was the impetus for starting Signifer?

I suppose it was part fate and part accident. I have always loved music and became actively involved with it at a young age as a radio DJ in high school. Since then, it has only managed to become a bigger and bigger part of my life. Over the last few years, this was primarily due to my role as promotional director at Tympanik Audio and a regular DJ gig as rosierivets on the long running Chicago industrial radio show Hidden Forms (Every Saturday via wnur.org).
My experience with Tympanik gave me the confidence to believe that anything is possible. It also gave me the insatiable taste for helping work to promote sounds that I love, and seeing the satisfaction of having an artist’s vision realized. After departing from that post, I briefly considered abandoning my work in this field. But the farther I got from music emotionally, the smaller my world seemed. And I hated it. I felt like I had lost a part of myself that I’d only just begun to understand and I came to the quick realization that I was not ready to be finished with working in this capacity. Ultimately, it was not an option for me to stop; continuing with a new label of my own creation became a necessity.

What is the philosophy behind, and what are your goals with Signifier?

I do not have some genius master plan to re-create the wheel; I simply aim to give a platform to the artists that I enjoy. These are mostly underrepresented folks who deserve the opportunity to release their music to a community that can appreciate it.
Upon its formation, I had a very clear idea in my mind that this should be a rhythmic and power noise label. Much of that was driven by the fact that I’ve always been drawn to the grittier sounds which almost force a physical response. But the fact of the matter is that I love it all. Or, almost all of it, I suppose. If Signifier were a pizza, half of it would feature the noisier stuff, one quarter would feature dark electro and edgy ambient, and perhaps that little tiny corner piece would be some pretty lilting thing I just couldn’t pass up. I suppose that’s pretty analogous to the current roster of signed artists.
Let it suffice to say that there is no hard and fast formula, and I wish to refrain from narrowly defining our style. These days, I tend to take an open minded approach, which I believe is better for the electronica community as a whole. There is no reason why a label cannot try to bridge supposedly disparate styles. I suppose that ideology helped formed the genesis for the concept behind “These Sounds Will Have to Meet Somewhere in Between”, which is our first compilation due out on August 30th. Within that release you’ll find that we attempt to break down some barriers by crafting a listening experience that increases in intensity from start to finish. And I think it works. There is no reason why various sub genres can’t play nicely together. Diversity strengthens our community as a whole; it’s a gateway to other sounds.

There are lots of labels out there, what sets you apart from the other labels releasing industrial/noise/ambient?

You are right; there are a ton of exceptional labels out there. And we are fortunate enough to have had an incredible network of support from the word go. We’ve had some early comparisons to Ant-Zen and Hymen which, frankly, scare the shit out of me. The comparisons are unbelievably flattering, but I realize that Signifier has a lot of work to do since we are new on the scene and just beginning to carve out our place. I just ask for the patience of our supporters; we will prove ourselves as deserving of your loyalty and trust. I feel so damn grateful for the fact that none of you make us feel like we have something to prove. All of these amazing people- fans, musicians, DJs, press contacts, etc. - prove to me on a daily basis how vast and kind the universe is. The end target is a bit amorphous, but this is the energy that keeps this label pointed forward.
One eccentricity that might set us apart is how the concept of collectivism intrigues me. The idea of harnessing the mutual passion of all of our allied labels is something I think about quite a bit. In my wildest dreams, we’d hammer out a way to work together as one uber-collective. But until that day, they serve as inspiration, and I am lucky enough to call many of them colleagues and friends. However, there is no shortage of great music out there that never gets to see the light of day. Labels in these genres are only able to scratch the surface; none of us are made of money, so deciding which music to invest in can be both joyous and frustrating.
At this stage, I think a lot of what differentiates Signifier has to do with the energy and enthusiasm which we bring to the table. I can be ridiculously excitable and sometimes I find that it seeps into my promo efforts and correspondence with artists and fans. I hope it is infectious rather than aggravating! And I can’t help but hope that folks have the impression that we are the label that will be known for putting out serious music without taking ourselves too seriously.
That being said I’ll let you in on a little secret: running a label is not rocket science and it is not this mystical operation that can only be conducted by some. It takes an unfettered amount of dedication and passion to keep up with scheduling and managing personalities, resources, and promotions. For that reason, I am sure that things like reliability, strong relationships, staying on schedule, and consistent quality will put us on common ground with the best of our peers. Oh, and I suppose that a little bit of camaraderie can’t hurt, either.

This type of music is rather underground, and perhaps not as easy to market as straight forward dance music. What do you think the key to promoting this type of music is?

Excellent working relationships with allied professionals such as DJs, music reviewers, and the musicians themselves, as well as participatory communication with fans is essential. I think that those of us that have been working together for the common goal of promoting music in this “scene” for lack of a better term have a real understanding of the do-it-yourself ethos. In my earliest press releases, I mentioned that this label is a grass roots labor of love. It is this philosophy that will get the job done between the individuals within our tight knit underground community. All that being said, we do have to be willing to take a chance from time to time by searching out slightly more mainstream promotional opportunities. There are DJs and review sources that may be more ready for quality dark electronics than they are given credit for.
Promoters of underground music need to keep in mind that committing to release an album means a hell of a lot more than simply being responsible for getting it pressed and out the door. Properly promoting an artist’s work means having a game plan for how to get the word out leading up to the release date as well as coordinating a nice push on the date of the release. It also is critical to do maintenance promotion which continues to promote an album and make the public aware of it even as the label is busy getting other releases out. I believe that the definition of a new release in small underground music cultures ends up being somewhat skewed. Think about the duration of time pop artists can hover around on the charts. In this genre, we are tiny outfits. We have little to no staffing support and there are so many good albums that get lost in the shuffle, buried in overly aggressive release schedules. I want to make sure that this never happens to Signifier’s artists. A musician puts trust into their label and I feel as though I must guard that trust by advocating for the art that they’ve put in my hands far beyond the initial release date.

What attracts you to industrial/noise/ambient? How did you get into this style of music?

There has always been some instinctual pull; there is something so very primal about the way these genres speak to me. And if it incites the urge to dance, watch out! No other style of music is as expressive in my opinion. And certainly few other genres are as broad these days, either. Where else can such a wide range of sounds be found under the same general umbrella?
I will date myself here, but in 1994, I was a melancholy high school DJ and radio station music director. I had something special cross my inbox and things have never been the same since. That something was a compilation titled “Mysterious Encounters” put out by burgeoning Cleopatra Records. I gave it a fair listen and was blown out of the water by this guy named Claus Larsen performing work under the moniker Leæther Strip. I had never heard anything like it. My fifteen year old self immediately became a Zoth Ommog mailorder customer (mailorder!) and dark music has been my preference ever since.

What do we have to look forward to from Signifier in the near future?

So much it breaks my brain! Look for two releases from Signifier on August 30th. First is the highly anticipated double disc compilation, “These Sounds Will Have to Meet Somewhere in Between” which features brand new material, special collaborations, and remixes from 31 artists on 27 tracks - which I can refer to as nothing less than glorious. Artists include the likes of Lingouf, Vuxnut, Tonikom, Oil 10, OTX, Greyhound, Endif, and so much more. Also on August 30th comes “How’s Annie?” from Cruise [Ctrl], the second album by this infectious Belgian electro industrial pair. This release will feature exclusive tracks unique to the North American album and I am proud to be able to bring their sound to a wider audience.
We anticipate that the debut album by NXV entitled “Bridging Divisions” will soon follow. NXV is the ubiquitous Nick Viola’s (Fractured Transmission, Tea & Grief, HexRx) grinding breakcore project. This Los Angeles area act is a bit unlike anything we’ve been hearing from US labels these days and I can’t wait to see how it is received both here in the states as well as abroad by those that have been pioneering the sound.
Soon to follow will be Volume 2 in the “A Mere Invention of the Idle Mind” series which we will be co-releasing alongside our good friends at Los Angeles based noise label Mechanismz. This double disc set has been painstakingly curated by Shane Talada (Marching Dynamics/The Operative) and mastered by Jeff Swearengin (Sleep Clinic) and features the incredible sounds of Embodi, Zeller, Asche, Synapscape, Libido Formandi, Cervello Elettronico, 100blumen, and a ton more.
Looking a little farther ahead, we’ve got the debut release of Yura Yura, an outstanding French rhythmic noise/tribal artist featuring gorgeous dance choreography by the lovely Macha Melanie. We’ve also got the debut from To Travel Without Any Certain Destination (Libido Formandi/Last Days of S.E.X. side project) and the finally-to-be-realized full length debut by LAN Formatique, “The Sadness of Distances.” This heartbreakingly beautiful album is a bit of an anomaly for Signifier and seems to represent the little corner piece of pizza mentioned above. Its brilliant mix of shoegazey electro IDM will finally be made available in physical form in unique packaging designed by none other than Eye.Lyft.
In 2012, we have plans to release the third full length studio albums from both LAN Formatique and Cruise [Ctrl] and we are currently in negotiations with several other artists. We are also working on a label sampler entitled “Pollinate” that will feature material from our 2011-2012 release roster, which will be available in a very limited CDr and free download.
We’ve also got a couple of very exciting projects in the works with one of our allied labels. The details are still forming but we hope to make some announcements soon. Finally, on a personal note, there are some exciting changes ahead in my own life, and as a result, I believe that the next 12-24 months will bring about even more good things for Signifier.

Any final words? We wish you all the best for the rest of your first year, and really hope to be hearing about Signifier for many more to come.

Thank you so very much for this opportunity! We couldn’t have survived this far into our first year without the support of everyone out there that is purchasing albums, sharing our status updates, promoting events, spinning our music, and reviewing our releases. We count on you guys and you haven’t let us down!
I believe in what we are doing and I believe that we are positioned to do it well despite any learning curve. Every bump and bruise along the way has pointed to this path; I feel a great deal of gratitude toward those that have had a part in bringing this project into being. I initiated Signifier in order to continue doing what I love. And I truly hope that others continue to find value in doing it with me.

pre-order the forthcoming compilation "These Sounds Will Have To Meet Somewhere In Between"
here

for more information:

www.signifieronline.com
shannon@signifieronline.com

C.DB.SN + Scaffolding - "Covalent States"

2011-07-27T10:20:00.002-04:00

Artist: C.DB.SN + Scaffolding
Album: Covalent States
Year: 2011
Label: Plastic Sound Supply
Genre: IDM, Ambient
Website: www.plasticsoundsupply.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"Covalent" States is a 4 track EP split release from extremely promising IDM producers C.DB.SN and Scaffolding. Each act has one original track and a remix of the other act's track. It's a brief affair, so here's the breakdown:

1. Scaffolding - 'Metals'
'Metals' is fairly similar to the material on his full length "Narratives". It's a quirkly, complex IDM track that somehow still manages to carry an air of minimalism. Great subtle atmospheric elements, coupled with a multitude of catchy, interesting melodic lines and ambientish fills. The beats are rather low key, remaining in the background, but their subtly works very well. Throughout its duration, the track builds steadily until it erupts with a cool modulating bassline, after which continues to ebb and flow brilliantly. A very active track indeed.
2. C.DB.SN - 'Mercury'
In typical C.DB.SN fashion, we are given a long, beautifully melodic ambient intro which very slowly builds into minimal, melodic IDM. One of the things that sets him apart from other contemporary producers is his proficiency with complex, glitchy percussion. Towards the middle of the track we are given a heavily reverbed, dreamy melody. This track focuses more on ambiance and atmosphere, while not sacrificing complexity, and is a good juxtaposition to the Scaffolding track. I wish it was about twice as long because it's easy to lose yourself in and it's a bummer when it ends.
3. Metals (C.DB.SN remix)
C.DB.SN brings the beats to the forefront in this mix, amping up the glitchiness. He takes out some of the bass to give it a lighter, more floaty/dreamy feel.

4. Mercury (Scaffolding remix)

Scaffolding does an amazing job on this remix, and turns it into very much into a Scaffolding piece. It's less atmospheric than the original, but instead utilizes layers of melodic elements and his trademark modulating, weird sounding synths.

Bad stuff:
- Too short!!

Summary:
"Covalent States" offers some exceptional tracks by two of the most talented underground IDM producers out there. Easily one of the best and most interesting IDM releases I have heard in a long time. Absolutely do not miss it! Definitely keep an eye out for these guys in the future.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Scaffolding - "Narratives"

2011-07-27T09:50:00.002-04:00

Artist: Scaffolding
Album: Narratives
Year: 2009
Label: Plastic Sound Supply
Genre: IDM, Ambient
Website: www.plasticsoundsupply.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Most recent full length album from Denver, CO based IDM producer Scaffolding. "Narratives" is a good mixture of the characteristics of 'old school' IDM and more modern stuff. It is one of the few modern albums that seems to fully embrace the ethic of experimenting and transmuting weird, shifting sounds and textures into listenable, flowing music. I say that this album is 'modern' because at first glance it has the feeling of a more subdued, minimal piece that is popular among his contemporaries. However, after a bit of listening it becomes readily apparent that "Narratives" has much more activity bustling about within it than a common IDM release.

Good stuff:
+ Style. I really dig Scaffolding's style which combines the complexity and experimental mindset of all the stuff that got me into IDM in the first place, while still giving it a very airy, spacious, almost minimal feel which makes it easy to listen to. He doesn't focus on a single, driving melody, but rather a whirlwind of small pieces of melody fragments spiraling continuously. Also present are lots of modulating bassy sounds & stabs and clicky, subdued beats with subtle glitching used to great effect. He manages to build up a unique style without sounding like he is rehashing the same ideas over and over. Despite not being very "ambient", Scaffolding does manage to create some good, tranquil atmospheres for these tracks.

+ Sound design. The sound design on this record is great. It's few and far between now where I will listen to an album and wonder "how did they make these sounds", but this is definitely an album where that thought comes to mind often. He is also able to use more basic/common sounds in fresh, exciting ways.

+ Diversity. Scaffolding keeps things flowing throughout the album and it never becomes monotonous or boring. There are a lot of different elements on this record, and the remixes and vocal tracks help to keep things fresh.

+ Production. Really clean sounding production. Very spacious mix and a good overall volume thats not squashed from excess limiting.

Bad stuff:
- Female vocals. I tend to really enjoy female vocals, but the ones on this album do not fit with the music whatsoever. They have a terrible, flat tone to them and they overdo the crooning to a point of ridiculousness. The music for these tracks is solid, and I wouldn't have minded them being instrumental.

- Other people's remixes. I enjoyed all of the Scaffolding tracks here, but the remixes by other people failed to grab me. The CacheFlowe remix is the best, turning 'Microbe' into a bass heavy dubstep-like affair, but in the end its not nearly as memorable as the original.

Summary:
Scaffolding is a very underrated producer, and I hope that he can get his name and work out there, because he is extremely talented and has produced some fantastic work on "Narratives". Though by no means reinventing the wheel, this is still a highly worthwhile production that easily stands tall amidst a sea of mediocre, un-evolved, netlabel IDM. I would certianly encourage any fan of the genre to give Scaffolding a listen. I hope that on his next full length he forgoes the guest artists, because his work more than stands on its own.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

aAirial - "Le Fil Du Temps"

2011-07-25T12:06:00.002-04:00

Artist: aAirial
Album: Le Fil Du Temps
Year: 2009
Label: Laridae
Genre: IDM, Ambient
Website: http://www.myspace.com/aairial
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Slightly older release from aAirial. I had seen this project's name on IDM compilations previously, but I had never checked out his work. "Le Fil Du Temps" is a fairly standard IDM/Ambient affair which is available as a free digital release from Laridae. Though a bit straightforward, it offers deep, organic atmosphere combined with beautiful, somber melodies, and ersatz, glitchy-but-never-abrasive, percussion.

Good stuff:
+ Style. I love this style. A fantastic blend of wistful atmospheres and clicky beats. The album relies heavily on droning pads and plucky, emotive melodies. Both elements work together extremely well to build up a thick, ever-present mood. The melodies are very catchy. The beats are exactly what I enjoy from this style of music: a bit subtle, but without compromising complexity or glitching. They are mixed in just right: not in your face, but not in the background either. While the synths carry an organic vibe, the beats add a nice synthetic edge that transforms the atmosphere into a more artificial, idealistic version of an 'organic' reality. This is one thing that really draws me to IDM, and aAirial does it brilliantly. The whole album is very dreamy; it's almost impossible not to feel your consciousness falling deeply into these soundscapes.

+ One of the additional pluses of this style is the ease of listening. It's a very calm album that you can throw on in the background and drift off to, but it's also complex enough to hold your attention should you wish to listen closer.

+ Sound design. The sound design, while nothing totally new, is great at what it is trying to achieve. Each track has a very similar mood, but the sounds are different enough so that the record does not get monotonous.

+ Production. The production, though a bit on the loud/limited side, is generally good. All the elements have their own space and mix together well.

Bad stuff:
- The only negative thing about this album is that the songs are all so short (nothing over 4 minutes), and it feels like aAirial could have done more to develop them. As it is, they each feel solely like a single idea, which is fine, but the idea never develops or evolves.

Summary:
While "Le Fin Du Temps" isn't anything groundbreaking in the field of IDM/Ambient, aAirial is quite proficient at what he does. Overall, this is an amazingly beautiful & pensive piece of work, and it should be in the collection of any fan of the style. It's a free digital release so what are you waiting for? I've had this on repeat since it was sent to me a few days ago.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Technicolor Yawn - "Designer Phobias"

2011-07-22T11:38:00.003-04:00

Artist: Technicolor Yawn
Album: Designer Phobias
Year: 2011
Label: Chimera Central
Genre: IDM, Experimental
Website: www.soundcloud.com/technicoloryawn
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"Designer Phobias" is an interestingly weird new idm/experimental album from a band with an equally weird name. What we have here is 14 tracks of DSP abuse spearheaded by ultra glitchy, complex percussive elements and some minor atmospheric elements. The directionless (though cool sounding) wanking of the opener "Gabbleblochets" is a good indication of what we're in for.

Good stuff:
+ Percussive. This album is completely amazing when it comes to the drums and beats. The beats are rapid fire like hundreds of tiny bits of shrapnel coming at you through space, while constantly changing and subtly shifting form. Just slightly less mindfucky than Xanopticon. Despite each track having really complex percussion, he manages to make each enough changes each time to keep it fresh and sounding different.

+ The few other sounds he uses are generally good and weird, and fit very well with the beats. The other stuff is mainly a minimal atmospheric pad-ish sound, or a mutant warbling synth stab thats having it's DNA shifted as it plays. Track 2, 'Reptoid' does a good job of utilizing minimal atmospheric pad-sounds to make you feel like your trapped in a space ship contaminated with a virus and slowly breaking apart around you.

+ Good, even production. The beats and the bassy elements sound good and fit well with each other. The mix is very spacious.
+ I love the artwork.

Bad stuff:
- My main critique of the tracks on this album is that there isn't enough in them. While his beats are indeed amazing, thats really all there is here. There is little to no atmosphere, melody, tangible synth sounds, etc. I don't care how complex and bizarre your beats are, alone they simply are not enough to carry 14 tracks.

Summary:
Unfortunately, despite how promising some of this album is, as a whole it doesn't deliver. The percussion is amazing and does a fantastic job of laying the groundwork for what could have been a series of huge tracks, but unfortunately after Technicolor Yawn laid down the beats he more or less called it a day. If this album utilized even decent sounding atmospheric elements it would have been an must have, but instead its plagued by the same pitfalls as overly tech-minded producers like Richard Devine, where it sounds like little more than a demonstration of technical wanking without really giving the tracks the soul/emotion that would turn them into proper "songs". I would love to hear this stuff either remixed by a more ambient-inclined idm producer, or hear Technicolor Yawn remix a more ambient track.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Grauraum - "Shades"

2011-07-22T11:12:00.001-04:00

Artist: Grauraum
Album: Shades
Year: 2011
Label: Raumklang Music
Genre: IDM, Ambient
Website: www.raumklang-music.de
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Grauraum is the new moniker of idm/ambient producer Hotaru Bay, who released an album on Raumklang Music last year. I'm not sure what prompted the name change, but the music of the two projects is fairly similar. I would say that Grauraum is a bit more towards the "ambient" part of IDM/Ambient. Musically though, "Shades" is full of lush pads, nice melodic elements and driving, clicky/glitchy percussion.

Good stuff:
+ Good sounds. I like the choice of sounds here: the pads are mostly very thick and "cool" sounding (not quite warm, but not quite stark or cold); the melodies, when used, are very catchy, pretty and and well done; and the percussive elements are what I really like in IDM: that choppy, clicky sound with some glitching to keep it interesting. There is a diverse enough palate of sounds to keep you interesting throughout the album, yet he is able to maintain enough consistency between tracks to give it a personal sound (it's similar to Hotaru Bay, yet different enough to warrant a new name, I suppose.)

+ Dark/Industrial tinge. One thing I really like about "Shades" is that leans more towards industrial and is darker and a bit "harsher" than a lot of idm/ambient releases. Some of the beats are slightly crunch-ified and distorted, though never abrasive or noisey. It reminds me a little of less glitchy Access to Arasaka or a more cyberpunk version of Planet Boelex.

+ Pretty good production. In general, the production is solid here; all the elements sound good and fit in with one other, everything has its own space. The beats sound great, they're thick and they punch through.

+ The LPF12 remix, despite being 17 minutes long(!!) is really good. The synths sound very much like Access to Arasaka when he is doing ambient-ish material. LPF12 carries over a lot of the sounds from the original, but encapsulates them in a darker, more brooding shell. Kind of dark futuristic (cyberpunk), glitchy ambient. This track is actually interesting enough to keep your attention for 10+ minutes, despite the minimal use of percussion.

Bad stuff:
- My main critique is that the production is a little lopsided, and often the beats take precedence and drown out some of the synth work. Some of the ambient parts, such as most of 'The Sleep Pt 2' are much quieter than the parts with beats and it feels a little uneven.

- No real standout elements.

Summary:
Overall, "Shades" is a competent IDM/Ambient release, but offers little to differentiate itself from the large pack of similar artists. Fans of the style will no doubt enjoy these tracks, but unfortunately it won't really stand out from most of the other IDM/Ambient you own. If you are interested in the darker, slightly more "industrial" side of IDM than I would encourage you to give this a listen. For fans of early Bitcrush, Stendeck, Atmogat, etc

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Pleq - "Sound of Rebirth"

2011-07-14T10:49:00.005-04:00

Artist: Pleq
Album: Sound of Rebirth
Year: 2010
Label: Impulsive Art
Genre: IDM, Ambient, Minimal
Website:
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
"Sound of Rebirth" is a new album from prolific polish IDM/ambient producer Pleq. It's pretty similar to his other works: a melancholic combination of sad, minimal ambient atmospheres and idm percussion. "Sound of Rebirth" fits in with his other recent albums such as "My Life Begins Today" in that it is mostly percussion driven, yet more minimal than his early IDM works.

Good stuff:
+ Pleq returns with all of his signature marks. His clicky, fuzzy percussion is back. His quiet, depressing ambiance is back. The somber melodies are back as well, and everything is in top form. His tracks always carry a pretty similar feeling to them, but he is amazing when it comes to delicate sounding, not too invasive, pensive soundscapes. I think the track title "A Very Gentle Death" sums up how this album sounds. Very beautiful atmospheres.

+ He brings back the tracks Hackneyed Words and Integral from some older releases, re-mastered, and they sound amazing. These are some of my favorite tracks from him and it's great to hear them being given a tuneup.

+ There is some variety in the track styles, while the album retains a very consistent atmosphere of calm melancholy. It reminds me of being in a museum of modern art where all the walls are stark white, yet the artwork itself is strange and organic. There are some tracks with vocals, some faster tracks with more percussion, some slower tracks with less percussion, and some remixes.

+ Pleq has a very specific style and all of his tracks are extremely "pleq-ish". The remixes are a much welcomed departure from this, and they are all very good. The Tapage mix cranks up the volume and provides a different type of organic-feeling IDM (feels like being outside overlooking an ocean), the Nebulo mix takes you to a darker, more abstract place; transforming Pleq's sounds and melodies into something eerily similar but yet much stranger. The Spyweirdos mix keeps the lush, sweeping atmospherics, but thankfully ditches the vocals. They also add a semi annoying sax-like sound.

Bad stuff:
- Typically I love female vocals, but I can't stand the ones that appear on this album. There are two songs with two different vocalists, but I don't feel their styles nor deliveries fit with the music. They may been better with better recording/processing. His remix of Magnitophono also has vocals, and I dislike them, but I can't fault him for those. At least those are very sparse and therefore manageable. In contrast, on the track "A Very Gentle Death" there are some quite subtle vocal-ish sounds, and they fit well and sound great.

- My main critique with Pleq albums is that he rarely seems to evolve; instead he just seems to be creating continuations of his previous work. The songs on here are good, but he uses the exact same sounds and elements time and time again. The percussion on almost every track is nearly identical, or at least the sounds used are. I could say similar things about the atmospheric elements and melodies as well.

Summary:
"Sound of Rebirth" works as a pretty good cross-section of Pleq's work. If you are new to him than this would be a good place to start. If you are familiar with his work than this is going to be more of the same, but the tracks themselves are well written and interesting. Great, depressive atmospheres as always. Definitely something to check out if you like the low key, minimal, somber, atmospheric ambient/IDM that's clicky but not too glitchy or technical. Looking at this on its own I would probably rate it an 8.5 or so, but when you take into account that it's not really very different from his other work, I have to give it a 7.5.

Overall Rating: 7.5-8.5/10

Stendeck - "Scintilla"

2011-07-13T14:53:00.004-04:00

Artist: Stendeck
Album: Scintilla
Year: 2011
Label: Tympanik
Genre: Electronica, IDM, Ambient
Website: www.stendeck.com
this album on discogs: here

Basics:
Scintilla is the highly awaited follow up to 2009's "Sonnambula". Once again, Stendeck brings us his trademark style of emotional electonic music, with hints of IDM and industrial flavor. This album is actually very similar in mood to recent Autoclav1.1 works such as "Love No Longer Lives Here". It has that same heavy, somber-yet-light atmosphere coupled with straight ahead, almost rock sounding drums, with pretty melodies and harmonies. Stendeck retains a little bit of his sound from older albums when he uses distorted beats, but this one is definitely much more similar to "Sonnambula" than "Faces". Pretty much gone is the dark grittiness of the older releases, in favor of bigger, cleaner production, and perhaps a slightly different palate of emotions.

Good stuff:
+ If you liked his previous work you will like this one. He brings his signature melancholic waves of synths and flurry of percussion. It's not quite as sad or dark, but it has a unique flavor to it, not terribly unlike "Sonnambula". These are well written, complex songs with many elements that work together very well.

+ His pads and melodies and gorgeous and emotive as always. Extremely atmospheric.

+ The production is his best work yet. It is quite a bit cleaner than his older albums, but the production has taken huge leaps forward. When he uses distorted beats now (they only appear in a handful of songs), they don't sound as flimsy or nasty, but they still give it "that stendeck sound", just better.

+ Whereas "Sonnambula" felt like one 60 minute song to me, the tracks on "Scintilla" are a little more varied. The mood is still very, almost overly, consistent throughout, but every song doesn't sound exactly the same.

Bad stuff:
- This is just my personal preference, but I miss the dark grittiness of his old albums like "Faces". I would've liked less straight forward beats as well, with more clicky, glitchy stuff.
- The only real negative thing I have to say about this album is that once again, similar to "Sonnambula", the songs are all very similar in sound/style/speed, and I generally get kind of bored after 6 or 7 songs in a row. However, the songs on their own are all pretty good.

Summary:
Yet another solid release for Stendeck. If you liked his previous work than you are sure to enjoy this. As I mentioned, it is lighter and cleaner, but that has its own merits. It is still incredibly heavy emotionally with much melancholy & beautiful atmosphere. If you are a fan of Tympanik, especially Autoclav1.1, than you will love this.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

GET THIS ALBUM: Adamned.age - "Fragile"

2011-07-12T09:52:00.001-04:00

I have been a big fan of idm/ambient producer Adamned.age ever since hearing the EP Photosphaere some years ago. It was a brilliant dark, gritty collection of IDM, and I've made a point to check out almost everything else she has released. Adamned.age's releases are all IDM and/or ambient, and the new album "Fragile" released via Camomille Music is no exception: it is definitely more focused on the ambient side of things, but there are still spots of glitchy, clicky percussion. I was a little disappointed with the last release I'd heard from her, "Whiteout", but the new one more than makes up for that. "Fragile" is a huge, beautifully epic work. There is a heavy focus on sweeping, enveloping organic atmospheres, and as such, the use of percussion is more subdued than some previous work, but it is executed brilliantly and fits very well with the ambiance. Her ambient stuff has a very hypnotic, visionary quality which sucks you in and you quickly forget the real world; this album is similar to her "Eiskind" EP in that aspect. For example, listening to this album and staring at the white text on black background of the blog is literally giving me minor hallucinations right now. The production and sound quality are definitely a step up from previous work. I am rather surprised that someone would release something of this caliber as a free digital release, but thus far all of her work under the Adamned.age moniker has been free so I guess it makes sense. This is a MUST check out for all fans of ambient and emotive IDM! Once again it proves that Adamned.age is very, very underrated and should really be much more well known.

download the album here: here
this album on discogs: here

Check it: Discogs.com Marketplace

2011-07-08T16:18:00.004-04:00

We are a little behind with posting; hopefully there we will get to some of the backlog next week. In the meantime, I want to a take a couple minutes to talk about something neat and music related that I've been using recently. Firstly, if you don't know about www.discogs.com, you should check it out. It's a very helpful resource when it comes to, well, music related discography information (probably most useful for music nerds like myself). It seems to be more focused on electronic music, although in the last couple years it's become more comprehensive when it comes to rock and metal (maybe other stuff, I don't check). I have recently gotten into their "Discogs Marketplace" which is vaguely like a half.com type thing where you can list your CDs for sale and buy/sell. It's a bit DIY, although in some sense that adds to the appeal. You basically place an order on the site (via a seller's "store") and the seller gets an invoice. Beyond that, the rest of the transaction is conducted independently between the buyer and seller (negotiating over messages and/or via paypal/whatever preferred payment method). Its seems weird and rather archaic at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly. It does have a feedback system however. It is VERY easy to use, and the fact that all the CD information is already on the website streamlines much of the listing process and really cuts down on the "wtf exactly am I buying?" question that plagues many ebay auctions. The interfaces and store designs are pretty solid and easy to navigate.
After a few transactions as a buyer, I decided to get into the selling portion. It is EXTREMELY easy to list things for sale. Much easier than ebay or half.com. Discogs takes a commission, but only after the items have sold. You can list and unlist items at no cost. Since all the talk of the music industry falling into steep decline, I wasn't sure if anyone would ever buy the stuff I listed, but figured whatever, I'd give it a shot. Turns out that the industry isn't dying as much as I thought. Within 2 days of listing ~30 discs I had gotten 4 orders from various countries, and most for multiple discs. So, the moral of the story here is that if you are interested in selling some of your CDs that are in good quality, or if you are looking for some discs that you haven't been able to find anywhere else, than you should definitely try discogs.com.

BUY THIS ALBUM: Enabl.ed - "Modules Fail"

2011-06-29T14:34:00.001-04:00

IDM producer Enabl.ed (aka Iameb 57) has recently dropped a new album on n5md's digital imprint Enpeg. I recently hear it and can say without a doubt that this new album completely blows away his previously releases. The tracks are well constructed, intelligently glitchy, and his melodies are better, more complex, and thicker than ever. The production/mastering is also a big step above his previous work. This is a huge album for fans of the glitchier side of IDM and should definitely be checked out by all patrons of the genre. You can preview all of the tracks on the Enpeg site.

get the album: here

Quick Looks 6-29-11

2011-06-29T14:14:00.003-04:00

Lucidstatic - "Symbiont Underground"

This one got buried under some discs and I kind of forgot about it. Anyway, better late than never I suppose. "Symbiont Underground" is 23 tracks of collaborations and remixes. As you can imagine, with such a wide range of artists, the end result is rather hit or miss. Surprisingly, there is actually a fairly consistent style showcased on this album: mainly sharp, high velocity, broken breakbeats coupled with slower, more melodic atmosphere and the occasional synthline. The highlights of the first disc are the tracks with Manufactura, Mothboy and Pig Fat. The one to skip is the track with Skullduggery and its horrid overly loud faux ohgr (more like kanye west autotuned) vocals. The second disc is equally hit and miss. The tracks with ESA, Nick R 61, and Mono Penguin are the best, in my opinion. If you're a fan of Lucidstatic's style than you will probably enjoy this record. If you don't like sporadic, mangled breaks and chaotic arrangements than probably skip it. Typically a hugely prolific musician, he hasn't release in a while and I'm curious as to what his next full length will bring. He did however recently release an EP as his alter ego Pandora's Black Book via Connexion Bizarre.

Autoclav1.1 - "All Standing Room In The Goodnight Saloon"

Here we have the eagerly awaited new Autoclav1.1 album. Ultimately, "All Standing Room" is more of the same. Tony Young has developed a very specific & instantly recognizable style, and it is immediately evident that this is an Autoclav album. If you're looking for a continuation of his last couple albums than you will definitely want to pick this one up. However, if you've played out those same last few records than this one will not be anything new. Either way, this album is full of beautiful piano lines, great melodic pads, straight-ahead unbroken (ironically) beats and thick, calm, winter-esque atmospheres. Lots of good tracks that will provide an engaging listen even if its not reinventing the wheel and they all pretty much use the exact same elements. I think he has spearheaded some new electronic version of post rock (post IDM maybe?). Fans of Tympanik will enjoy this one for sure.

Dead Man's Hill - "Spirits"

"Spirits" is the newest album from the prolific martial/dark ambient act. Typically, DMH produces work very similar to In Slaughter Natives, and this trend continues on "Spirits". Dark, ancient, brooding atmospheres meet with pounding ritualistic martial drums and bizarre otherworldly vocals. Though it doesn't have guitars, it almost feels like black metal at times (those are the vibes it gives off). One thing I really like about his work is how organic it all sounds; it doesn't sound like a guy in a studio trying to emulate the middle ages on a cheesy keyboard, instead it aptly conjures up visions of fog-covered forests, ancient castles, midnight rituals in moss-covered cathedral ruins, etc. I have always admired his amazing use of choirs and chanting, and he continues to deliver. The songs are generally quite long, but constantly evolve and have many parts and sections that they traverse, keeping them interesting. While yes, this is very similar to ISN, there are only a few bands doing that style (and it's such a great style) that I can't fault him for it. The production is muddy, but these are still powerful and compelling works, and if you like very dark, organic (almost medieval) martial-esque stuff and/or black metal than you will definitely want to check this out. It also comes with a video clip for the track 'Road To Sweet Waters'.

GET THIS ALBUM: Dirk Geiger - "Second Life"

2011-06-29T13:39:00.001-04:00

Tympanik audio recently released a free digital remix album of Dirk Geiger's debut album. I've only listened to it a bit, but so far I can say that the Subheim, Candle Nine, Autoclav1.1 and Hotaru Bay mixes are very good. You can grab it from the website here: http://tympanikaudio.com/releases/td009/

tracklist:

Night In Haskovo (Almaach remix)
Minus10 (SE remix)
Itch Glitch (Tapage remix)
Minus10 (Midimode mix)
Winter Senses (Anklebiter remix)
Noise Format (Subheim remix)
Night in Haskovo (Halogen Light remix by Candle Nine)
Overhead Projection (From Above mix by Autoclav1.1)
Winter Senses (Hotaru Bay remix)
Noise Format (Archos remix)
Autumn Life (Pleq remix)
Autumn Life (HFSN Vocal Mix)
Autumn Life (Strahlenzentrum remix)
Autumn Life (Ahnst Anders remix)

BUY THIS ALBUM: Arovane - "Atol Scrap" & "Icol Diston"

2011-06-23T12:37:00.001-04:00

Going back to the glory days of IDM a little bit more, here are two huge albums that must be owned by any fan of old school IDM.

"Atol Scrap" is the first CD/album release from Arovane and quite possibly my favorite. A lot of people say that its a knock off of early Autechre, and it would be pretty hard to go wrong there. I don't find it to be a clone at all, but it is definitely in that vein of old school, melodic, atmospheric IDM. Even has the nonsensical song titles (which, I have to admit that I love. I know its likely a good IDM album if it has a fractal cover and nonsense titles). When I try describe this kind of thing I always think of "what machines dream of". Despite being his debut full length (he had some vinyls prior to it), it has incredible maturity. The sound design, sequencing and production is all top notch.

"Icol Diston" is a CD collection of some of his vinyl releases. It was released in 2002 and covers the first vinyls he released from 97-2000 or so. This one is very similar in style to "Atol Scrap". Again, a definite must own for fans of early IDM like Autechre, Funckarma, Jega, etc. Great, intelligent glitchy beats that aren't over the top wankery, huge atmospheres and beautiful, memorable melodic lines.

Despite being 10-12 years old, these albums more than stand the test of time, and are still considerably better than most of what is being released today. If you are a fan of IDM make sure you do not sleep on Arovane. Unfortunately, due to its age, some of his stuff can be hard to find. It seems that almost all his albums are for sale on discogs from many european sellers, but very few north american sellers. I was, however, able to find "Icol Diston" on amazon for about 9$ usd.

Atol Scrap on discogs: here
Icol Diston on discogs: here

GET THIS ALBUM: Shrine - "Harmony, Bliss, Rust" [2006]

2011-06-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

This one is a little bit old, but I just discovered it today. This is a free, digital 3 track, 36 minute EP from ambient producer Shrine. I was first introduced to Shrine's album "The Final Asylum" by Frederic of Cyclic Law and have been checking out his stuff ever since. This EP is comprised of beautiful, richly organic, melodic droning soundscapes littered with subtle sfx and percussive elements. This is some of the most placid, tranquil stuff in my collection. It's very meditative and hypnotic; once you put it on it sweeps you up and you won't want to turn it off. Definitely for fans of Cyclic Law who are looking for something less dark, or drone acts like Law-Rah Collective who want something more interesting. Probably would appeal to fans of Alio Die, Steve Roach, Robert Rich etc as well.

I also highly encourage you to check out his 2 tracks on the Shrine/Lingua Fungi split for some really top notch dark ambient.

download here: here
this release on discogs: here

GET THESE ALBUMS: Trianglar Ascension - "Sexta Repvblica" & "Nibirusalem"

2011-06-08T10:03:00.000-04:00

Avid fans of dark ambient will probably recognize Triangular Ascension as being the one of the new signings to Cyclic Law with his recent album 'Leviathan Device'. What you may not know, however, is that he has a few previously released works under that name and they are free to download. One of these is called 'Nibirusalem' and is one 22 minute long-form droning dark ambient piece. It's a solid ethereal track that slowly builds and gathers strength as its snakes its way along. It is repetitive in a hypnotic, captivating way, but still has enough variation and changes to keep you interested. A must listen if you enjoy spacey/ancient sounding ambient. Very dark and otherworldly without being boring or directionless. The other release that I am familiar with is called 'Sexta Repvblica' and is quite a departure from his dark ambient sound. This 4-track release is all martial industrial/ambient with huge pounding beats and aggressive war-time atmospheres. Despite being a divergence in style, it is done rather well and contains some very good tracks on it that will surely please fans of Triarii, Arditi, etc. The sound design and production on both of these is quite good and modern. Again, both of these releases are free, so don't miss them! There is another, earlier, single track long ambient release called Microcosmogensis, but I have not heard it yet.

Saturnoculto Records: main site archive.org: here
these releases on discogs: Nibirusalem, Sexta Repvblica, Microcosmogensis

Peep this: Yen Pox - "Universal Emptiness" Vinyl

2011-06-06T10:23:00.000-04:00

9 years after their last album, the split CD with Troum, dark ambient masters Yen Pox return with this 10" on the new imprint of Drone Records, Substantia Innominata. I cannot wait to hear this. Hopefully this means more new Yen Pox is coming in the near future...

Here's a funny blurb from the label:

Finally NEW material by the "almost legendary" US-duo, working with deep e-bass sounds to create a really isolationistic mass of darkest cosmic ambience; artwork by the great artist & photographer EYELYFT (www.eyelyft.com) feat. gloss spot printing parts; comes on BLACK vinyl, lim. 500, over 30 min. playtime! **extra NOTE: the original material was so massive that it needed 3 master-plates before it could be pressed - the original tracks had to be shortened & de-equalized as they were TOO HEAVY!

release on discogs: here

Peep this: Inade - "Antimimon Pneumatos"

2011-06-06T10:04:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite ambient projects, Inade, just released a new boxset. As you can see above it comes with a cool box, some inserts and a shirt. Unfortunately it looks like its all live material and after Colliding Dimensions it's kinda like "really, MORE?" However, this was recorded in 09-10 so it's got some newer material on it from Solar Architects as well as some titles I don't recognize. Seems like an interesting collection that fans of Inade may want to check out. Apparently it's only available via their label Loki Foundation.

loki: here
this release on discogs: here

Wounds of the Earth Compilation IV taking submissions now!!

2011-05-25T11:39:00.005-04:00

Wounds of the Earth Compilation IV: Eridanus Supervoid
coming: December 2012

featuring mainly new and exclusive tracks from:

Nordvargr [Old Europa Cafe / Cold Spring]
Visions [Cyclic Law]
New Risen Throne [Cold Meat Industry / Cyclic Law]
Dahlia's Tear [Cold Meat Industry]
Parhelion [Cyclic Law]
Triangular Ascension [Cyclic Law]
Psychomanteum [Cyclic Law]
Phaenon [Malignant]
Emme Ya [Cold Spring]
Coph'antae Tryr [HORUS CyclicDaemon]
Roto Visage [Autumn Wind Productions]
Nors'klh [First Fallen Star]
Mystified [First Fallen Star]
c.db.sn [Tympanik]
Access to Arasaka [Tympanik]
Famine [Tympanik]
Millipede [Hymen]

+ more!!

This will be available in FLAC & MP3 formats!

BUY THIS ALBUM: Bitcrush - "Enarc"

2011-05-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

Today, we're going back in time to the beginning of the Bitcrush lineage. This was Mike Cadoo's first release under the moniker, towards the end of Gridlock and when he was still writing noisey IDM/industrial. The first Bitcrush outing, "Enarc" sounds quite similar to his Dryft stuff, and both sound like a trimmed down Gridlock. What this lacks in technicality it makes up for in emotion. This is the release that turned me on to Component records and Cadoo's own N5MD. "Enarc" showcases my favorite style of IDM -- and perhaps music in general: colossal, sweeping pads, pulsating with emotion combined with distorted chopped/glitchy beats. The percussion is more straight forward and subdued than Gridlock ("Enarc" has a lot of chopped up breaks), but it lends to a more laid back, dreamy atmosphere allowing you to focus on the melodic elements. The pads and melodies are exceptionally beautiful and there is a good amount of diversity between songs. The album 'ends' (there is technically a hidden track beyond it) with the 14 opus 'Carbon Rewind' which is some of the most brilliant and hypnotic droning ambient/idm since Autechre's 'Rsdio'. After this album Cadoo took Bitcrush into post rock territory, for better or worse, however, fans of industrial IDM NEED to own this album. No exceptions.

this release on discogs: here

BUY THIS ALBUM: Voice of Eye - "Anthology Two"

2011-05-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

Voice of Eye is a band whose name I have seen often, but never quite got around to checking out. A few months ago I saw the blurb for this release on Malignant Distro (it's released via Transgredient Records), which said that this album was something of a must have for fans of tribal/ethno ambient. That said, I checked some of their stuff out, liked it, and then went on to buy this album, "Anthology 2 1992-96", which is something of a cross section of their work (released, b-sides, alt versions) from that time period which have all been graciously remastered and presented in this sweet double digipak. Unfortunately, this stuff isn't very "tribal" (compared to some of their other albums from that time period), but it's still very good droning ambient with great atmosphere. Only a few of the tracks have percussive elements, though they do a fantastic job using weird textures and processed field recordings while keeping everything flowing and sounding 'smooth'. Even though this stuff is pretty droning, it is still quite active, with a plethora of sound layers and changes in each track. While this could probably be titled 'experimental ambient', Voice of Eye does justice to the term, as these tracks are very cohesive and tight (not 'random shit' as I tend to associate with the experimental tag). The re-mastering on this Anthology is fantastic; the album has a huge, deep sound and it does not sound dated at all. Definitely a must have for fans of droning ambient in the vein of Yen Pox.

You should be able to find this at most dark ambient distros
this album on discogs: here

news 5.17.11

2011-05-17T07:59:00.000-04:00

I, the lord and master of this blog (editor), will be going out of town for the next week, so no updates for a bit. However, upon my return we will begin work on compiling a new compilation and details / guidelines will be posted soon. We are thinking of stepping up our game and doing two more compilations this year, one coming up soon in the summer/fall and then one later on in the winter, running into next year. Details soon!

GET THIS ALBUM: V/A - "When Light's Drillin The Haze"

2011-05-17T07:48:00.004-04:00

Here is an interesting new free digital comp with a funny name from a label called Chroniques Electroniques. It features a pretty strong line up of tracks (exclusive ones, I believe) from acts like Access to Arasaka, Dirk Geiger, Roel Funcken & Cor Bolten, Tapage, Candle Nine, Amorph, Pleq & Nebulo, etc as well as mastering from Vincent Villuis aka Aes Dana / Ultimae Records.

check it out: here
release on discogs: here

GET THIS ALBUM: Penjaga Insaf - "To Whom It May Concern"

2011-05-17T07:48:00.003-04:00

I couldn't really get into the most recent Penjaga Insaf album (Sama Sadja - on Loki Foundation's Power & Steel), however I heard some of their compilation tracks and really liked them. Then I read that one of the guys from Herbst9 worked with PI, possibly extensively on their first album To Whom It May Concern, so I decided to track it down. I was pretty happy to find that TWIMC (released on Herbst9s's label Shortwave Transmission) is totally different from Sama Sadja, and I really, really enjoy it. It's more droney and focuses more on dark, non-intrusive atmospheres, and is more in line with a Herbst9 album. It's got some really great synths, weird sounds and subtle rhythmic elements to keep the tracks flowing. Unfortunately it is super limited and is probably long sold out since its release in 2005. I don't want to condone piracy, but that may in fact be the only way of acquiring this album. If you are a fan of Loki Foundation stuff than you need to hear this! I'm going to give Sama Sadja another shot, but in the meantime I'm going to be spinning this one a lot. I also encourage everyone to check out their track "Cross The Border" on the free Emissions compilation from Kalpamantra

abum on discogs: here

Ex_tension - "Freedom"

2011-05-10T12:27:00.005-04:00

Artist: Ex_tension
Album: Freedom
Year: 2011
Label: Signifier
Genre: Technoid, Industrial
Website: http://ex.tension.free.fr/
this release on discogs: here

Basics:
Freedom is the latest offering from Ex_tension, and it comes to us on a brand new US-based label, Signifier. From the looks of things, it appears that Signifier is trying to follow in the footsteps of Ant Zen (definitely not a bad thing), as the album art is very Salt-esque, and the music seems to be just the sort of hybrid technoid that one would expect from a label like Ant Zen / Hymen. This album was apparently originally released in 2006 and has been re-mastered for its first official release.

Good stuff:
+ Cool synths. Ex_tension seem to be fans of using layers of constantly modulating synthlines, such as you might hear in VAC or the psybient genre (Aes Dana, Solar Fields, Bluetech, etc). Some of the synths have a cool middle-eastern tinge to them. For some reason (I guess the repetitive driving beats) this will inevitably get the “tribal” tag, though it really is not; however, I would say it’s definitely got a major psy influence.

+ Most of the album feels like your standard Ant Zen fair: driving, repetitive, moderately complex tracks that work well on the dance floor. The majority of Freedom is pretty clean, but occasionally they use some distorted beats which immediately take it into “I bet you can’t tell its not ant zen” territory. It's also not TBM.

+ Solid production. The synths have a pretty good, thick sound, and the percussion really kicks.

+ The zNo remix really transforms the title track into something completely different, and much more atmospheric, crunchy and industrial.

Bad stuff:
- This album is a little too repetitive to me - all the tracks use very similar sounds and go for the same driving, dance-y sound. The press release states this was originally released in 06 and in some ways it shows. The production/re-mastering is good enough, but the songs are kind of simplistic and lack the maturity typically present in a band’s third or fourth release (according to discogs, they have been releasing since 05 or so). I’m not familiar with Ex_tension, but I bet if you listen to some of their tracks from 09 or 2010 they sound more advanced/developed than this.

- The 3+ minute intro to Lust (extended) is totally unnecessary and boring. I listen to music at low volumes at work and it sounds like a 3 minute gap of silence, which is great for the flow on an album.

Summary:
A pretty good offering from Ex_tension, and a good beginning for the Signifier label. If you are looking for something that combines the atmosphere and synth work of psybient with the driving, gritty, technoid sound of ant zen than you will want to pick this up. Fans of said styles will definitely find something to enjoy here, though I doubt it’s going to be anyone’s favorite album.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Cyclic Law reissues 2 Kammarheit releases!

2011-05-05T12:11:00.000-04:00

Cyclic Law recently re-issued their two Kammarheit albums "Asleep and Well Hidden" and "The Starwheel". These are two huge albums for fans of droning dark ambient and if you don't have them already I urge you to check them out asap. Kammarheit is also the guy behind Cities Last Broadcast.

Cyclic Law also recently re-issued the first Northaunt CD "The Ominous Cycle" and Svartsinn "Of Darkness and Re-creation". Both of those are remastered in new packaging.

cyclic law: here

BUY THIS ALBUM: Blood Box - "Funeral In An Empty Room"

2011-05-05T12:04:00.002-04:00

Finally, after countless years (7), dark ambient master Blood Box (aka Michael JV Hensley of Yen Pox fame) returns with a new album on Loki Foundation's Power & Steel label. His previous album "The Iron Dream" is one of my favorite dark ambient works, and I was quite curious to see if he would live up to that after such a long period of seeming inactivity. The answer to that is yes, and this album kicks ass. Similar to his previous works, although this one seems to be more dynamic, Funeral In An Empty Room is a must check out for all fans of the genre.

loki foundation: here
this release on discogs: here

Peep this: Autechre - "EPs 1991 - 2002"

2011-05-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here is a pretty nifty recent release. Warp records has bundled up most of Autechre's EPs from 91-02 in this 5xCD boxset. It's not totally complete, but its got Anti EP, Basscad EP, Anvil Vampre, Garbage, Envane, EP7, Gantz Graf, and a few more, including their first ever release Cavity Job! It's all been remastered and placed in the super boring black on black box you see above. I got the set for around 27$ US on amazon, so if you are a fan of Autechre looking to hear some of their misc works without having to shell out the money for / track down each individual EP than there is really no reason not to check this out. It's a great deal and very convenient, imo, and I'm quite glad that Warp decided to do this re-issue.

release on discogs: here

Featurette: FIRST FALLEN STAR (Label)

2011-04-27T10:18:00.000-04:00

Today I want to bring to your attention a new birth in the realm of dark ambient. First Fallen Star, which formed in 2009, is an up and coming label out of the US. Though they haven't been around for long, they are already compiling quite a worthy catalog of releases, with many more on the horizon. There are a lot of shitty, or at best unnecessary, ambient labels out there, and so it pleases me greatly to be able to spread the word about an upstart that is worthwhile and has quite a lot of potential.First Fallen Star has clearly worked hard for its artists so far, getting their releases to many major distros coupled with getting coverage in many scene-related publications, and I hope this momentum continues unhindered. If you are a fan of any sort of dark ambient than you will want to take the time to read on about this label and make a point to check out some of their releases.

check out the label here: http://www.firstfallenstar.com

.Interview with First Fallen Star.

Firstly, tell us a bit about the label: the philosophy, the history, whatever.

After 5 years of running the Dark Music Domain online shop, it was time to take the next step. In early 2009, we began label activities while the website was still being designed. At the time, Karsten Hamre was looking for a label to release two albums – one under his own name and another under Dense Vision Shrine. Karsten took a great leap of faith in deciding to come on board with First Fallen Star at a time when, despite worldwide economic troubles, upstart record labels were popping up like weeds every single day. We were sincerely flattered by the opportunity to start off the label with releases of Karsten’s music. Since mid 2009 and the release of those Karsten Hamre and Dense Vision Shrine albums, we have only released 4 other albums, choosing to take the time needed to properly plan and release music. Later in 2011, we plan to release the sophomore album by Innfallen, “Weathered Roads to a Burning Bridge,” as well as Melek-Tha’s massive 12CD set, “H.P. Lovecraft, Volumes 1-6”!

What inspired you to start a label? What do you feel your label can/will/has contributed to the greater ocean of dark ambient music?

Starting the label was the inevitable next step stemming from having operated the Dark Music Domain online music shop for 5 years prior. I wanted a deeper involvement with the music I personally enjoyed – short of trying my inept hands at creating music myself. I also felt that we could strengthen the experimental music “scene” by releasing excellent music – and doing it well! In recent years, there has been a surge of upstart CD-R labels releasing absolutely everything that any music submitted to them, whether it was truly the product of an inspired artist or just the foolishness of someone playing with a synthesizer. Many of these CD-R record labels do a miserable job of producing the music and album packaging, never promote the music, rarely compensate the artists, and customers often receive damaged merchandise from them. The sheer ineptitude of the people running these labels is nothing less than criminal, and absolutely inexcusable. Their actions serve only to dilute the pool of ambient/experimental music with low-quality releases, as well as to undermine the trust of the fans in any new or unfamiliar record labels out there and the experimental music genre as a whole. First Fallen Star may be a new label, but we have already done better than many other upstart labels, and with only 6 quality releases thus far, we have absolutely contributed more to the genre of dark ambient. With time and the expansion of our catalog, the proof will become even clearer than it already is. The albums on our label are well crafted by the artists, they are professionally mastered, the discs and album packaging are professionally manufactured, the albums are promoted considerably, and the artists are compensated. You might think that this isn’t extraordinary at all, or that it is nothing less than what a record label ought to be doing, but when it is not what most labels are doing, just doing the job right becomes an amazing accomplishment.

It is often said that there is nothing new that can be created in the realm of dark ambient music. For people who truly believe that, it is true to them, and they will never want to hear anything contrary. This unfortunate perspective is reflected in the myriad of music reviewers who proclaim 90% of what they review as “nothing new,” with the only exceptions being their favorite artists: Nordvargr, Raison D’Etre, etc. If we are going to take only a few minutes to evaluate an hour-long album, skimming through it to find something that strikes our fancy, and inevitably encountering drones, tones, and types of sounds often found in dark ambient, then yes, I imagine that a person would say that a given album is “nothing new.” But dark ambient is a journey. It is something to be explored, which takes time. For people who are impatient, everything is “just drones” and “nothing is new.” But that is not reality. Even the most minimalistic music is an experience distinct from any other. To truly hear that and appreciate it, though, you cannot actually expect each artist to have reinvented the proverbial wheel. To expect that is foolish. First Fallen Star is not seeking to reinvent the wheel. We just lend a discerning ear to the artists we encounter, and strive to release music by those few who have created something intricate, something developed, something with dimension to it, something in which a person can become immersed – a journey!

To continue on a bit with that, how did you get into Ambient music in the first place? What attracts you to this style?

Personally, it was something I stumbled upon while searching the internet to seek out more “dark” music. (Rather, seeking information on genres and specific bands/projects – not downloads, which were an unfortunate consequence of the digital age that emerged later.) I had discovered gothic rock and industrial music very late in the game during the late 1990’s, and for the next few years, I was ravenous for more – not just finding bands I had not heard of before, but also related genres. Eventually, I came across dark ambient, which was appealing to me for a few reasons. Among many projects, there was an emphasis – aurally, visually, thematically – on the natural world, and at that point in my life, I was working toward a degree in biology, so the appeal within the music was inherent and instantaneous! I admit that I also have something of a penchant for darker themes in movies, music, and books because the “darkness” is just as much a part of our existence as the “light,” but people are so damned afraid of death and disease that they over-saturate not just their own lives, but entire cultures with unnatural optimism and an unwarranted emphasis on obtuse religious notions in a failed attempt to ward away the darkness they see in physical existence – as if it could be escaped, or even separated somehow! But I digress. Ambient and dark ambient music are very relaxing, and therein lies broad appeal among the innumerable fans of the genres. Northaunt was, as I recall, the first dark ambient project I ever heard. And it remains one of my favorite projects within the genre, as Herleif never settled for simple drones, but deftly employed sound recordings and even some subtle instrumentation to successfully communicate moods and themes in a way that many other projects have tried – and failed – to emulate.

Back to your mention of a label’s duties – what do you think is the key to promoting these types of releases? The problem for many is that they see dark ambient as such niche genre that is typically only aimed at a very select audience.

Yes, that is certainly a problem for many people who have not “broken into” experimental music (ambient, dark ambient, whatever) and have not truly even sampled it yet. I think that another major problem is the concern – held both by established fans of the genre and people who have heard very little of it, if any – that every artist/band/project is creating very simplistic sounds (“just drones”) and that there isn’t anything appealing in it. The key to promoting these releases, in my opinion, is to clearly establish the theme. As superficial as it seems, good album artwork actually is a necessity. But the artist and the record label have to establish an obvious connection between the music and the themes it claims to express or represent. A good album description is another part of that process. It shouldn’t be this painfully simplistic, but it is. In fact, it is so simple that it eludes many artists and their record labels. In many cases, the music is actually horrible, simplistic, or both, and the record label is just some lazy slob living in his mother’s basement, hoping to miraculously get rich by riding the coattails of the artists and offering nothing in return.

To offer an example and shamelessly promote a project on the First Fallen Star label, take Innfallen’s “Three Days of Darkness.” This project is actually two people: Doyle Finley of Invercauld (a well-known dark ambient project) and Kevin Scala, who is new to music but has already proved himself through his work with Innfallen. These two people have very different belief systems but chose the Catholic prophecy of the “Three Days of Darkness” as the theme for their album. The tracks on the album are not random references to horror or religion, or obtuse conglomerations of words with no clear intent, but actually follow the events outlined within this prophecy. On this skeletal framework of a working theme and tracklisting, we find the meat of the matter: These two people clearly created soundscapes that portray the exact events that they claim to portray – and adeptly so! It isn’t “just drones,” or tones, or recordings of clanging bits of metal. Each track portrays a specific event in the timeline, and the individual tracks are absolutely distinct from one another. They are multi-dimensional soundscapes crafted in soundtrack style! The theme is obvious, and the aural presentation of that theme is very clear! And the excellent reviews that followed this album were well deserved by Doyle and Kevin!

Must every album within the genre be formulaic? No, not at all. But there’s no sense in even suggesting that you have a theme in mind if you cannot communicate that to the listener in some fashion. (After all, would you buy an album on a blank CD in a blank package with nothing more than a title that was described only as “some drones”?) And that’s a big problem within the genre. In an increasingly impatient world, people need a good reason to spend an hour of their time immersing themselves in your album. They have to be “sold on it” first!

Your website talks about it a bit, but tell us more about The Eulogy Series that First Fallen Star does. How did the idea come about? Any other concepts you’d like to do?

The Eulogy Series was the product of brainstormed attempts to come up with a way to add a personal dimension to dark ambient that may not have otherwise been obvious. All artists have a backstory to the albums they release. Some of them are better than others in communicating what that backstory is, and translating it into music and sounds. The connection, though, is not always obvious. Through the Eulogy Series, we encourage artists to lend considerable thought to their personal beliefs, especially regarding life and death and what lies beyond the grave, and then translate that into music. Given the highly personal and emotionally intimate nature of this task laid before the artists, their respective backstories are more complex and more obviously connected to the music they crafted than they may otherwise have been if it were any other album.

Although we have a horde of other concepts that we would take great pride in bringing to life, only time will tell which ones are in fact brought to life. Considerable time has been invested in seeking ways to encourage artists to produce music with greater dimension than most of what is available within the dark ambient genre, and to conjure themes with wide appeal to the existing dark ambient fans as well as new fans. Again, time will tell.

When a friend first told me about your label, he said “they typically have interesting & unique packaging”. Tell us more about how you come up with the ideas for the packaging and where you acquire them. Any ideas for future packaging?

In a world where people care less and less about album packaging and the overall presentation of an album, innovation is admittedly difficult. There are a finite number of packaging options and physical materials that can be employed in a practical and efficient manner in presenting an album to the fans. We would love to do something truly unique for each album we release, but it just isn’t possible. That having been said, we have had a few good ideas thus far. Comments similar to those of your friend’s statement have most often been received in response to the albums by Innfallen, Mystified, and Melek-Tha.

Innfallen’s album was presented in an “uncoated” A5 digipak (also known as a DVDigipak). The paper is not coated with gloss or any other such substance, so the surface appears as textured paperboard or cardstock – perhaps somewhat akin to what has been used by Cyclic Law for many releases. Admittedly, this was a packaging option made available by one of the disc replication companies we have worked with – not an original idea. This packaging option, however, worked perfectly with the artwork of Innfallen’s “Three Days of Darkness,” complementing well the mood of the album.

Mystified’s “Passing Through the Outer Gates,” of course, was Volume 1 in our Eulogy Series. The album packaging was a glossy 6-panel A5 digipak featuring silver foil-embossed lettering and a coffin-shaped die-cut hole in the digipak cover that reveals the true “album cover” artwork on the digipak panel underneath. In this way, the coffin shape is symbolic, representing a gateway to what lies beyond – or, rather, what the artist believes to lie beyond the grave. Death is but a doorway! … If all goes well, Svartsinn will follow up with Volume 2 in the Eulogy Series!

Melek-Tha’s “H.P. Lovecraft, Volumes 1-6” set (12 CDs in the standard set, 14 CDs in the box set) is highly anticipated by fans largely because of the box set edition. Although box sets constructed of wood or metal are nice, they are still somewhat two-dimensional. We wanted a medium that could “express a third dimension” that wood and metal were not able to do. We needed a different material. So we commissioned sculptor Corinne Crowe (known for her Cthulhu statues at CthulhuStatues.com) to sculpt an original piece that could be cast in resin (plastic) and serve as the box for the box set edition of this multi-disc release. Although the box is still box-shaped, the “third dimension” we sought is manifested in the form of tentacles that rise up from the sides of the box, reaching up and over the top of it. (Tentacles, of course, being quite relevant to any mention of Lovecraft due to the eternal popularity of Cthulhu!) One of the tentacles writhing across the side of the box serves as a handle for the false bottom integrated into the design. Removal of the false bottom will reveal a bonus set of 2 CDs within the bottom of the box!

After the eventual release of the Melek-Tha set, it will be difficult to set the bar any higher in terms of creativity, but we do have a few good ideas on hand!

Where do you hope to take the label in the future?

To places left unexplored by our predecessors in dark ambient / experimental music! Although we may seem to be a quiet, relatively less productive record label, unfathomable ideas are always writhing in the darkness below, threatening to emerge at any time. Exactly what will come to life is determined by a combination of destiny and deliberation. We have been very careful to release only the finest sounds, and to present and promote them to the best of our ability! What can you expect from us in the future? Follow us closely to find out.

Any final words? Wounds of the Earth wishes you much luck in the future!

Thanks to Wounds of the Earth for the opportunity to be interviewed and shamelessly promote ourselves! Thanks is also due to the many, many reviewers and radio & podcast program hosts who took time out of their lives to lend an ear to our artists’ albums, and write up a review or offer tracks up for the listening pleasure of fans within the genre! Last but not least – and without a doubt, most importantly – THANK YOU to the artists who have already been or are soon to be a part of our team at First Fallen Star! We appreciate the faith they have had in us! We are nothing without them!

-----------------

.Wounds looks at the works of First Fallen Star.

Despite being a fairly recent upstart, FFS already has a solid catalog of material available now. Here is our take on their releases thus far:

Karsten Hamre – “Through The Eyes of a Stranger”

This album was my introduction to First Fallen Star. You may know Karsten from one of his many other monikers such as Arcane Art, Penitent, or Dense Vision Shrine. I was very pleasantly surprised by this album; it is a very mature and complex work of dark ambient. It is subdued enough to offer a relaxing and meditative experience, but also complex enough for enjoyable active listening. The album offers up myriad layers of rich, evolving drones, well created, interesting synthwork, visionary pads and sound effects (the good CMI type stuff – distant banging, clanking, rustling, etc) to conjure up some interesting atmospheres and successfully transport the listen to another place. This reminds me a bit of the good, older albums that got me interested in dark ambient in the first place. One of the best ambient dark albums I’ve heard in 2011 so far. It also comes with a DVD of very fitting imagery.

Dense Vision Shrine – “Time Lost In Oblivion”

Dense Vision Shrine is another project of the aforementioned Karsten Hamre. This album is similar to the one described above, though “Time Lost In Oblivion” is significantly more cinematic. Where “Through The Eyes of a Stranger” is passive and droning, this one is active and bombastic, riddled with modern classical and martial aspects. If you are looking for pad-heavy ambient with well-crafted cinematic and martial elements (again, this album reminds me of the great CMI works) than do not pass this one up. Sound design and production are both solid; he achieves the good, nostalgic, dark & organic sound of older dark ambient classics, but fitted with modern production that gives just the right amount of power to the tracks without making them sound too digital or synthetic. Like the Karsten Hamre album this comes with a bonus DVD and is a must hear for fans of the aforementioned styles.

Aspectee – “Morben”

Despite the rather lackluster artwork, this is actually a very solid release. Morben is a work composed of numerous layered and evolving drones, subtle melodic elements and some odd sonic textures (Somewhat similar to Allseits or Parhelion). Despite befitting of the term ‘drone’, “Morben” is not boring or simplistic. It succeeds very well in creating a massive wall of atmosphere which consumes and completely envelops the listener. It will keep you hooked and you will not desire to skip tracks nor turn it off. Every time I listen to this I feel myself slipping away from the waking world and falling into sort of a lull / dreamstate. Listening to this feels like being high, such that the world of dream has nearly merged with the waking world and only a thin veil separates the two. Throw this on and let yourself get lost in it. Definitely check this out if you are a fan of droning, visionary ambient.

Innfallen – “Three Days of Darkness”

This album is pure, unstoppable darkness. This is the most dark / evil release so far on FFS, and is reminiscent of New Risen Throne and Konau. This album is full of haunting sounds and oppressive, weighty droning textures. An absolutely must have for fans of that style of black ambient! Pick this up and listen to the sound of humanity collapsing in upon itself. If you are looking for truly dark ambient than get this now. They are preparing to release a follow up soon and I cannot wait to hear it.

Mystified – “Passing Through the Outer Gates” (Eulogy series vol. 1)

To be honest, before this album I really wasn’t impressed at all with what I’ve heard from Mystified. The stuff I had heard was predominately simplistic, directionless drone. That said, he has really stepped up his game with this release. "Passing Through The Outer Gates" has a convincing tribal, ancient feel to it, as he is now employing the use of ethnic percussion and melodic elements. Mystified does a good job of bringing to life visions of forgotten desert cities, or perhaps the arcane cities of the afterlife, considering the theme. The tracks are repetitive, but the sound design and production are both a big step up from previous works. The packaging is absolutely beautiful and there is some great mastering courtesy of Frederic Arbour of Cyclic Law. I'm looking forward to see where the Eulogy Series will go after this - the next release is supposedly from Svartsinn.

Secret Druid Society – “Restless”

The most recent release from FFS comes from Australia’s Secret Druid Society. This is a work of pure drone; utilizing only layers upon layer of moving, shifting, ebbing and flowing drones and pads. This might be a little boring for some, but if you are a fan of that style than you will definitely find this enjoyable. “Restless” does a good job of capturing the ideas presented in the press release: the future of our planet, post-mankind; the cold, crushing emptiness that is completely devoid of human life. The artwork is exceptional and it comes with a nice booklet with some descriptions of each track coupled with very compelling photography. I'm very glad to see a label putting time and effort into packaging, and this release exemplifies quality packaging that supplements the music well, and feels like a complete multi media album, rather than just a collection of sound with some arbitrary picture on the cover. This goes for many of the albums so far on FFS, and if the interview and website are any indication, this will continue, and likely evolve, as the label grows.

check out First Fallen Star here:
homepage
First Fallen Star on discogs

Worms of the Earth Interview

2011-04-25T11:14:00.011-04:00

Interview with rhythmic noise/dark ambient artist Worms of the Earth.

more info: http://wormsoftheearth.blogspot.com

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

Technically Worms started in 04 – that’s when I began writing under the moniker, though the first demos weren’t shaped until 06. I’ve been dabbling in music since 2000 or so, but it wasn’t until late 06, early 07 that I had the epiphany “hey, I really like doing this – maybe I should get more serious”. So, after the first demo I put up online, I started spending all my money on gear and most of my time reading on how to become a better producer. In the beginning, I really had no idea what I was doing and the style was unfocused and kind of all over the place. Another guy and I worked together for a little bit in 07, and I wrote some really shitty “terror ebm” / industrial, but once he left and I learned more about producing, I was finally able to realize a suitable shell to house Worms in, mainly focusing on dark ambient influenced rhythmic noise. Since then I’ve released a full length & an EP on the Bugs Crawling Out Of People label (in 08 and 10 respectively), done some remixes, and appeared on some comps.

What inspires you to write music? What draws you to the medium of idm/ambient music?

For me, it is the need for creative expression - whether it be music, art, photography, writing, whatever. The longer I live, the more I realize that this is the only thing that has purpose; that has a reason for doing. Creative expression, to me, can be the true, unobscured output of the self. It is my raison d’etre.

I am inspired by lots of things, namely the ancient world(s), technology, ‘occult’ ideas, literature, and nature. The best way I can describe the way I write tracks is like this: There is a place - a dimension, collective unconscious, whatever - that I can’t describe or name. Through creative expression, in this case music, I am able to open a portal to, and ‘tap into’ that place. When I’m creating sounds, sequencing, etc., it is as if I am reaching through and pulling things from the void and giving them form in this world. As I learn more about production and my gear, I am able to more fully interface with the other place, and manifest these designs in proper form. Once enough ideas come through, the album or ep or whatever will ‘feel’ finished, and at that time I will assess it as a whole; realizing the concepts and pathways that run through the work(s), finding the names that best suit the pieces, and arranging them as necessary. I’m sure that sounds ridiculously pretentious, but I’m not just saying this for dramatic effect; it is a mystic process for me, and almost nothing is done haphazardly or arbitrarily; there is quite a bit of thought put into even what may be seen as trivial things, such as track title, placement etc.

I am drawn to IDM and Industrial for kind of the same reasons. The main thing is that both are about circumventing the mainstream and doing things in a DIY, inventive and genuine fashion. It is about experimenting and truly finding the soul of your gear (and yourself) and bringing it out. I like Industrial specifically because it’s about darkness and grit: I love cyberpunk and, in my opinion, Industrial music embodies all the things I love about it – urban decay, high technology, the juxtaposition of ruin and opulence through technological advancement, robots /cyborgs / perfection of the self through robotic means, all that shit. IDM, to me, is sort of a different aspect of that same culture. IDM is more about the inner worlds of said technology and computer systems. I’ve always kind of thought of IDM as music that is either made by machines, and/or that plays in a machine’s dreams. I like the cold, calculated perfection of it. I know it’s very highly debated as to what IDM is or isn’t – but speaking from my own perspective as to what it is, I love the fact that there is a genre that requires complexity as a basic criteria, and I love the IDM that combines the deliberate complexity that can only be produced by machine with beautiful and emotional elements. For example, if rock music can conjure the imagery of a beach, IDM can conjure the imagery of a perfect, synthetic beach where all the flaws have been erased and everything is pure and functions efficiently. I guess IDM connects with my idealistic side.

I like ambient music because it captures and displays beauty. It may be minimal, or boring, or whatever, but I find that it is the best music to truly capture the essence of certain things and places. Atmosphere is the most important part of music in my opinion, and ambient music is pure atmosphere. I have little interest in listening to things with no ambience.

Your track for the compilation is “Mul Aš-iku”. Can you give us a bit on insight on what inspired this track, how you composed it, etc.?

Well firstly, I wanted to try something new with the track. My releases are mainly Rhythmic Noise, but I’ve been experimenting with IDM-ish stuff. I wanted to try working on something more minimal; something that has lots of space in it while still being complex and dynamic. The first thing I came up with is the pad that opens the track. From there it took on life and it became an exercise in trying to create the atmosphere of an abandoned space station. There is one passage in a William Gibson book (Count 0, if I remember correctly) where one of the characters finds themselves in such an environment, specifically in a large, forgotten room with hundreds of robot hands whirring around above them, forever toiling, abandoned and left without purpose. That image has stuck with me ever since I read that book, and kind of summarizes the focus of the track. I used the Virus TI Snow for the pads and the Elektron MachineDrum for most of the source drum material. Some of the drums and glitching noises came from a technique most idm producers will recognize that entails opening up a non-audio file in audio software, resulting in a slew of noise and corrupted sounds. I chopped these up, effected and resampled them for much of the sfx. For the melody I tried FM8, which I have really never used before, in hopes of creating something dynamic, evolving, and otherworldly. I was quite pleased with the capabilities of this synth. I layered the result with some melodic lines run through a variety of granulators to get the twisted, broken machinery sound. Though I do use plugins like Scrubby, BufferOverdrive, etc, I do a lot of glitching manually by drilling down to 1/64 notes, slicing, effecting tiny portions of each sound differently, and moving stuff around in the sequencer. I also used Absynth for some of the dark droning stuff, and a few field recordings for some of the machine-like sounds.

The name, Mul Aš-iku, comes from Babylonian star lore. The name itself basically means “the field constellation” (i.e. an irrigated field), however the field symbol was also supposed to be a depiction of the abyss (Abzu) which Babylonians described as a watery realm that was both populated by the Seven Sages who brought the knowledge of art to mankind, as well as being the throne/domain of Enki. At this point I should clarify a bit; there is a bit of mythos surrounding the Worms of the Earth project which has yet to be fully explained or realized. “The Lesser Ophidian Gate” very covertly delved into it and it will be explained more in depth across future releases. Anyhow, this mythos, in brief, involves Hollow Earth and an ancient race that came to earth eons ago and created human kind. Enki was the “god” (or rather, ‘scientist’) who was responsible for “creating” the humans – he did so by building their DNA, possibly from hybridizing his (‘alien’) race’s dna with primitive humans. There is much more to be said, but I am only going into this briefly to explain why the title was chosen – this intersection of the cosmos, mysticism, technology and nature. There are two paths that Worms of the Earth travels, and this mythos will be illuminated more with future releases.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear, etc.?

I’ve gone through quite a bit of gear over the last few years while trying to figure out what has the sounds that I’m looking for and that I can best ‘interface with’, and I’ve finally gotten to a point where I have all the tools I need and am not looking for much more. Currently I am using a PC running Cubase 5 with a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 for interface and ADAM A7s for monitoring. Most of my sounds come from hardware: Virus TI Snow, Prophet 08, Korg Trinity TR, Kurzweil PC2r, Elektron MachineDrum, Alesis SR16, Roland SP606, and a Zoom H4n portable recorder. The only softsynths I use with any regularity are Reaktor and Absynth. Reaktor is fucking limitless; if you could only get one piece of gear I would recommend this to be it. And it goes without saying that Absynth is a godsend for ambient textures, drones and pads. Recently I’ve been working more on developing atmosphere and ambiance within tracks, and so I’ve been interested in using more traditional/organic sound making devices, such as singing bowls, chimes and bells. Beyond that I’ve got a few pieces of outboard gear like the Lexicon MPX1, SPL Charisma 2, Boss SE70 and a couple others. At this point I can pretty much make everything I need with what I have, though I wouldn’t be totally against getting a Moog Slim Phatty at some point (I’m hugely interested in the alternate tuning feature they just added).

This might be a bit odd, but the Korg Trinity TR is actually the piece of gear I use most. I think it was probably made for hip hop in the 90s, but I have found a use for it in 99% of the songs I’ve written since I bought it. It has this awesome old, dark sound to it; it’s great for gritty organic sounds and I’ve been able to coerce it into making fantastic, evolving droning textures in combi mode. The drum kits it has are mediocre, but they generate some exquisitely crunchy noise when run through an analog distortion pedal and/or bitcrusher. I’ve actually gotten a lot of use out of the Kurzweil pc2r’s drum kits as well; they are great for old school industrial type beats. Most of my noisey percussion comes from the Alesis SR16 or the trinity, run through the WMD Geiger Counter and/or SE70’s analog distortion. I used Izotope Trash on the EP, but nothing beats true analog distortion, which will be used from here on out! Obviously rhythmic noise doesn’t utilize a whole hell of a lot on the synth front, but when I write tracks like Ajna or Mul Aš-iku I rely heavily on the Virus for pads and melodies.

What can we expect in the future from Worms of the Earth?

Hopefully a new album or two in the somewhat near future. As I mentioned above, there are two paths that I hope to explore with Worms: one is based in Judeo-Christian mythology (Angels of Prostitution was the beginning of this) and I plan to explore this more in depth on a coming full length. The other path deals more with general occult topics and philosophy, including the above-mentioned Sumarian/Babylonian/Annunakai/Serpent Race mythology (this began with The Lesser Ophidian Gate). I don’t want to give away too many details yet, but every aspect of my current music will be amplified on these releases. They will be darker, heavier, noisier, more atmospheric, more tribal, more detailed, more progressive, better produced, etc.

For 2011: I recently had a remix featured on the new release from The Carapace (side project of Scrap.edx, released on Force of Nature), a forthcoming compilation appearance on the bright new label Signifer, a collaboration with It-Clings, and a few more things in the works which will hopefully solidify sometime this year.

Hope you enjoyed reading this novel.

Get this album: Access to Arasaka - "Orbitus"

2011-04-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

Orbitus is the new free EP release from Access to Arasaka, available from Tympanik Audio. This one doesn't need much of an introduction, it's free AtA! Definitely a must check out for fans of his work. Great futuristic sounding IDM/Ambient, as we've come to expect from him.

access to arasaka: www.accesstoarasaka.com
tympanik audio: www.tympanikaudio.com
release on discgs: here

Get this album: Bunk Data vs Abre Ojos - "Siderus"

2011-04-22T10:55:00.001-04:00

"Siderus" is a new split from dark ambient acts Bunk Data and Abre Ojos. The whole thing is a very atmospheric, analog drone fest with a tinge of the extraterrestrial. It is a bit similar to Visions, Algol, etc. It interested me because I saw it was 1. space themed and 2. made predominately with modular synths. It's free from the label Endless Ascent and definitely should be checked out by anyone who enjoys meditative, droning ambient.

bunk data: www.bunkdata.com/
endless ascent: www.endlessascent.com
release on discogs: here

The Peoples Republic of Europe Interview

2011-04-21T10:20:00.001-04:00

Interview with Krat from the power noise / industrial / ambient project The Peoples Republic Of Europe.

more info: www.tproe.com

Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?

TPROE started out in 2000. I was already making music for several years then. I started out playing in punk bands at the end of the 80’s and experimented with powernoise and industrial at the beginning of the 90’s. I also play bass guitar in Fertile Reality, a moderately successful new wave band in the Netherlands. In 1997 I bought my first electronic gear and started making music as the IDM act “Kratarknathrak”. I used a very primitive version of Cubase back in those days, and in 2000 I bought Cubase VST 3 which allowed me to sequence, produce and record on the computer. I made some dark ambient tracks to experiment with the possibilities of that program and released it as a CDr under the name “The peoples Republic of Europe”, which was a name I picked up from a Mission impossible episode a few years before and I wanted to use it for an EBM project, but decided to use it for this.

What inspires you to write music? What draws you to the medium of industrial / ambient music?

I don’t know really. I have always wanted to make music since I got interested in the medium when I was 14 years old. At 17 i started taking drum lessons, but I switched to bass guitar because I couldn’t get the drumming up to a reasonable level. In those days, I already got some interest in the first EBM acts (Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, DAF) and early industrial like Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA and Cabaret Voltaire, so I also was interested in electronic and industrial music. In general I have been aware of industrial almost from the beginning and was also interested in it and a fan of quite some bands. I have no inspiration apart from that. I just like so make compositions and music, and when I read interesting stuff or see some nice documentary, I tend to make a song about it. Basically I am just building stuff.

The medium itself I find attractive because its music which enables you to get good results while it doesn’t require you to have a good knowledge of music or music theory. It is fairly easy to make some good IDM, ambient or industrial compared to other kinds of music. In my composing I tend to be extremely intuitive and do not like it when I get distracted with more theoretical/practical aspects of the trade. I have a very pragmatic outlook on this. I am also not interested in melody, but in sounds. I like sounds. I was always more attracted to how something sounded, then in what melodies were played with the sound. Industrial and ambient are by definition the genres in which you can make the sound the dominant factor as opposed to melody. It gives you a lot of freedom and you don’t have to be a virtuoso to make it sound “good”.

Your track for the compilation is “Gleise 518g” which is a bit different from your “typical” style of rhythmic noise/industrial. If I’m correct, the title is in reference to the name of a planet discovered in the last year or so that could potentially have “habitable” conditions (e.g. another Earth). Can you give us a bit on insight on what inspired this track, how you composed it, etc.? Will there be more ambient works like this in the future?

It was indeed the planet which inspired this. I am very interested in astronomy and physics and I follow developments in this field. With the song I tried to make a sonic representation of how it is to live there. The planet orbits a fairly weak sun so the light on the surface is much weaker then on earth. Because of its cool sun, and its resulting close orbit to be potentially habitable the planet is also tidal locked, which means it keeps one side to its sun at all times. There is everlasting day and night on that world. The planet is also bigger then Earth and has a higher gravity. I tried to make a song which represents a dark heavy world where the bleak sun would always shine.

For the composition I used softsynths which I made drony by using layers of distortion and low band passes, bass drums with extreme reverbs, and several field recordings. The song itself is pretty straightforward. Basically the enormous amounts of effects like distortion, reverbs and filers do the work. The song uses about 15 stereo channels on the mixing board, and most tracks have about 4 to 8 effects on it. It is very heavy on effects. The final version I had to tweak with mixdowns, because my computer couldn’t handle the load.

There will be more works like this in the future. I already made four dark ambient albums with tPROE. “Gleise 518g” is also featured on the latest tPROE dark ambient album “Solipsism” so people who want more of this can get it pretty easy.

Tell us a little more about your most recent album “Solipsism”. I’m guessing it is space themed? How is this one different from your previous dark ambient work?

The main theme of Solipsism is reality and how we perceive reality. I got the inspiration of this album because of a large series of lucid dreams I had the last three years. I have had lucid dreams all my life, but the last few years the frequency has gone up to two or three times a week, and I even followed some tutorials on the dreamview forums to be able to experience these dreams for longer durations.

In a lucid dream you are able to walk around and perceive the dream world much like the real world. You are conscious and are able to control the dream. Because of the frequent experiences and the fact the dreamworld feels very real when you are there in a conscious state, I started to wonder if reality does exist, if it is not also a state close to dreaming and what the nature of reality actually is. I blended these questions with astronomy (Gleise 518 g), Occultism (Chthon), dream experiences itself (The empty city, the Corridor) and the vast abysses of time on a geological scale (Carved in basalt) and this forms the philosophical and spiritual background on “Solipsism”. The title is chosen because the “you” is the only one which perceives reality. You do not know how I, or what ever other person on this planet perceive reality. We assume it is the same, but how do we know this to be true?

“Solipsism” is different because apart from making experimental tracks, which is usually some noodling, I tried to make a cohesive, very richly layered, textured album. Most tracks have lots of layers to make it an interesting listening experience. I also tried to make the album extremely dark and heavy. I am very pleased with the result and I think it is one of the best, possibly the best, album I have made so far.

How do you go about writing a dark ambient track/album vs. a more industrial / noise one? Is it a similar writing process or totally different?

It starts out the same. As I said before: I work very intuitive. Most of the time I start experimenting with sounds and loops and I work from there. If I get a result I like, I work on it further. This is mostly the phase which will decide on what kind of song it will be. If I makes some nice sounding ambient sounds its get to be an ambient song, more technoish rhythm loops get to be industrial noise, and some wind up as IDM or even easy listening tracks. From that stage the workflow becomes different. If the song is ambient I try to use ambient sounds to beefen it up. The songs also tend to get longer. 10 minutes is no exception. For industrial I use loops and rhythms and I prefer short and catchy. Around 4 minutes mostly. This is a general rule though. Some ambient starts can become industrial, and vice versa.

I use very different methods of composing material. Sometimes I just play around with softsynths and automations, sometimes I find some cool sounds on the internet, sometimes I get my hands on some nice beats or loops, I play around with my drum machines or fruityloops, or just play a bit on the bass guitar. The results can also differ a lot.

Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear, etc.?

For composing I use softsynths exclusively. I used to work with hardware but I like to work very intuitive without having to worry about settings, and softsynths provide that. About the softsynths: I like to use free amateur made softsynths. Superwave8 , stuff made by Ugo, Crystal and so on. Obviously the price is an issue, but those synths also have a gritty edge, and sometimes completely unlogical weird possibilities, while official softsynths only emulate the well-known hardware stuff. And we have heard those enough I would say. I still use an old version of Cubase since I really hate stuff like upgrades. I use an old demo version of Fruityloops for making loops and rhythms because that is the only program which allows me to use self made sounds in a 16 step sequencer in an easy way. For me gear has to work and has to be easy in use. I am not interested in gear talk and do not like it when people talk about how good this or that synth is. I simply do not care, and find it boring. I am often criticized by my gear choices, while I myself am not interested in what is good gear, and only care for what I can do with it. Bass guitars excluded. I LOVE my Fender P-Bass!

Live we use a harddisk recorder for the backing and we add sounds and rhythms from two Korg electribes, a Boss Dr202, a Korg poly 800 and shitloads of effects like lots of distortion pedals, reverb units and two Korg kaospads. Yes, we are big Korg fans. They make great stuff. Cheap and easy in use! We try not to use computers live. The one you see on stage is used for the visuals. For our US tour in 2009 we used a laptop because it was easier, but in EU shows we use hardware.

What can we expect in the future from The Peoples Republic of Europe?

Apart from the just released dark ambient album “Solipsism” there will be another new album in 2011 called “Machine district” which is a harsh industrial album with stuff which is more expected from us. It has become a very good album I think, and it will certainly appeal to people who like to stomp in a more tasteful matter as opposed to the generic bad hardstyle which is mistaken for industrial nowadays. I am already working on new material for after that, so we will keep going. There will be more stompy stuff, more droney stuff, and we hope we can trash a few stages worldwide with live shows and the likes. And we will possibly have a laugh and do some more pranks, because I feel industrial could use some more humor. And cowbell of course. One can never have enough cowbell!