Ambient – Page 12 – Wonderbox Metal

Midnight Odyssey – Shards of Silver Fade (Review)

Midnight Odyssey is an Australian one-man Black Metal band and this is his second album.

Well, what an epic release this is. Eight tracks, lasting a colossal 143 minutes. Shards of Silver Fade demands a big investment of your time. Is it worth it? You’re damn right it is.

Midnight Odyssey has a Black Metal base that has been expanded to include Ambient, Darkwave, Funeral Doom and Post-Black Metal, resulting in the weighty collection of tracks here.

In many ways it’s difficult to review a release such as this. It would be far better for you to just accept the fact that this is an album you need to get and go and get it. Once done, make a night-time trip to the top of some local hill or mountain, put on your headphones, gaze at the night sky and get lost in Midnight Odyssey’s transcendental, elemental, cosmic embrace.

In lieu of this, however, a darkened room will suffice for now; just zone out and concentrate on nothing but the music.

Anyway, if you have yet to hear them then my feeble prose will have to do. This is not a band to dip into for a quick fix of whatever you fancy, this is a band to pay attention to and take notice of.

These songs combine spacious Progressive Ambient/Doom with ancient Blackened moods that sound like they were old before metal was even invented. The combination of Darkwave, Doom and Black Metal is one that works incredibly well and sounds flawlessly delivered.

Grand orchestral passages sweep across the heavens and invoke feelings of loss and grandeur, frequently at the same time. This is highly emotive music but probably not in the way that you might think. Moving, is probably a better description. This is music that’s moving.

The vocals don’t let the side down either, with croaking Black Metal rasps sharing the stage with charismatic cleans that seem imbued with some form of long-lost wisdom.

An intriguing, ambitious and ultimately victorious merging of Burzum and Vinterriket; Shards of Silver Fade is easily up to the task of fitting in with such hallowed company.

If I haven’t made this clear by now, Shards of Silver Fade is a must listen. It’s a long one, of course, but well worth it. I suggest you start now.

Aires/Rui P. Andrade/Earthly Beasts – Split (Review)

This is a split between the Aires, Rui P. Andrade and Earthly Beasts, all are Portuguese and solo artists/projects. This is a collection of three tracks of Ambient/Drone that lasts just over 29 minutes in total.

As always with these kind of releases I have to be in the mood for them, but when you are in such a mood this split is a good place to visit.

Aires, who we met before with Aires, starts us off with the first track Solvet Cosmos in Favilla. This starts with tense noises and keeps this up throughout the 9:05 playing time, subtly twisting and morphing it at a glacial pace as the track develops. Subtle samples can be heard in the background and the entire thing comes off with an Industrial/Black Metal vibe, almost like an ambient work by a band like Blut Aus Nord.

Initially I wasn’t too fussed by this to be honest, but it slowly worked its insidious charms on my brain and by the end of the track when it starts to splinter and fracture into nothingness I was hooked. Great stuff.

The next track, Turdus Merula, is by Rui P. Andrade. This ebbs and flows with Ambient patience through the 10:46 playing time to create a dark sonicscape that sounds like the aural equivalent of the release’s cover, really.

I like this track as it has recognisable changes within it, flowing between louder and softer moments and undulating as the artist sees fit, eventually descending into noise territory as it begins to unravel near the 9:00 mark.

The final track on the split, Erebus, is by Earthly Beasts and it starts off with some extremely ominous sounds akin to something from the Silent Hill games. Thankfully the track then goes on to do what I was hoping it would do and it turns into quite a harrowing series of sounds and noises designed to unnerve and terrify.

The purity of horror that this song initially creates though does not last, as even though it does carry on the theme some of the noises take on a pseudo-Techno feel and sometimes I almost expect a dance beat to appear. Thankfully it doesn’t but it changes the dynamic of the song enough to create a different mood than the one of pure malevolence that it started with.

Of all of the tracks here this is the most rhythmic, and it balances the background aura of despondency against the harsher foreground rhythmic noise in such a way that the 9:20 playing time flies by and you’re not sure whether to be scared or relieved.

This is a great showcase for three talented artists. If you’re partial to Drone/Ambient sounds then I heartily recommend you go and get this.

A varied, enigmatic and above all quality release.

Twilight Fauna – Hymns of a Forgotten Homeland (Review)

Hymns of a Forgotten Homeland is the fourth album from this one-man Black Metal project from the US.

This is a strange and, I would guess, deeply personal release. It’s an album that’s all about creating mood and atmosphere and will undoubtedly not appeal to the vast majority of music fans out there, probably not even most Black Metal adherents.

Why? Because this may be rooted in Black metal but it’s equal parts acoustic/Drone/Ambient in scope. The tracks seep together with dark ambience and seem to corrode at the edges when you listen to them.

The brain behind the project creates a harrowing soundscape of brittle Folk and Blackened Depressive noise. It’s an ode to nature filtered through the Blackened tar-stained lens of Black Metal.

Percussion is used sparingly on these songs, with the main propulsion being the guitar work and low key sounds of cymbals and other noises.

Vocals are low in the mix and are entwined with the music; a sort of agonised braying that tugs at the hidden places in the mind.

The journey through these tracks is fraught with distorted longing and a deep sense of loneliness. It’s not an expedition that most people will want to take, and those that do would do well to remember not to leave home unequipped and unprepared.

So, if you’re made of stern stuff and prepared to open your heart to what Twilight Fauna have to offer, then Hymns to a Forgotten Homeland will accompany you on a journey into the raw, lonely beauty of nature.

Myrkur – Myrkur (Review)

Myrkur is a one woman Black Metal project from Denmark. This is her début EP.

Myrkur combines the rawness and bleakness of second-wave Black Metal with ambient and atmospheric sounds to create frostbitten and ice-filled sonicscapes that scar the imagination and enchant the brain.

Ethereal clean female vocals and raw Black Metal mix in such a way that helps the music to transcend the usual genre constraints and become something greater than the sum of its parts.

There are medieval influences to some of the guitar sounds, (when they’re not wrapped in grim darkness of course), and even a touch of the Post-Metal/Post-Black Metal on occasion.

Think a pared down Wolves in the Throne Room, or a more atmospheric Darkthrone, or a less synth-powered Vinterriket; add angelic female vocals and this is the space Myrkur inhabit. It’s not all beauty however as she can also scream and shriek with the best of them when needed.

It’s rare that you find harsh Black Metal skilfully interweaved with music that’s atmospheric and epic in scope. Here the two are thoughtfully and flawlessly intertwined. Usually this is only accomplished by the elite and cream-of-the-crop bands like Agalloch.

Add to this a softer feminine touch that usually, if incorporated into Metal at all, just sounds tacked on; here it’s an integral, fully embedded and realised part of the Myrkur experience.

And to think, this is only a début EP. Imagine what she can do with a full album of material? The mind boggles. The mind can’t wait.

Interview with The Von Deer Skulls

With their latest EP It’s Time to Paralyze The Von Deer Skulls have shown a willingness to experiment and test the waters of their burgeoning sound. Find out more below…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Peter: Hi, we’re The Von Deer Skulls a France based band. We’re a trio, but some other musicians play with us sometimes. We play something the press defined as Rock Doom Ambient, sometimes Indus or Post-Rock.

Give us a bit of history to The Von Deer Skulls.

Freke: The band started in the end of 2012, we have recruited Peter at the beginning to make the visual stuffs of our last band (The Dead Sound), but after talking a long with him we decided to make a new project.

Peter: Yeah at that time I worked on some songs that have become the basis of the project, then we wrote the song “B*tches Of The Wood” which is the one was entirely composed for the band like the interludes, intro and outro.

Hektor: Then we decided to make our biography like a history to serve the visual aspect of the band.

Where did your band name come from?

Hektor: The band name come from the artist pseudonym of Peter (Peter Skull), because like a leader to the band, and the “Von Deer” come from the semi-fictional biography of the band and because we have often antlers on our video-stage costumes.

Freke: It’s also to making us a family.

What are your influences?

Peter: Influences are from everywhere, each one listens to different things, I’m a big fan of Jazz, Tool, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, indus things. Hektor listens to a lot of Post-Rock, Electro, but also Radiohead, Kadavar and Freke listens to old Rock ’n’ Roll like Black Sabbath, and some loud things like Sunn O))) or Indus.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Freke: Right now I listen to a lot of Kadavar, go to listen this German band if you don’t know, otherwise some old Marilyn Manson & NIN period.

Peter: On my side, I listen some more soft things right now as The Decemberists, Miles, Coltrane and Goon Moon and Pelican a lot.

Hektor: I listen some Queens Of The Stone Age’s songs, Pelican too and the Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s discography.

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

Peter: We would like to record songs which are the beginning of the project, to know each other a little better as a band and to show the public who we are. But it is just the beginning, a presentation.

TVDS2 Are you happy with how it turned out?

Hektor: Yes, we think that’s a good beginning. We worked hard to develop the visual aspect as much the music, both are equally important in our universe.

Freke: We were actually surprised to have such good returns.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

Freke: Peter works on the structure, and we’re making all the atmosphere.

Peter: As for the songwriting process it changes according to the songs. Sometimes we want that song sound like that and sometimes they grow up alone.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

Freke: I think the next songs will be more loud, maybe more direct.

Peter: We’re working on it right now, some different songs, some heavy, some more ambient, but yeah maybe more direct for the moment.

Tell us a bit more about the visual aspect of your band.

Peter: As we say before the visual aspect is as much important than music. Because it opens so many possibilities. At first I’m a visual artist, I love painting, shooting videos… for this band, because we create our own mythology and histories with that, it’s like a tale what we are proposing to the people, with the costumes, the videos…

Freke: And it’s also a way to distance ourselves from what we’re doing. The important isn’t what we look like, important is the music, the tale.

What’s next for The Von Deer Skulls?

Peter: Next, we’re working on new songs right now like I said, we hope to record them at the end of this year or in the beginning of 2015. And we’re going to do new videos to go with it.

Hektor: Yeah, don’t forget to follow us, new costumes and visual stuffs are on the go!

Website: http://www.thevondeerskulls.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheVonDeerSkulls

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWzz-fueVbw

Peter Skull Website: http://www.peterskull.com

Peter Skull FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/Skull.Peter

Band email: thevondeerskulls@gmail.com

N/ill – Black Marble Carapace (Review)

This is the latest EP from Germany’s N/ill. N/ill is a one-person project playing Ambient/Industrial/Drone/Electronica/Rock.

This is a collection of dark soundscapes that use electronics and sounds to create atmospheric pieces that are reminiscent of Shoegaze Post-Rock only from an Industrial/Electronica standpoint.

The songs are slow builders and rise and fall like the ebb and flow of the tide. Rather than sounding organic though these tracks are largely artificial sounding, but not in any bad way. They come from a place of technology and show that this is not any barrier to evoking real feelings in songs.

When vocals appear they are ragged and heartfelt, lending the tunes the feeling of a singer like Mark Lanegan set to a backdrop of Nine Inch Nails-styled proto-Industrial Rock mixed with a synthetic Earth. Or they are female and come across as a stitched together sample that permeates the music like permanent ink.

These compositions are well written and the 33 minutes of music here comes across as a bleak soundtrack to a post-modern film. Each track has its own identity and it covers a diverse range of genres and styles across the 7 songs.

Before listening to this I wasn’t sure what to expect – the cover and the name didn’t give much away, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the contents.

This release has the potential to transcend the usual genre limitations and make a mark for itself. With the right exposure/backing it could do well.

Black Marble Carapace is the product of a very talented individual. If you’re looking for something a little different then check this out and lend him your support.

The Von Deer Skulls – It’s Time To Paralyze (Review)

The Von Deer Skulls have their origins in many different countries and have a suitably unusual sound to boot.

I suppose the best way to describe this band is Experimental Rock with elements of Drone, Ambient and Electronica/Industrial.

The tracks here are largely laid back, relaxed affairs. Low-key riffs and sounds move the compositions forward whilst soft vocals and gentle noises punctuate the flow.

This is relatively easy listening and the overall mood is an atmospheric one. Although I wouldn’t describe them as having a dark sound per se, it’s certainly not a bright and hopeful one either. They seem to be aiming for a slightly creepy, unnerving sound and I think they’re headed in the right direction.

The guitars are largely lo-fi but the distortion is noticeable here and there. They even approach a Rocky beat in places.

This is a good release from a band who are still finding their sound and these songs give them a good base to work from. If you enjoy this kind of Experimental Post-Rock then The Von Deer Skulls should be right up your street.

Give this band some of your time and see what you think.

Horizon – Don’t Let The Time Pass You By (Review)

Horizon is a one-man project from Finland. This is his second EP.

This is a short release containing Ambient soundscapes, Neo-Classical sounds and moments of Shoegaze that are all perfectly suited to night time reflection and introspection.

By its very nature a release such as this will be atmospheric and emotive and Horizon does a good job of playing to the innate strengths of the style.

There is also a good amount of variety of composition and delivery apparent in these 5 songs. We get ambient textures, piano, drums, bass, electronica, guitars and other sounds all used to create a vivid palette of emotional resonance with the listener.

This is strongly written music and creates the right mood of darkness with a hint of light; music for when night is starting to fade and dawn is approaching.

The compositions are mature and although they have elements of melancholy the overall beauty of the tracks doesn’t let this become overly negative.

The slight Electronica influence is subtle enough to have a positive impact on the songs without becoming stifling or overwhelming; rather it’s another string to the artist’s bow that he uses to enhance the songs and give them a modern flavour.

This is a very good EP and my only real criticism, such as it is, is that it’s a very short release. Apparently he’s working on a full album so hopefully this will make an appearance at some point in the future. Keep a close watch for it.

In the meantime, get a hold of this little gem. Sit back, relax and take it all in.

Haate – As The Moon Painted Her Grief (Review)

Hailing from Italy, Haate is a one-man project playing Dark Ambient music.

I must confess to being naturally suspicious of releases of this nature as so often they can be excuses for basically doing nothing for minutes on end and I just get bored. However, when done right such as with the latest by Wolves in the Throne Room it can be very good indeed.

Haate immediately impress by actually having changes and progression in the tracks. There are three long songs here, (34 minutes in total), and even a few minutes into the first song there’s a fair bit going on.

Haate specialises in dark atmospheres and gloomy introspection. It’s like someone has really paid attention to all of those musical proto-Classical interludes/intros on 90’s Black Metal albums and decided to create a full album out of it all. This is merely an observation, however, not a criticism, as the resulting work is surprisingly, (to me), good.

There’s a fair bit of substance here, and we even get some low-in-the-mix Black Metal vocals and blastbeats. This is most unexpected but most welcome.

In addition to the synths and keyboards there are other, quasi-industrial sounds and noises accompanying proceedings and these add a level of darkness to the textured music. It sometimes gives the impression of inorganic breathing, which is a vaguely unsettling sound and really enhances the songs.

I’m impressed with this. Cynically I didn’t think it would be very enjoyable and I’m very pleased that I’m wrong. And do you know what? The more I listen to it the more I like it. It’s shockingly good.

For Black Metal fans who don’t always need the Metal part.

Astral Winter – Perdition (Review)

Astral Winter are an Australian Black Metal band and this is their second album.

But not this time; normally Astral Winter is Melodic Black Metal, but for this album things have taken an ambient turn and this release is all about dark soundscapes and sombre melancholy.

These tracks are mournful, droning, slow and relaxed. Light guitars, effects, keyboards, piano, strings and all manner of other instruments and sounds make appearances on this impressive album.

The songs presented here are wonderfully emotive and filled with feelings of darkness and hope intermingled. This is not a miserable album, this is one of darkened allure and ambitious scope.

Although this is an album of 8 tracks it could just as easily have been one long song as the tracks flow into each other and the entire album is a night-time journey into the mysterious and sublime.

Normally when bands take left-tuns like this it’s usually a misstep, but this is the work of a talented musician. This is a quality release by someone who knows what Neo-Classical should sound like and how it must progress and remain interesting to not bore the listener.

The sky at night has been shaped into an album of reflective beauty.

Get this.