RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://shadowknell.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-knell They rarely make records like these anymore, i.e. dark medieval ambient-esque works that pay homage to dungeon synth linchpins such as Mortiis and Penitent while also weaving influences from Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze into their richly textured and evocative soundscapes in such a confident and pleasantly assured manner. Sure,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://helsinkihorizon.bandcamp.com/ Helsinki Horinzon’s second release ’Sirens’ is a cross-genre conceptual album, and a different kind of heavy: the more quiet, lurking sort that ambushes you when you least expect it. ’Sirens’ develops into a sphere of gravitational force, where units and subdivisions converge to make an expertly paced rotation. The more…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://erlanddahlen.bandcamp.com/album/racoons Talk about being overwhelmingly surprised by something that turns out to be so much cooler and more captivating than anticipated – yes, that is exactly what this original and uniquely crafted LP by legendary drummer Erland Dahlen (Madrugada, Stian Westerhus, Nils Petter Molvær Group) is. How to describe this evocative…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://meltmotif.bandcamp.com/album/particles-death-objective The brilliant Norwegian/Brazilian purveyors of melancholic textures and soundscapes known as Melt Motif impressed me greatly last year by means of their uniquely crafted A White Horse Will Take You Home. This latest slice of experimental excellence sounds like the logical next step, or the natural successor to the aforementioned…
A brand-new digital single sporting the evocative title Sea Journal has just been released and bears all the defining traits and characteristics of Picture Ann, i.e. a desolate atmosphere, melodies that speak of yearning, and a subtle hint of something slightly eerie. Directly inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) and Edgar Allan Poe’s The…
A lengthy ambient-inspired piece titled Night and Silence has just been released digitally via all the usual music retailers out there. Directly inspired by long walks that took place late at night in October 2020 and 2021, the track is meant to conjure up the vibe and atmosphere of those melancholy excursions. Falling leaves, distant…
