E-Musikgruppe Lux-Ohr - Spiralo [Full length] (2014, Svart Records)

A journey to 70s Germany with a group of Finns as tour-guides

Some claim that the German music style known af Krautrock (and to an extent the various subgenres the Kraut movement spawned) never quite went out of style. Though Tangerine Dream's mastermind Edgar Froese passed away not too long ago, the group was active right until his death. Others like Klaus Schulze (of Ash Ra Tempel) and the band Faust are still going strong, as if they've forgotten about the passage of time. In addition newer groups are crawling forth from various scenes all over the world, inspired in some degree by the landmark German movement.

The Finnish group E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr have since 2010 bestowed upon the world musical minimalism in the form of synthetic melodies with ample headroom. The two previous releases form the band presented gloomy synths in an equally gloomy environment. Spiralo is in that regard not as such a mould breaker, but yet manages to add greater depth and a slightly more melodic tendency to the group's style.

In a musical genre where easily recognisable melodies or catchy choruses usually don't play a prominent role it can be quite difficult for a musician to stand out. Differences will often be minor and subtle. At a cursory glance two albums that are in fact vastly different can sound remarkably alike. This is the same problem the Finns stand before, and Spiralo can as a result easily appear to be an anonymous and forgettable outing which perhaps draws a little much from Klaus Schulze's new-agey tunes.

"The tempo is laborious in the nature of the genre, so it is definitely an album that you have to take your time to listen to..."

But then again it would be a great shame to write off the band's third release as boring background music, because it is so much more if you just let it sink in. The esoteric foundation is built with rolling synths and exhaustive effects that gets your fantasy going, and even if the composition can only scarcely be called innovative the Finns yet succeed in summoning forth an exciting musical landscape focused on simple but effective compositions. The tempo is laborious in the nature of the genre, so it is definitely an album that you have to take your time to listen to, but it is 40 minutes well spent.

The album seems almost tailored for the vinyl medium (and doesn't even come in CD form) and is split into six parts - Teile I-III on side A and Teile IV-VI on side B. The tracks on Spiralo kan be understood as individual compositions, but to a higher degree also as one continuous journey. As such it is in my opinion imperative tat you at least once take the time to listen to the entire album in one uninterrupted sitting.

Bonus fun-fact:

The group includes among others guitarist Kimi Kärki, who in some circles is best known as the guitarist in doom metal groups Reverend Bizarre and Lord Vicar. Kärki also released his first solo album, The Bone of My Bones, as an acoustic singer/songwriter in 2013 through Svart Records, inspired by musicians like Leonard Cohen and Simon & Garfunkel.

8/10 guitars

Tracklist:

1. Teile I

2. Teile II

3. Teile II

4. Teile IV

5. Teile V

6. Teile VI

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr on Facebook

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr on Bandcamp

Svart Records official site

Silent Carrion - Suprematism EP I - IUPITER [EP] (2013, Self-released)

Silent Carrion has always been progressive and boundary pushing. It's the bread and butter, the heart and soul of the project. An amalgam of trip hop, electronica, dark ambient, prog and trace amounts of a myriad of other components. Established upon the first release, Ruins, in 2010 in Northern Italy, 2013 welcomed the beginning of an EP-based trilogy starting with IUPITER, the first Suprematism EP.

Right off the bat the Suprematism EP starts off heavier than previous Silent Carrion incarnations. Caustic aggression and hostile chaos ensues through heavily distorted guitars, programmed blast beats and an assortment noisy invocations, a bleak piano sometimes finding its way through the cacophony. There is a rich theme of turmoil and anxiety embedded in this work, a subject that may very well continue on or contrast with the remainder of the trilogy.

But where previous efforts were finely balanced, well-adjusted dark symphonies of careful instrumentation, Suprematism's discord borders on the outright offensive. Noise and industrial can achieve some sort of appeal through atmospheric courses and harsh moodsetters, but in that sense Silent Carrion belittles the very notion that this could be classified as structurally sound. It's entirely possible that their is a point to be made once the EP trilogy is complete, but at the time of writing that point is lost to me.

It is not until the final track (the live recording of "The Ground Seems Hollow" from Andras being considered a bonus track) that we can finally recognize the Italian ordeal. Silent Carrion has come full circle and yet again relies on synth-driven ambience, which again contrasts highly with the first ten minutes of IUPITER. There is little structure to be found, and even so the compositions don't even feel complex as much as merely disorganized anarchy. 3/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Suicide
2. I'm Calm Now
3. Malphas
4. Human Maggots Swarming Round Her Bed of Death
5. Suprematism (Mercy)
6. The Ground Seems Hollow (Live)

All Silent Carrion's releases are available as free downloads here
Visit Silent Carrion on Facebook

Read or re-read my previous SILENT CARRION review

Trou Noir - Echoes in Black Holes [Demo] (2011, Eerie Torture)

It hasn't taken long for Trou Noir to produce their first demo. Released the same year the band was formed, Echoes in Black Holes is an international effort consisting of Worbid and Monork from Russia and Dunkel supplying the vocals from France. The internet has made it possible for musicians from all over the world to easily collaborate and create diverse variations of genres that are otherwise often heavily coloured by its regional scene. Between them the three members of Trou Noir - or "Black Hole" in French - have been in at least nine bands that have collectively released in excess of fifty demos, EPs, splits and albums, meaning that this unholy trinity are at least in some way seasoned musicians.

A vital element within Echoes in Black Holes is the way they utilize ambience. Monork's arpeggiated notes form the backbone of the demo with the minimalistic drumming of Worbid providing the rhythmic coherence. The two usher in the raw vocals of Dunkel, which bear a striking resemblance to those of Varg Vikernes on Det Som Engang Var. The transitions between the ten tracks on Trou Noir's first demo are seamless and immaculate, making the whole demo coalesce with each element being consistently integrated without much effort. Each track neatly segues from cold and melancholic melodies to more ambience-laden passages with the arpeggiated notes working to add depth to the music. To continue the Burzum analogy; If the vocals are Det Som Engang Var, the music itself is closer to Filosofem or Hlidskjalf, but without opting for the same droning approach.

Any music enthusiast will know that it's hard to get riled up if the musicians delivering the music aren't engaging about their business and deliver their tunes in a convincing way. Accusing Darkspace's first demo from 2002 of being varied, extravagant or musically eloquent seems almost an insult, and yet Darkspace have become a modern day cult in themselves. Their music is droning and monotone, but it works extraordinarily with the monotony becoming the main attraction which makes it all the more hypnotic. You might be wondering why I'm talking about Darkspace rather than Trou Noir, but when it comes to spacy ambient, atmospheric black metal a band such as Darkspace automatically becomes the standard to which similar bands are held, and while Trou Noir and Darkspace have only minute elements in common, it seems as a necessary comparison to make. Trou Noir have opted for that very style, yet deliver their music with total abandon and insincerity. I can feel they're going for a trippy, psychedelic feel with the drawn out drum sequences and almost randomly picked guitar notes, but it becomes stale and unhypnotic in the execution process. There are a few good riffs once in a while, with the main riff in Black Hole Reverb being the prime example, and the vocals seem to generally be held to a higher standard than the rest of the demo, but all in all it feels like most songs are written the way they are for the sake of consistency rather than actually contributing a memorable element to the release as a whole. Their songwriting makes it very hard to remember any one moment on the demo, which in itself isn't inherently bad as proven by similar groups, but it becomes a fundamental problem when there is nothing else to remember the band or demo by.

My problem is that the demo is too long for such an ineffective delivery of stale ideas. Darkspace got it right when they released their demo in 2002 featuring 25 minutes of their trademark spacey black metal, consisting of little other than spaced out walls of distorted guitar accompanied by ferocious blast beats. Echoes in Black Holes is overflowing with poorly executed melancholy that misses its target by a wide margin. The cover art made a promise of better things - It made a promise of cosmic black metal engulfed in the cold, galactic aspects that this sound usually brings with it, but it was a promise it could not keep. The atmosphere is bedroomy rather than spacy, which is what primarily sets it apart from the great ones within the genre. Instead of going exploring within the psychedelic possibilites of their chosen style, they follow a linear path which doesn't suit their sound terribly well. 4/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Funeral Echoes (Part I)
2. Defective Reflections
3. The Tree Into the Void
4. Somnambulistic Searchers
5. The Denying of Being
6. Black Hole Reverb
7. Nihilistic Moon
8. Echoes in Mirrors
9. March of Leprous
10. Funeral Echoes (Part II)

Visit Eerie Torture's official website

Morgue of Saints - Sleep/Death [Full length] (2012, Drowning)

From the vast nature of Canada comes Morgue of Saints, a band created by Elliot C as an output for his own droning, ambient doom tendencies. The album in question here is Sleep/Death, a three track conceptual piece that can potentially bear a rather large number of tags. Other written mediums aswell as Elliot C himself have referred to Morgue of Saints as both minimalistic funeral doom, drone doom, cinematic ambient, experimental noise and avant-garde.

In the strictest sense of the term "avant-garde" it doesn't fit Morgue of Saints. As it says in the liner notes some of the music is heavy influenced by early Earth, and I detect several other inspirations from other drone, funeral and ambient groups. Whatever you want to call it, Morgue of Saints primarily consists of droning guitars and ambient moods. The album contains the tracks "Death" and the two-part epic "Sleep". The two parts of Sleep are split by the lengthy drone track "Death" which is made up of nothing by a single guitar track. The bleak existance in the track so aptly named is underlined well by that sole, desolate guitar, but ultimately the track feels a bit too minimalistic and uneventful to justify being almost 24 minutes in length, and while drone has never been about grandios songwriting I feel at the same time that other bands have done this better in the sense that they still manage to create a feeling or atmosphere that the simplicity of the track emphasizes. One of the key elements in this type of music is depth, and the track "Death" simply isn't deep enough. The single guitar track and lack of any background ambience doesn't build up any tention, feeling, atmosphere or otherwise.
The track "Sleep" was split into two tracks - Sleep I and II - and is by far the most interesting track of the Sleep/Death album. The way the two parts contrast each other and at the same time feel so alike is astounding. Listening to the first part I can see where this "cinematic ambient" term comes from - The desolate mood part I sets for the album is very fitting and could well be featured on a soundtrack for a fitting movie. In the second part Morgue of Saints moves more into traditional funeral doom territory, and Elliot C does this rather well. His compositions on this track has a somewhat abyssal depth that fits so well together with the void-like intro to the album, Sleep I.

I mentioned that Death feels rather shallow. Sleep I and II are more or less the exact opposite in regard to atmosphere, and perharps this is the point of putting Death in between the two parts of Sleep. Starting the album out with the film-like epicness of Sleep I only to disrupt that mood with the simple drones of Death, and then finally returning to the mood set by Sleep I with Sleep II, only in a far more abrassive form. It's a bit far-fetched to be honest, and if this is the case I think the point will be lost to some. When judging the album as a whole I dislike that the middle track disrupts the otherwise great flow and atmosphere the other two tracks create, and I would much rather just listen to those two songs in continuation of each other and cut out Death entirely. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Sleep I
2. Death
3. Sleep II

MORGUE OF SAINTS on Bandcamp - Free download available!
Download also available here

Agamotto - Agamotto [Full length] (2012, Cosmic Swamp Records)

There can be no doubt about it, Agamotto is ambient with a capital A. Mixing different elements from ambient like Brian Eno or Steve Roach, dark ambient like Lustmord or Stupor and industrial like Throbbing Gristle and Nurse With Wound Agamotto makes for a varying experience. The first track "Solomon Grundy", named after a comic book villain like Agamotto itself, is predominantly dark ambient with some serious hints toward some of Throbbing Gristle's more creepy output like Hamburger Lady. The second track "Eric Dolphy" moreso captures the feeling of complete chaos and as such was the hardest track to sit through, while the last track "Antonio Margheriti" managed to recap the album by succesfully creating an amalgamation of the dark ambient sounds of the first track and mixing them with the chaotic industrial un-melodies of the second.

Agamotto aren't metal at all, but I chose to review it anyway. I did this because I for one am not a metal only kind of guy, but more importantly I did it because Agamotto features many of the same aesthetics as metal music. It may not have loud guitar, howling vocals or powerful drums, but it has the same eerie atmosphere that I connect with some of the more esoteric and tenebrous bands.
When all a band has to offer is atmosphere, that atmosphere better be damn effective. And with Agamotto this is just the case. The Italian project manages to perfectly mix the grittily chaotic noise of industrial music with the more deliberately sinister and considerate aspects of dark ambience.

The self-titled album takes us on a journey through bleak soundscapes with many surreal and horrific attributes. However Agamotto fails to deliver the otherwise well-produced atmosphere with the zest that I have come to expect from groups and projects of this sort. It's not that it's unmemorable, because music of this type seldomely has hooks or anything of the sort, but the whole effort at times feels a bit unmotivated and particularly unambitious. I wouldn't say Agamotto's album is a disappointing experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any industrial and dark ambient maniacs out there, but I wouldn't recommend the album to people who are looking to get into the genre. For that it is simply too unremarkable. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Solomon Grundy
2. Eric Dolphy
3. Antonio Margheriti

AGAMOTTO official site
Cosmic Swamp Records official site

Listen for yourself!

Furthermore, the entire album is available for free download HERE

Deviator - Way of Warriors: Hymn to Immortals [Compilation] (2011, Glorious North Productions)

Most depressive or ambient black metal bands have very little going on structure-wise. Simplistic guitars and repetitive drumming is abundant in the genre aswell as lengthy tracks, mostly with few layers of instrumentation. Ukranian black metalist Lord Hastner of "DEVIATOR" is among these traditionalists, though to say this band is a deviation would be an overstatement.

I've been rather harsh on this summary of Deviator's rather short carreer, and it's always very difficult to grade a compilation like this, especially when it's from an unknown band like this Ukranian project. One thing is certain though: Way of Warriors gives a fair and satisfactory look into the pretty extensive and gloomy back catalogue of Lord Hastner's band. It's always enjoyable to hear how a band evolves and how musicians go from playing one style to another.

Deviator started out playing ambient black metal with a twist of depressive black and ended up playing a more death-like style of black metal. Seeing the transcendence between genres and styles is fun, and in all the periods of Deviator it seems there are both good and less enjoyable tracks. One thing I found out while listening to Way of Warriors is this: Deviator, like so much metal, must be enjoyed loud. You'll get the best sound and be able to hear the best details if you turn up those speakers.

Production-wise the material's great. It gives a great sense of atmosphere and emotion while still maintaining the raw sound of black metal. But regarding the recordings themselves I am completely baffled by what sounds like off rhythms. In a few select tracks it sounds like the guitar is playing a LOT slower than the drums, as if the guitars were recorded without a click-, ghost- or drumtrack. This botches up the rhythm and flow of the entire song and I find it really difficult to enjoy a track like this.
Overall Way of Warriors - Hymn to Immortals is a fair overview of Deviator's discography, portraying both the good and the bad elements. It's (almost) always nice to see and hear a band evolve and take in new elements and styles. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Old Melancholy
2. Forgotten Hope
3. The Last Day of Mankind
4. Mighty Black Inner Flame
5. Mesmerized by Blood
6. Raw Symphony of Sorrow
7. Undying Darkness
8. To Forgotten Path - Triumph of the Will
9. Thy Blood in my Veins
10. Black Sorrow
11. Funeral Future Bells
12. Primordial Darkness pt. 1
13. Primordial Darkness pt. 2
14. Way of Warriors - Hymn to Immortals

DEVIATOR official site
Glorious North Productions official site

Moloch - Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens [Full length] (2011, Glorious North Productions)

Many black metal bands utilize elements of dark ambient in their music, either as intros, by making entire dark ambient songs among black metal ones or by direct incorporation of ambience into the music to create an atmosphere. While black metal by its sheer nature already have lots of atmospheric tendencies, this feel can be emphasized by the use of ambient elements.

The Ukranian one-man black metal band Moloch sets the tone from the first track, which serves as an intro and mindsetter for the rest of the album. "Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens" is in excess of 50 minutes of depressive black metal with a slew of apathy-ridden tracks of atmospheric nature. The tortured vocal efforts of Pr. Sergiy Fjordsson goes hand in hand with the ambient characteristics and the drony and heavily distorted guitars.

The 8-track album emanates a definite aura of cold desolation and is more or less the soundtrack to how I imagine a cold winter in Ukraine. As with most bands in the genre Moloch presents itself with repetitive songwriting, and while this may sound like a bad thing I've always seen it as a means to create the desired feeling with the listener.
There is one thing that bothers me with Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens and many modern black metal bands in general - The drums. It's a damn shame that so many one-man black metal bands use drummachines or heavily sampled drums. It takes away a lot of the atmosphere and feeling, which I feel are essential to music that seeks to invoke those kinds of feelings with the listener.

All in all I'd say Moloch, who is incredibly productive by the way, having recorded more than 70 releases since its creation in 2002, is a fine example of depressive black metal with a boatload of dark ambient elements. Fans of Paysage d'Hiver and Wedard must check out this band. Afterall the drumsound shouldn't have that much of a say on the overall score of the album, but it is something that slightly lessens my oppinion of it. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Illusion des Winters
2. Ein düsterer Winter kommt I
3. Ein düsterer Winter kommt II
4. Dissonanz Tropfen eines glühenden Schmerzes
5. Weg von dieser Welt voller Traurigkeit
6. Unsichtbarer Faden des Lebens
7. Illusionen eines verlorenen Lebens
8. Abgrund meines Wesens

MOLOCH official website
Glorious North Productions official website