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Band: Hanging Garden
Album title: Hereafter [EP]
Release date: 7 October 2016
Label: Lifeforce Records
It seems that the creative factor inside Hanging Garden must be on its peak now, as not only one year after Blackout Whiteout, the band is out with a new EP featuring five brand new tracks. In here the band tries to revisit their past, not really returning to their roots, but more likely not forgeting from where everything started. Hereafter is everything that Hanging Garden represent now, it's the unification of their past, present and future and with that the atmospheric sound of these Finns gains further on importance and emotional impression. It's a bit of an experiment, it must be some kind of a crossroad for this band. If Hereafter is a final farewell from extreme sound for Hanging Garden and further dive into the waters designed on their latest album, or is the band thinking to further revisit their roots in the future, only time will tell...
Read a full review HERE
Band: Shrine
Album title: Ordeal 26.04.86
Release date: 26 October 2016
Label: Cyclic Law
Shrine has returned with his third release on Cyclic Law. Shrine has always been a dark ambient artist who incorporates mind-bending soundscapes, field recordings, haunting voices, into his music. But never before has he brought the full project into such focus as he has this time around. With Ordeal 26.04.86, Shrine brings the music to a very specific focus, on a certain time, place, and event. Ordeal 26.04.86 covers the devastation that occurred at Chernobyl on that forsaken day of April in Soviet Russia. The nuclear meltdown that occurred at Chernobyl and would quickly leave the entire surrounding region, including the city of Pripyat, in a state of post-apocalyptic slumber, occurred on this day and would go on to be one of the greatest nuclear disasters to yet face our planet, with few incidents rivaling its magnitude.
Read a full review HERE
Band: Spine
Album title: Continue To Exist
Release date: 9 September 2016
Label: Shortwave Transmissions
Herbst9 should by now be a well known name among fans of dark ambient. Henry Emich's side project, Spine, will not fail to enamour fans of Herbst9. There are a plethora of similiarities between the two projects. It is hard to really describe the differences between the two projects, save the absence of Frank Merten, the other half of Herbst9. Continue To Exist delivers many of the hallmark sounds that brought Herbst9 to fame. The deep reverberations that take the mind to foreign realms. The exquisite use of field recordings to spice up the atmosphere. The slightly disturbing, yet almost peaceful spoken word sections. The celestial feminine vocals which float throughout the mix. All of these things lead the listener into another world, a place and time which is infinitely foreign, yet somehow familiar, to the modern being.
Read a full review HERE
Band: Batalion d'Amour
Album title: Fenix
Release date: 4 November 2016
Label: Echozone
Eleven long years after their last full-lenght, Niya, the Polish female fronted combo Batalion d'Amour returns among the living with their sixth album. Songs of the band got more depth, even more heaviness with addition of heavy riffs, but most of all everything became more subtle, catchy, romantic and with a high dose of sensibility. The instrumental side is leaning now more than ever towards synth rock, gothic and even progressive rock/metal, with a huge dose of atmosphere and catchy pop melodies offers sometimes an otherworldy sonic experience. There's still present some dark wave and absolutely the band doesn't forget their roots in gothic rock, just listen to those typical sparkly gothy guitars and strong reverberate bass lines in almost every song, not to mention those gloomy synths and electronics that so smoothly deepens the whole ambiance. Fenix is an addictive and captivating storm of beautiful yet refreshing dark rock music!
Read a full review HERE
Band: protoU
Album title: Khmaoch
Release date: 11 October 2016
Label: Cryo Chamber
This time around protoU is holding no bars. Sasha Cats has proven once and for all that she is, in fact, a dark ambient musician. Khmaoch brings the same serene drones and ASMR infused field recordings. But this time there is a definite darkness creeping up from beneath the surface. protoU has taken all the elements that made her first release work and doubled, nay, tripled them. There is a level of detail and precision here which begs the listener to come back over and over again. This time for the field recordings, listening as a story plays out in aural space. Next time for the deep and serene drone work, a perfect accompaniment to meditation or a diversion from insomnia. If there was any question before that protoU was not a perfect fit for Cryo Chamber, that can be put to rest. Khmaoch embodies all the things that a fan could ask for when it comes to dark ambient.
Read a full review HERE
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