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Band: Phonothek
Album title: Lost In Fog
Release date: 17 May 2016
Label: Cryo Chamber
The Phonothek debut appears to be one more step in the expansion of the Cryo Chamber image. On Lost In Fog, we hear a lot more overtly musical elements than are often present. The dichotomy gives the entirety of Lost In Fog a brilliantly dramatic and cinematic edge. The cinematic aspect is further displayed in the choice of track titles. It seems as though we are being guided through a story, and each title gives a bit of a hint into the narrative. As with many dark ambient releases, there are enough hints here to suggest a theme and a progression of scenes. Yet luckily these hints are not commanding enough to steal the sense of mystery and discovery from the listener. Phonothek prove that there is still quite a lot more to offer in this area, much of which we may not even realize is possible until someone comes along and pushes the boundaries just a bit further.
Read a full review HERE
Band: Phonothek
Album title: Red Moon
Release Date: 4 April 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber
In a maddening daze, you are lost in a forest, the blood red moon comes into your vision every so often through the clearing of dense bush in front of you. The crackling of the forest floor trampled beneath your feet sends echoes as everything gets louder. The second album from this up and coming duo, morphs from a calm and melancholic landscape, into a more chaotic one. It oozes with originality and interesting high-tier sound sculpting making it perfect for audiophiles. Red Moon is a very entertaining experience that grabs your attention seldom letting you down to rest.
Read a full review HERE
Band: Pronoise
Album title: The Border Crossing
Release date: 15 May 2015
Label: Surgical Knife Records (Self-Released)
With one half of the duet being more inclined to dark rock and post-punk music, and the other feeling more at home in the field of dark electronics, you can only imagine these two worlds symbiotically intertwine throughout the entire record. With dark electronic beats carrying the essential groove, this album serves the listener with so many stylistical collisions, intertwining elements which go all the way from post-punk, goth rock, dark rock through darkwave and also EBM and industrial music, while carrying emotional and sometimes even very aerial charge. What on the outside - for a listener - may sound so simplistic is actually a conglomerate of not only the clashing ideas of two talented musicians with a clear vision of they want, but also hard work. The incorporation of so many different elements, coming together from so many different genres, is an ungrateful task and things could go wrong so easily here. Pronoise have proven they are a well-oiled machine, with many ideas, which are to be formed in musical art. Whether you see yourself dancing in a club to the beats, which are sending strange and vibrant impulses through your nerves or sitting in a dark room, sipping a glass of wine and asking yourself a thousand questions, The Border Crossing will fit in your picture.
Read a full review HERE
Band: Phragments
Album title: All Towers Must Fall
Release date: 1 July 2016
Label: Malignant Records
Phragments already have an impressive discography, over the last ten years they have released a number of albums on various labels. They appear to have turned in their early use of the orchestral industrial sound and are keen on focusing all energy into the dark ambient soundscapes of their more recent albums. On All Towers Must Fall, Phragments follows this trend, building an album which is quintessentially dark ambient in its presentation. Slowly oscillating deep drones are the base of All Towers Must Fall. There is surely a cinematic element here, but it doesn't ever necessarily take the lead. From the album art to the theme and its execution, All Towers Must Fall hits the mark and brilliantly depicts a war-torn world in the midst of its devastation. Turn out the lights and crank the volume to become fully engulfed in this apocalyptic scenario.
Read a 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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