Dark and cinematic ambient label Cryo Chamber is about to release a new tribute to H.P. Lovecraft's mythos, a double album entitled Juk-Shabb, on 10 December. This is a two-hour dark soundscape album recorded by over 20 ambient artists.
Juk-Shabb is a Great Old One who communicates by changing colour and using telepathy. The being is a powerful psionic and has extensive knowledge of magic. The cult of Juk-Shabb was well known for its brutality and sacrifices to appease their deity. The priests of this cult were feared throughout Egypt for their knowledge of dark magic and rituals involving human sacrifice.
"A great collective of shadows fell over the sky like the lid of a tomb, crushing the world's light into a feral darkness. A torrent of vague manifestations of transparency mixed with moving colours formed an impression of disintegrating brilliance across the cloud base, embroidering the darkness with a shimmering inconstancy which never aspired to a true substance. Nor was any of this seen coherently with the naked eye—but with the mind's eye, only. It was perceived as a mode of feeling across the firmament, without revealing a physical structure. But it invaded the anima of the multitudes who witnessed its tumults—affecting every single person on Earth. Within days, the populations of the continents and island groups had become infected with a devastating melancholy. Within weeks, a febrile madness took hold. The world had entered a phase of destruction that fell upon the eons of history like a contagion." - Excerpt from Juk-Shabb Booklet
So is this a compilation? No, this is a collaboration and a huge undertaking. Over 20 artists linked studios and sound for over a year so that they could work with each other. This led to a deep collaborative exploration of the Mythos and Rhan-Tegoth.
Juk-Shabb was written, performed, produced by the following artists: Council Of Nine, Atrium Carceri, Oljus, Onasander, Skrika, RNGMNN, Alphaxone, Northumbria, God Body Disconnect, In Quantum, Gydja, Sjellos, Duga-1, Ugasanie, Dead Melodies, Neizvestija, Mystified, Keosz, Dronny Darko, ProtoU, Ruptured World, and Lesa Listvy. Link
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"It's not only about me; everybody deals with identity in a way because the world is asking so much of you all the time. You need to relate to..." - Raven van Dorst
"We only make an album when we feel genuinely inspired. You can't just say, "OK, I'm going to record a new album", because without inspiration, it would be boring." - Gregor Mackintosh
"When you feel something you need to share, creating songs is the best way to do it. You can reflect on yourself so that you can relax and be relieved of that emotion." - Çağla Güleray
"There's much more detail in our music now than 20 years ago. It's also much easier nowadays because you can do many things at home." - Morten Lybecker
