Our old blog friend István Csarnogurszky of Silent Island (and so many other stellar projects) has a new album out, and it is a continuation of his mellow, cosmic guitar playing inspired, possibly, by everything from psych and post-rock to four-to-the-floor rock licks. Gentle, meandering (in a great way), a nice album to just get lost in the clouds with.
Atmospheric
[Music] NERATERRÆ – Scenes From The Sublime
Our friend Alessio Antoni of NERATERRÆ is visiting us for the third time, and he brings along some of the finest composers in dark ambient music to collaborate with.
Some of the participants in this album include Alphaxone, Dødsmaskin, Leila Abdul-Rauf, Mount Shrine, Phelios, Phragments, Shrine, Xerxes The Dark, George Zafiriadis from Martyria and Yann Hagimont from Cober Ord. The variance of sounds and textures on this release corresponds well with the different paintings which inspired Alessio to produce this album. Such painters as Zdzisław Beksiński, Ilya Repin, Salvador Dalí, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Francisco Goya among others.
There is a ghostly quality that comes with the genre on each track, but they have more of a viscous feeling to them. They sound, and in a sense, feel, more substantial than others I’ve been hearing recently. There is no shortage of incredible ambient music going around today, but Alessio and his partners continue to impress and surprise.
[Music] Zeresh – Farewell
My goodness! I knew my friends in the band Zeresh had a new album out, but I wasn’t expecting an epic! Farewell does an amazing job of combining the good elements of the early Pink Floyd sound and melds it together with neofolk. Tamar Singer’s vocals are otherworldly, quite rich and unique in this genre. I mean this literally!
Also, as this is considered atmospheric black metal in the genre section of the Bandcamp site, I would have expected more shrieking and screaming. Thank God, no noise like that on this release. It would have ruined the truly dark, foreboding vibe that Zeresh were giving to me while preparing for a long day at work. I enjoyed this one immensely.
[Music] Wayne Robert Thomas & Isaac Helsen – RÁS
Past Inside the Present Records are churning out incredible release after incredible release. This one is a special gem, however, as guitarist and composer Wayne Robert Thomas & film composer Isaac Helsen pair upon a 30+ minute drone epic. Though the who album floats beautifully, I have no choice but to declare the first track, a tribute to former Talk Talk frontman and producer of the greatest album I have ever heard in my life, Mark Hollis, who passed away in February of this year. What a near-perfect collaboration this is!
[Music] BLURRR – Pain Is A Garment
BLURRR, a project of composer Aaron Kim, performs a type of musical wabi sabi. In times like these, with so much pain and grief in the world, I salute anyone who is willing to mix this concept with Kosmische Musik. Quite a nice EP. From BLURRR’s Bandcamp page:
This album was heavily inspired by the term ‘wabi sabi’. This Japanese term has no real definition. It’s more of an instinctual feeling of peace through imperfection. Crafting this album was emotionally laboursome as I tried to emulate wabi sabi in my own interpretation sonically.This is a concept album about the process of self-healing. Suicide rates, anxiety and general depression has seen a sharp rise as mental health issues seem to grow more commonplace in society today. My hope is that you, the listener, can digest this album as a therapeutic experience that can influence your core to improve yourself today. All positive change can happen, it just takes support. And just know that there are people around you.
[Music] NERATERRÆ – The Substance of Perception
Alessio Antoni is a friend of the blog, having made a previous appearance with his disc The NHART Demo[n]s in March of 2018. His latest release surpasses even that dark masterpiece of a debut, partly because he continues to explore the depths of sound, and partly because he was a few guests adding a few jewels to his crown. Read on those guests who are participating in this recording. They are the best of modern dark ambient music. Alessio deserves to be held in the same esteem. We look forward to see what he has next for us.
From his Bandcamp site:
NERATERRÆ’s debut album “The Substance of Perception” (out on Cyclic Law records) is a daring collaborative work featuring some of the finest artists from the Dark Ambient, Drone, Cinematic and Ritual Music scene: Northaunt, Alexey Tegin from Phurpa, Treha Sektori, New Risen Throne, Flowers For Bodysnatchers, Taphephobia, Ugasanie, Xerxes The Dark and Infinexhuma.
The sound palette shifts between both stark atmospheres, melancholic ambiance and dense claustrophobic drones. Alternating between obscurity and light and oscillating between the ineffable detachment from the tangible and the relentless transmogrification of the self.
[Music] 36 – Hollow
36 (pronounced three-six) are an ambient drone band based out of the United Kingdom. Heavy duty music for headphones, not quite Eno-esque, but it resides more along the post-rock side of the spectrum.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 