Northaunt - “The Ominous Silence” Review
Northaunt. The Ominous Silence . 2001. 4.5 stars .
Yet another brilliant and obscure record from Norway, Northaunt’s The Ominous Silence features chilling dark-ambient passages complete with sparse piano work and haunting field recordings from nature. Northaunt takes cues from black metal, chamber rock and the avant-garde to create a compelling listening experience that weaves between starkly beautiful melodies and menacing samples, pulling you into the black recesses of the unknown.
The Ominous Silence is exceptional for its painstaking attention to detail, as each drone, gargling vocal and effect is used subtly to create a mysterious soundscape. While the majority of the tracks here run long, they are still driven by underlying melodies so their efforts don’t become too outstretched and abstracted. Such a curious and unsettling work like The Ominous Silence demonstrates the evocative power of dark ambient and calls your attention to the quiet happenings around you. Every drop of rain, gust of wind and thundering storm is part of a wild, puzzling concert and Northaunt act as a medium for it. Powerful, if not often disturbing, material from one of the most underwritten genres.
A Funeral Inside
July 11th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Substantial review. “Barren Land” is also an great album.
Recently I’m too lazy even to upload mp3s. Your blog requires a lot more of creativity ;]
July 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Even just uploading mp3s in your case is part of wider creative project in my opinion. Most of the music both you and I feature are examples of unusual subcultures that are completely ignored or forgotten by mainstream outlets. Blogs like yours are educational and act like an archive for hidden but valuable artifacts.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
You’re right… again. Although those, who have an inner urge to search for sth more, sth different - they don’t belong to cosuments of the mainstream. But I think that even those few, who will find what they’re looking for, thanks to your blog, the give you a sufficient satisfaction. So it is in my case.