The Rock Blogger

Sunn O))). Dømkirke. 2008. 4 stars.

Along with close contemporaries Earth and Boris, Sunn O))) have become flag bearers for the doom-metal avant-garde, pushing the genre to new experimental boundaries with each full-length album. While they may have just lovingly mimicked Earth’s early drones with their first set of releases, Sunn O))) quickly evolved into a innovative force of their own right, pushing out heady, slow-as-molasses jams of impenetrable darkness. The chilling spoken word intro of White 1 or the pseudo-black metal wraiths on Black One demonstrated the cloaked duo’s capacity for creating exciting and terrifying masterpieces that were as unique as they were heavy.

Dømkirke carries on with the proud tradition, bringing the distinguished drone masters and their special guests to an ancient Danish cathedral where their compositions could be given a full atmospheric treatment. From what I understand, this was recorded live, giving the album raw power and urgency - a strange word to use given the band’s snail-like pace. The majority of this album moves away from the groaning and drawn-out riffs of the past, opting instead for dense, dark ambient pieces. That being said, the album is still bass-laden and unbelievably heavy, its just more focused on atmospheric drones rather than lumbering guitar work. Vocal contributions from black metal artist Attila Csihar are spine-chilling, as his dark, operatic chants echo like the rites of some ritualistic cult-figure. The later half of the album has him more restrained, offering distant and indistinguishable shrieks and rasps to hover over the searing drones.

Dømkirke may not sound as direct or metal as 2005’s Black One, but the thick graveyard atmosphere and dense production remains fully intact. The inclusion of monk vocals and the chosen recording space also lend Sunn O))) even more gravity to pull you down into their murky pits. As a band willing to take risks with their already unconventional and disturbing sound, Sunn O))) have once again shown their intense mystique and musical craftsmanship.

Somnivore. Clergy of Oneiros. 2007. 4 stars.

Finnish dark-ambient artists Somnivore draw on allusions to Greek mythology to create this somnambulist album. Deep, rumbling drones, distant voices and airy electronics suck you into these 6 unsettling dreams. A cold atmosphere hangs over the entire album, conveying scenes of abandoned buildings, smoldering cities and mildewy caverns.

The progressions here are absorbing, with enough subtlety to invite meditative, introspective experiences. While the mood of these pieces is vaguely sinister, with its many whispering actors and eerie chimes, Clergy of Oneiros still stirs reflection.

Some of the tracks can be a slightly repetitive and downright baffling, but the more industrial tinged songs at the album’s conclusion brings the meandering to satisfying apex. Midnight music for the lucid dreamer or the downright deranged.

Nahvalr. Nahvalr. 2008. Enemies List Recordings. 4.5 stars.

Nahvalr, described by its founders as “open source black metal”, is nothing less than a landmark in originality. Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga from Connecticut’s equally brilliant Have a Nice Life have taken submitted noises, samples and instrumentals from across the web and melded them together into 8 terrifying movements that shift between ambient, doom, drone and black metal styles. These impenetrable walls of sound are as compelling as they are suffocating, rich with grotesque detail and atmosphere. While numerous dark ambient acts have touched on the same blackened corner stones as Nahvalr, both the innovative creative process and the density of this album is remarkable.

The idea of having many so disparate sounds compiled may seem daunting, even counter productive in the creation of music, Nahvalr moves far beyond mere bursts of noise and finds a common, sinister and even spiritual thread that runs through their collections. Their compositions, whether they are cavernous, bass-driven processions (”Blood Flood”) or ghostly, free-floating ambiance (”Swallower of Bile”) are given ample room to stretch out and breathe, uncovering a powerful emotional center in each.

Music this experimental, haunting and visceral demonstrates the often neglected potential the Internet has for collaborative projects. It may be overlong in some segments, but the dark energy within Nahvalr is impossible to ignore and shake off, making it a masterpiece of devastatingly bleak reflection. I can only hope that projects like Nahvalr, with all their promise and dynamism, will continue to take shape and flourish in our digital culture.

Deathprod. Morals and Dogma. 2004. 3.5 stars.

This album has the power to induce multiple nightmares. It’s cold, ambient drones washing across like floodwater through an abandoned city, Morals and Dogma pulls you into a strange landscape populated by specters and fallen angels. This is dark ambient to the core, with 4 slow-building movements stretching across 50 minutes of sullen meditation. Dense reverb, deep bass tones, unintelligable rumblings and eerie voices create an absorbing sonic environment to get lost in. While the mood is somber and the performance quiet, these pieces have a subtle, unsettling edge to them, as each droning composition burns with dread and tension. Its emotional power is intense and shows composer Helge Sten’s commitment to atmosphere. Each of these drawn out pieces seeps stealthily into your mind, giving you ample time to conjure evanescent imagery.

Given the deep impression this type of music makes on you, and its incredibly slow pacing, Morals and Dogma is an intimidating record. Its difficult to get into and the lack of sonic variety in some of the longer tracks can drag down the experience if you’re not in a completely reflective mood. That being said, Deathprod’s work is uniquely disquieting, managing to foster complete emotional engagement with great subtlety and minimalistic style. If you are willing to confront the demons living in your subcontinents, Morals and Dogma is a well-versed exorcist.

Deathprod - treetop drive 3
(not from Morals and Dogma, but its still a cool video)

Robert Rich & B. Lustmord. Stalker 1995. 4.5 stars.

A few months ago I wrote a post about Andrei Tarkovsky’s surreal sci-fi film Stalker and its meditative soundtrack, which I had tracked down thanks to a few intrepid readers of this blog. Now I’ve discovered an alternative score to that mind-bending film courtesy of ambient artists Robert Rich and B Lustmord who painstakingly create a haunted soundscape with the same spiritual energy as Tarkovsky’s masterpiece.

Like any great dark-ambient record, Stalker is rich with detail. Natural sound samples like dripping water, gusts of wind and disemboidend vocies fill the estranged spaces of the record. The compsoitons are not just rough collections of found sounds however, as they are driven by subtle rythms, synthesied loops, drones and unsual percussiive elements. While these densely layered compositions are as slow moving and hypnotic as the film’s images, they are still highly engaging, capturing one’s attentions in a ghostly ebb and flow.

Whether its taken in as a companion peice to Tarkovsky’s work or on its own merit, Stalker is a powerful work of art that is full of mystery. While its fullest spirtual thrust comes towards the latter end of the record, as beautiful choral voices make their way through the labryith of sounds, Stalker remains consistently powerful and immersive across its entire duration. If you have any interest in ambient music, or are simply looking for something to think or meditate to, you owe it to yourself to find this album.

Svarte Greiner . Knive . 2006. 4 stars .

This is a spine chilling dark-ambient album from Norway that strives to create a disturbing cinematic experience. Strange rustling, creaks, unsettling drones and haunting choral vocals make subtle exchanges in the black spaces of this record, creating an enveloping atmosphere that has been described as ‘acoustic doom’.

Like avant-garde contemporaries Set Fire to Flames and Northaunt, Svarte Greiner’s disc is difficult to get into but immensely rewarding once you let it slowly seep in under your skin. While there are some meandering sections that just sound like someone clumsily dropping a microphone repeatedly, the later numbers are completely absorbing, as the ghostly, wordless vocals glide across the primal percussion and field recordings. The more refined numbers like "The Black Dress" sound like lost tracks form a David Lynch movie, drawing you into moaning corridors and passageways with no clear direction or aim. All that leads you along is an inescapable sense of dread and unease, the fear of the unknown.

Despite the album’s unevenness, the later half of Knive is engrossing enough to deserve an attentive listen. The level of detail in these soundscapes will be sure to fascinate, as each creeping synth line, shimmering chime and estranged clang pulls you towards a deeper psychic plane. Organic and ethereal, the sounds of Knive will be etched in mind for some time.