| The Circular Ruins - Conjunction 2CD (DataObscura 2003)By Joseph |
The Circular Ruins
Conjunction
DataObscura
Jun 2003
Ambient
Conjunction, the dark side of the ruins. So is this The Circular Ruins putting his hand to dark scary ambient? Well yes & no really, while the atmospheres here are dark and brooding with the feeling of nighttime they don't quite have the horror movie feeling of a lot of my favourite dark ambient albums. I have found this album though getting a lot of listening time from me as the music is deep and hypnotic. Melancholic and tinged with ethereal. Softly muttered samples throughout give the feeling of being privy to secrets not meant for you. Call this suspense ambient more than dark ambient because it builds atmospheres of tension rather than horror. The second CD being the darker of the 2 journeys with a dark tense atmosphere dark without the cliches.
The vocal sample in the opening track Evening Of Innocence is about nothing and nothing and helps me reflect on my nihilistic tendencies as does the rest of the music which is reflective of very little yet powerful and inviting like death.
Whereas the strings Throughout Description Without Place make me feel alone in a cold wet world. Description Without Place is a long track exploring a lonely man's psyche. The sounds flit from hope to despair, ambition to rot, violence to serene pleasure.
From Everlasting Image I get a feeling of looming conflict. The subtle background tension you get when your country is at war but when life must go on as usual. Very cold, back of the mind fear.
In contrast Oblique Structures has a calm underground feeling, like sleeping in a cave. The percussion near the end gives it energy as if climbing through the layers of Earth up to the sunlit fields above.
Chasing Shadows is aptly named as his has not only energy reminiscent of running animals but also in that it is very bright and dark at the same time. The synth drones are the shadows we are chasing but surrounding them are natural sounds like that of the sea, the air and the clouds moving on the breeze.
The music in Subtle Instructions is subtle indeed, very minimal but with a lot going on. Good drone work, brief flurries of beats and light melodic sounds floating upwards. It all sounds simple but it's very effective.
There is some tribal beats in All These Things which give it an almost ritualistic feel at the start. The mood shifts as quickly as the music in a sideways classical direction where there are wide open spaces filled with melancholic melody.
Thus ends the first CD, Penumbra, a contrast of dark and light styles. Softly muttered samples mix with acoustic strings and long atmospheric drones. Very skillfully blended together in a very descriptive journey.
We resume our journey with Embers, a deeply moving track. The vocal sample is so close to understandable, the words register yet the meaning is lost. Like advice from an elderly uncle. It's reflective and the hypnotic pulse pulls you down into it's brooding self pity.
Given the title Haunted one would expect an eerie track filled with subtly dark presences just out of perceptive reach and that is exactly what we get at first, shadows palpable with sentients malice. The darkest track here with soft pulsating rhythm and subtle ghostly moans making it hypnotically intriguing.
The Space Between is creepy in a strange way. The light melodic clicking sounds right out of an uncomfortable dream where someone is lurking for you in the shadows. The synth drone oscillates in a way that plays with your brain and your aural senses. The strings at the end sound like the slow closing of a trap.
The Last Time is more chaotic in that ambient way of relaxed chaos. Everything seems to be happening at once but nothing seems leading the way but the wet bubbling sound falling down manages to but right through the rest of the noise ready for the last time voice that never returns.
A Forgotten Divinity, 17 minutes of stalker like paranoia. The lack of substance adds to its eeriness with just a wind like drone, subtle clicks sporadically changing and all to real sounds mixed with surreal ones. Vultures screaming and dimensions bleeding in unison.
Hunger leaves us with a more techy feel, the similar lurking atmosphere with a technological buzz around it. When the steady beat kicks in it sounds almost martial with the tech sounds like a skulking super power ready to unleash technological terror on the world. The tension of the album culminates here it's as if everything might explode even as it fades.
So Umbra ends, it was a darker tale than the first CD much more eerie and foreboding opposed to brooding and melancholic. This journey reminds me more of Robert Rich and B.Lustmord - Stalker in its dark subtle tones. Perfect if you have time to listen to both CDs back to back possibly preceded by The Circular Ruins lighter works and followed by the afore mentioned Stalker.Da |
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October 2007
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