Nihil Impvlse – Stasis (Album – Eighth Tower Records)
Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, Industrial, Dark-Ambient.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: After having released the albums “Teil I – Katabasis” (2010) and “Teil II – Stasis” (2018) Nihil Impvlse joined hands with Eight Tower Records to unleash by the end of 2020 “Stasis”. The work has been introduced as ‘an exploration, in seven chapters, of the diagrams of the power mechanisms caging us in an invisible prison: civilization’.
Content: I noticed 4 tracks from the album were already released at “Teil II – Stasis”. The sound is an exploration of different styles, which are centered on Industrial noises, Dark-Ambient sound corridors and field recordings. A few spoken samplings accentuate the ghost-like effect of the work. The tracks have been progressively built up and sometimes resulting in an imaginary vision of inferno.
+ + + : The work is quite diversified, mainly because of the different influences. I personally prefer the second part of the album, which is more consistent and resulting in a few frightening sonic climaxes. “A Prison Within A Prison” perfectly symbolizes the concept of the album, but also appeals for a terror-like vision. Another attention grabber is “Zeitgeist Penthotal” where the few spoken samplings empower the spooky experience. Last, but not last there’s the last track “To All Our Futures These Ruins Shall Return” has been progressively built up revealing an imaginary world of despair. Nihil Impvlse perfectly knows how to create strong atmospheres, which the listener transposed into his own images of horror.
– – – : The album is just missing an absolute apotheosis; it sometimes feels pretty close, but never comes true.
Conclusion: “Stasis” is a dark work reflecting the world of today… an invisible prison called civilization!
Best songs: “A Prison Within A Prison”, “Zeitgeist Penthotal”, “To All Our Futures These Ruins Shall Return”.
Rate: (7½).
Label: www.facebook.com/eighthtowerrecords
About Nihil Impvlse
Nihil Impvlse is an Italian project whose Discogs chronology lists the albums “Teil I – Katabasis” (2010) and the “Katabainein” EP (2011) on Interitvs Nvmen, followed by “Teil II – Stasis” (2018), which previewed four of the tracks that reappear on “STASIS”.
“STASIS” was mastered by Sonologyst with artwork by Francesco Di Stasio, released by Eighth Tower Records on 17 December 2020. The project’s next album, “Anabasis”, followed on the same label in 2023.
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