Sphäre Sechs – Enceladus (CD Album – Tumor/Malignant Records)

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, soundscape.

Content: Three years have passed since Sphäre Sechs’ debut album “Thiefschlaf.” The German duo Martin Stürtzer (mainly known from his Phelios project) and Christian Stritzel joined forces again to transpose some astral inspiration into music.

“Enceladus” which is the sixth largest moon of Saturn became the central theme of this opus revealing 7 cuts simply entitled “Enceladus” and numbered from 1 to 7. Sphäre Sechs created a dark opus, which even goes beyond the obscurity of their debut work.

This space odyssey clearly sounds like a freaky experience that will appeal for your imagination and where you’ll quickly get the sensation of being lost in mysterious sonic corridors.

“Enceladus” was created with an explicit sound formula deliberately avoiding the use of computers, and only composed with analog equipment. It evokes to me the work of some pioneers during the 80s and a kind of return to the origins of dark-ambient and experimental music. “Enceladus” is filled with humming sound waves and other vibrating blasts, which quite progressively and meticulously build up to reach a frightening state. The tracks are pretty similar to each other and rapidly appear to be parts of a wider sonic puzzle. You can feel a kind of dark pressure slowly emerging to the surface and, which crescendo wise will bring the listener into a state of confusion.

Conclusion: Space always has fascinated many people, and the “Enceladus”-experience will certainly feed the mystery of the cosmos. This album perfectly fills the gap between reverie and nightmare, however I’m missing an absolute climax.

Best songs: “Enceladus IV”, “Enceladus V”.

Rate: (DP:7)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/sphaere.sechs

Label: www.malingnantrecords.com / www.facebook.com/malignantrecords