Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: DAO is a project hailing from Catalunya (a region in Spain striving for independence). The project already released a very few productions, but remains rather unknown. This work was released earlier this year and features six tracks. 

Content: The tracks are simply entitled “Desolate Landscapes” and numbered from 1 to 6. Sound-wise you feel like embarked on a dark sonic trip driven by droning rhythms and recovered with an inhibited sphere. A few ghost-like vocals are emerging. The work remains dark, but still has a rather intimate feeling.

+ + + : If you like dark music this album is for sure a work to discover. It’s not the ‘classical’ Dark-Ambient production although they’re explicit elements emerging at the surface. I like the most obscure and haunting passages, but especially when joined by resonating drones like on the third cut. There also is a subtle approach in the sound treatments, which mainly comes through at the last track.

– – – : This is a pleasant trip, which I recommend, but there’s nothing like a true highlight.

Conclusion: This work makes me think of an intimate obscure voyage. I’m sure there’s more potential hiding inside this project than what came out at this album.

Best songs: “Desolate Landscapes 3”, “Desolate Landscapes 6”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: https://daowelle.bandcamp.com/music

Label: https://tunguskarec.blogspot.com

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, experimental, dark-ambient.

Background/Info: Dao De Noize is a Ukrainian project set up and driven by Artem Pismenetskii. This artist has released an impressive number of productions and has joined hands with Kyou Records contributing to the “neo Electroacoustic Ambient Series” achieving the fourth album from the series.

Content: Dao DE Noize deals with a kind of freestyle experiment where you get the impression he simply exorcised most of his musical thoughts. “Spiral World Notes” is an impressive sonic canvas featuring echoing percussion, cymbals, spooky atmospheres, industrial-ambient passages, a few ritual elements, field recordings and other endless sound treatments.

+ + + : The least I can say is that this artist brings experimental music towards a higher dimension. It’s not just ‘experimentalism’, but a fusion between different related genres. The final result reveals this visual strength we’re familiar with in ambient music. That’s one of the album main strengths. The darker and especially mysterious passages accentuated by spooky sound treatments and even ritual elements are intriguing and fascinating.

– – – : The work remains ‘extreme’ and not accessible for a wider audience. The main element I’m especially missing is a truly climax.

Conclusion: This album is sonic osmosis between different influences creating a mysterious and mainly ambient opus.

Best songs: “Middle Flow”, “Circle Chant”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/Dao–De–Noize-233946779976146

Label: www.facebook.com/kyourecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, industrial, experimental.

Background/Info: Swedish label Reverse Alignment is focused on music styles such as dark-ambient-, experimental-, industrial- and drone music. This sampler features a selection of 13 formations active at the wider fields of the aforementioned genres. It also is a fine selection from renowned- and upcoming bands plus a few little surprises.

Bands: Alphaxone, Xerxes The Dark, Emerge, Hoarfrost, Ajna & Dronny Darko, Solemn Embrace, Freiband ao.

Content: This sampler reveals a nice sonic palette of different formations dealing with ‘darker’ music styles. There’s an interesting progression in the tracklist featuring a few great exposures.

+ + + : I like the diversity of the sampler, but also the global quality of the tracks. Reverse Alignment really made a fine selection resulting in noticeable contributions. I was impressed by the anguishing atmosphere created by Vlad, the explicit and poignant ambient work of Gydja, the more industrial-driven atmospheres of Emerge, the totally haunting and yet somewhat industrial-like Hoarfrost featuring mysterious chants, the totally claustrophobic-like Xerxes The Dark, the deep vibrating noises by Alphaxone (definitely one of the new Masters in dark-ambient) and Dao De Noize. Freiband (aka Frans de Waard) is a kind of living legend bringing this sampler to an end.

– – – : I don’t have minus points, but I think it’s just a pity this kind of compilation will have some difficulties to reach a wider audience used to hearing this kind of music genres. There’s so much music plus releases to discover and new bands to purchase we’re sometimes missing great opportunities.

Conclusion: “For Your Ears Only” is a fascinating compilation bringing different-, but related styles together. I can only, but encourage you to discover this sampler.

Best bands: Gydja, Hoarfrost, Xerxes The Dark, Dao De Noize.

Rate: (8).

Label: http://ralignment.tictail.com / www.facebook.com/reversealignment

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com