Out via the fine French label Cyclic Law on September 13 is the all new release from the Swedish dark ambient project Lẽtum, “Dreams And Illusions”.

Lẽtum is the dark ambient solo project from the Lindesberg, Sweden-based musician Mattias Henriksson. Mattias works on Lẽtum in his spare time; professionally he is a teacher and the manager of IT company called Mint Solutions; so it’s a rather nice surprise that there is a new Lẽtum material after all.

Lẽtum released his debut, “The Entrance to Salvation”, via the now defunct Swedish cult label Cold Meat Industries in 2001. It was followed by “Broken” in 2006.

The new album “Dreams And Illusions” comes in an edition of 300 copies in a matt laminated 4 panel digipak. The album holds 7 tracks with a running time of 44:08. The mastering for this new album was entrusted to Frederic Arbour.

Check out the first track and video below. Read the review of ‘Dreams And Illusions’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient, Drone.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Kloob is the Spanish solo-project of Daniel Ferreira. 2020 has been a prolific year for the musician. Next to the brilliant album “Mundus Patet” he released together with Onasander, he also unleashed this “Cryptic Interactions”. Eight songs inspired by paranormal experiences and the question if they’re ‘caused by a ‘foreign essence’ or are they a figment of human imagination?’ Notice by the way this album has been self-released while Frederic Arbour (Cyclic Law) did the mastering.

Content: Kloob invites the listeners to enter into a dark universe he created with humming atmospheres and sound waves. The tracks are progressively evolving, creating a strong visual appeal. Heavy sound blasts are resonating while drones are slowly joining in. One of the last tracks features a somewhat tribal-like influence while everything comes to an end by a new humming sound wave.

+ + + : Klook has already released noticeable Productions and this new opus holds on the dark and tenebrous style of the artist. The composition has something inhibited, like a very intimate and imaginary voyage of the inner-self. Next to the familiar dark, humming waves the work also reveals an impressive number of subtle noises and arrangements. But the main strength of this work is the tracklist whereby the songs are moving crescendo till reaching their apotheosis at “Spectral Rage”. This song is driven by a kind of slow, Tribal-like cadence, which brings diversity to the dark sphere. I also have to say a word about the artistic digipak of this self-released album. 

– – – : I was mentioning the impressive tracklist and the order of the tracks. It’s just a pity the very last cut (cf. “Ghostly Presences”) –which sounds cool by the way, appears to be an anti-climax right after the phenomenal “Spectral Rage”.

Conclusion: Kloob confirms great writing skills in the creation of poignant dark ambiances.

Best songs: “Spectral Rage”, “Profound Invocation”, “Encrypted Feedback”, “Fascinating Flow”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/kloobmusic

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.

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Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, dark-cinematographic.

Background/Info: Frederic Arbour is not only running Cyclic Law (now established in Berlin), but he from time to time also composes his own music under the Visions moniker. He last year released the “Monad”-album together with Phurpa and now strikes back with his first solo-album in nine years. “Temples” is meant as ‘as a hymn to lost civilizations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors. As societies fall, most of their temples and shrines seem to remain, perhaps, as a reflection of the materiality of spirit.’

Content: The main characteristic from “Temples” is the permanent fusion between dark-cinematographic music and pure dark-ambient. The compositions are characterized by heavy, impressive blasting sound waves. You sometimes get the impression to hear electronic signals from outer space. The tracks are rather long, but featuring several climaxes. 

+ + + : Frederic Arbour took me by surprise! He released an overwhelming ambient composition, which is moving crescendo while mixed with background noises and field recordings. The deep, vibrating sound waves are literally resonating in your stomach. It’s an icy and frightening sensation, but still a truly reference to speak about a successful experience. The album features a few masterpieces such as “Ultima” and “Continuum”. 

– – – : This album is a great exposure of Frederic Arbour’s musical taste. It’s just a pity we had to wait such a long time for such a masterpiece!

Conclusion: “Temples” is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best Cyclic Law releases from the year! This is how dark-ambient music has to feel: cold, scary and poignant!

Best songs: “Ultima”, “Continuum”, “Murmur”, “Temples”. 

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/visionsambient 

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

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.

Background/Info: Ukrainian artist Andrzej Gladuszewski is releasing his work under the Monocube moniker. His new album has been released in collaboration with American label Malignant Records (which also released his previous work “The Rituals”) and Canadian label Cyclic Law.

Content: “Substratum” moves on where “The Rituals” left off. The compositions became darker and more elaborate. Monstrous, humming sound treatments and low, vibrating sound waves lead the listener into the ultimate state of terror. The tracks have been meticulously built up, moving crescendo to some freaky climaxes. Antti Litmanen (Arktau Eos) and Frederic Arbour (Visions + Cyclic Law owner) contributed each to one track.

+ + + : There’s a serious evolution in sound and global production work. I was seriously impressed by the overwhelming, monstrous sound treatments resulting from the analogue gear used to accomplish this work. “Opaque” is one of these tracks, which according to me comes close to perfection. Another track I have to mention is “Prima Materia”. It doesn’t only sound as the highest degree of terror-music, but it features brilliant sound treatments featuring icy crashes and vibrating sequences. The sound also has a real strong visual appeal. The artwork is a bonus to this production.

– – – : Next to exceptional cuts like “Opaque” and “Prima Materia” some of the other tracks left don’t bring a similar magic, which doesn’t mean that they’re unaccomplished.

Conclusion: If you like great dark-ambient music, “Substratum” is an album you have to discover. I’m not surprised it has been released as a collaboration between two leading labels in the genre.

Best songs: “Opaque”, “Prima Materia”, “Luft”, “Sehnsucht”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/monocube.official

Labels: www.malingnantrecords.com / www.facebook.com/malignantrecords / www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

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, experimental, cinematographic.

Background/Info: “Monad” is a particular release in the Cyclic Law label history. It indeed is the 100^th release from the Canadian label run by  Frederic Arbour. To celebrate this event Frederic Arbour (Visions) joined hands with the Russian ritual/ambient artist,  Alexey Tegin (Phurpa).

Content: If you’re a little bit familiar with the respective works of both artists you can only, but agree that they deal with different kinds of music. Visions is more into dark-ambient and cinematographic-like work while Phurpa is a very particular, ritual-kind of project characterized by ritual singing. Both artists appear to be quite complementary on “Monad”, this work mixing both influences together. From dark, humming sound waves and ditto voices to a real impressive arsenal of noise treatments you mainly can distinguish by the use of headphones, this album reveals a sophisticated approach in sound.

+ + + : It was years ago now I heard any new work from Visions, but Frederic Arbour recovered his machines from dust to create a special work together with Phurpa. Both artists seem to have found each other, the work being complementary and even innovating. There’s an interesting twist between the influences of both artists. I like the progression in the song structure, which makes me think to a sonic web that has been patiently elaborated to reach its ultimate point at the very last cut. This sonic structure has been built up with an impressive sound canvas featuring multiple little noises and effects. This is the kind of release you have to play loud or by using headphones.

– – – : The tracks are a bit similar to each other and maybe too much focused on the diversity of sounds & noises instead of creating the ultimate ‘atmosphere’.

Conclusion: I’m not always that convinced about the artists working together on one full album, but I have to admit there’s a real strong connection between both artists. So I hope they’ll consider working together on a new album.

Best songs: “Reminiscence”, “Ascendance”.

Rate: (7½).

Artists: www.facebook.com/frederic.arbour / www.facebook.com/PHURPAband

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

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

Read the review of ‘As Gods Fall’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Celebrating its 100th release, Cyclic Law presents an exclusive collaboration between label head Frederic Arbour’s long standing project Visions and Russia’s ritual formation, lead by Alexey Tegin, Phurpa.

On “Monad” you’ll find a merge of Phurpa’s meditational chants and shamanic percussive elements and Visions’ slow-shifting, multi-layered textural drones. You can listen to a preview of all the tracks below.

The album comes as a CD edition of 500 copies in a 4-panel digisleeve and as an LP edition of 200 copies in a standard LP sleeve. Both formats hold 4 tracks with a playing time of just over 40 minutes. You can order both via the label’s website or via Bandcamp.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com