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

Background/Info: Behind Empty Chalice is hiding Antonine A. who’s also the creative mind behind Gopota. This new album has been released on cassette format and strictly limited to 31 copies!

Content: The first side features 3 tracks and brings us instantly into the vision of dark, sonic corridors with some extra ritual touch on top. Humming sound waves, monotonous atmospheres and ghost-like vocals are leading the listener throughout an obscure dimension.

Both cuts on the second side are a little bit more into experimentalism, but globally speaking it remains a very dark and nihilistic experience in music.

+ + + : The main strength of all kind of ambient-related music genres is to appeal the listener’s mind for images. This way you’re creating your own world, which through the music of this project is colored by obscure themes. There clearly is a vision of horror, but that’s precisely a reference when listening to this music genre. I especially like the kind of ritual touch empowered by different vocal effects. “Muffled Scream” is a real great and tormented piece . “Sidereal” coming next is another attention grabber. There are some bells running through this track reinforcing the ritual feeling and creating the impression of a nearby disaster. Last, but not least I like the ‘underground’ aspect of the work limited to 31 copies!

– – – : I personally prefer the A-side. Both cuts on the B-side are more into experimentalism and sound creation. I’m here missing the tormented spirit of the other cuts.

Conclusion: Empty Chalice is covering different music genres, but it clearly remains an album, which will appeal for the darkest ambient souls.

Best songs: “Muffled Scream”, “Sidereal”, “Look Into My Eyes”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/empty.chalice

Label: http://cardinium.com / www.facebook.com/iorecs

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: Noise & dark-ambient.

Background/Info: Gopota resulted from the common efforts between the projects Empty Chalice and Obozdur. I last year discovered this new noise-formation by the “Knots Of fear”-album.

Content: This new opus features 5 tracks, which are driven by noise treatments, but mixed with overwhelming dark-ambient atmospheres. The ambient input injects a more accessible element to the work, which has been even reinforced by some ghost-like voice passages.

There also is a solid experimental influence running through the work. It mainly consists of field recordings accentuating the visual strength of some tracks.

+ + + : “Music For Primitive” moves towards a more accessible yet still extreme sound creation. I like this evolution for its visual appeal. The industrial crashes and sharp noise treatments create a delicious fusion with the numerous field recordings. “Meaningless” is a noticeable song in the genre. This new work is also more elaborate and I was especially impressed by the diverse sound manipulations. The addition of a few vocal lines also is an interesting move.

– – – : Even if the songs are quite long in duration I think it’s a pity we only get 5 cuts. The intro cut is not exactly the most exciting one. The experimental and somewhat abstract approach still isn’t the most accessible aspect of the album.

Conclusion: Gopota is progressively experimenting new influences and really seems to have found their sonic path. This is an interesting twist between noise and dark-ambient music.

Best songs: “Meaningless”, “Summa Liturgica”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/empty.chalice

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: Post-industrial, noise.

Background/Info: Gopota is a duo featuring Antonio Airoldi (Empty Chalice) and Vitaly Maklakov (Obozdur). I recently discovered the noise universe of Empty Chalice and so I was wondering what this debut album of Gopota sound like.

Content: Gopota is less noise-driven although it remains an important source of inspiration. The composition is more diversified and driven by industrial elements and constant sound manipulations. Dark loops sound like lost in an endless space of noise vibrations.

“Knots Of Fear” has been progressively built up till reaching a monstrous noise wall of distortion. It reflects a total state of terror consisting of repetitive, dark loops, which is reinforced by some fragmented vocal passages lost in a sonic capharnaum.

+ + + : The noise influence has been mixed with some industrial sequences. The tracks reveal weird, but cool sound manipulations. It’s a more accessible side of noise. I also have to mention the rather cool artistic work of the album.

– – – : The main point with this kind of release is that nearly all tracks are sounding pretty similar and I sometimes ask myself how listeners can differentiate one track from another.

Conclusion: Gopota is clearly appealing for extreme industrial freaks. “Knots Of Fear” is a dangerous sonic weapon, which has to be consumed with moderation.

Best songs: “Blood In His Sleep”, “Online Periphery”.

Rate: (6½).

Band: www.facebook.com/empty.chalice

Label: http://torga–amun.blogspot.be /

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