Xerxes The Dark – The Rise of AI (Album –
Zāl Records)
Genre/Influences: Cinematic, Dark-Ambient, Minimal-Electro.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: This Iranian artist -still involved with other projects, is a very prolific artist. The new album by Morego Dimmer aka Xerxes The Dark is inspired by artificial intelligence and the vision of the future.
Content: You’ll rapidly notice the familiar influences of Xerxes The Dark. The album mixes icy Cinematic atmospheres empowered by heavy Industrial sound blasts and a more Minimal-Electro approach driven by slow rhythms. The main part of the work remains instrumental, but you’ll hear growling vocal parts in some songs.
+ + + : The work is diversified so everyone will find a few cool songs. I personally like the last part of the opus for its more Minimal-Electro driven approach, the final song being a masterpiece. But I also enjoyed Cinematic passages like the overwhelming “Synthetic Consciousness” revealing impressive, cold sound treatments. The few vocal parts are also adding a little extra to the work.
– – – : I don’t have anything against the album’s diversity, but I might imagine some listeners will get the feeling of discovering two different projects on the same album.
Conclusion: Xerxes The Dark indeed is a prolific artist, but every new work clearly has its own focus.
Best songs: “Gateway To The Unknown”,“Synthetic Consciousness”, “Intergalactic Empire”, “Simulating The New World”.
Rate: 7½.
Listen to “The Rise Of AI”:
Artist: www.facebook.com/xerxes.the.dark
Label: www.facebook.com/zaalrecords
About Xerxes The Dark
Xerxes The Dark is the dark ambient project of the Iranian composer Mohammadreza Govahi, who also records as Morego and as Nyctalllz. He founded the project in 2005 and mixes dark ambient, drone and industrial elements into cinematic, largely instrumental work.
The first album, “Dim”, appeared in 2006 through Amduscias Records and Smell The Stench, followed by “Artificial Hell” in 2007 and “AZOIX: The Kingdom Of All The Dark Ambient Moments” in 2008. Later titles include “Xenophillis” in 2015, “Transmutation” in 2016 and “[Ab]Solution” on D.M.T. Records in 2017. He also contributed to the collaborative album “Tomb Of Seers”, released by Cryo Chamber in 2017 alongside Council Of Nine, Alphaxone and Wolves And Horses.
Since 2018 his releases have come out through Zāl Records, including remastered versions of “Xenophillis” and “Transmutation”, “Tower Of Silence” in 2019, “Final Crisis” and the compilation “X-Theory (Best Of 2005-2020)” in 2020, and “Soundtrack To The Blind Owl” in 2021. The fourteen-track “The Rise Of AI” followed in 2022, and later works include “Absurd” in 2024 and “Abandoned Station” in 2025.
Side-Line published a Click Interview with Morego in June 2020.
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