Ambient

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Requiem For Oblivion - Requiem For Oblivion (2009)

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    As you first listen to track number one on this self titled release, you expect some good old Progressive Metal, but as the album progresses you are headed for an acid trip similar to something out of a David Lynch movie.

    The band's style is a very peculiar mix of Progressive Metal and some Ambient elements, as well as some weird vocals. The band self claims to be heavily influenced by Rush, Dream Theater, Katatonia among others, and that is not completely far out.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Immundus – Haunted Memories (2009)

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    Immundus is a one man project hailing from Portugal, the project’s musical style could be defined as Dark Ambient music and it’s very eerie in nature, and it could very well be the soundtrack of a horror/thriller movie.

    Featuring ten tracks of eerie sounds with very minimalistic passages that will send chills to some people’s spines, or they will put others to sleep. If you are into Dark Ambient music, then you will be very pleased by this release, however if you do not like releases like this, then avoid the album since it will bore you to death.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Canis Dirus – A Somber Wind From A Distant Shore (2009)

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    Ambient Raw Black Metal newcomers Canis Dirus hail from Minnesota, USA, yeah you read correctly from the USA. This two man band is probably one of the best new bands of the genre hailing from the USA besides Wolves Of The Throne Room.

    Invoking the old Burzum sound as well as the insane vocals of Bethlehem’s first albums “A Somber Wind From A Distant Shore” is a very solid release that features a very primitive and raw sound that will send shivers down to anybody’s spine after listening to it in the dark or better yet in the woods.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Urfaust – Einsiedler (2009)

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    The Dutch duo of Urfaust comes back with their latest 2 song EP “Einsiedler” and after doing a bit of research about this band I figured I was into another pointless voyage from ‘just another’ crappy Ambient/Raw Black Metal band, and I was very wrong about this.

    “Einsiedler” features over 18 minutes of mesmerizing Ambient/Raw Black Metal that should be set as one of the standards for the genre. Their amazing ambiance created by the keyboards in the track “IX Einsiedler” is both eerie and enthralling I have not enjoyed a simple but well composed keyboard arrangement like this one in quite a while. While you still have the traditional shrieks on the song, they also added a very melodic clean vocal that complements the track to perfection. The overall down-tempo and doomy feeling of this song is amazing and it’s probably one of the reasons I enjoyed the full 11 minutes it lasts.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    1349 - Revelations of the Black Flame (2009)

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    I’m pretty sure this album will cause plenty of controversy since 1349 have been releasing brutally amazing Black Metal albums since their conception, and now they hit back with a very ‘weird’ experimentation album.

    1394 tries to experiment with Ambient, Black Metal and even some Drone stuff here and there, and they sound…. very different. I gave this album plenty of listens before I wrote this review since my original reaction was to be repulsed by it, but the again, I always think that bands should experiment and do different things instead of releasing the same album over an over.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Hypno5e - Des Deux L'une Est L'autre (2007)

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    Hypno5e is a French band that plays avant-garde / experimental metal. I get plenty of albums to review each month and I have not heard anything like this album in quite a while, and I don’t mean this in a bad way “Des Deux L'une Est L'autre” is a very interesting album from start to end.

    Since the first track Hypno5e sets the stage for a psychedelic voyage that the listeners are about to take. This album features a very good balance of ‘heavy’ metal parts with nice ambient passages that complement each other to perfection; the band has achieved a very unique balance of musical elements.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Empire – Auriga (2008)

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    This two member band from Michigan plays something close to industrial and ambient, and while some other reviews and the promo sleeve say’s they have some Black Metal influences I fail to hear them. The vocals sound a bit Black Metal, but other than that there is nothing else. The album it self is a weird trip into outer space or somewhere in between.

    Auriga features seven tracks of synthesizers, and guitars and a drum machine. While there are many interesting Industrial Black Metal bands, their music does not sound like this band at all. The overall atmosphere of the album is quite interesting and tense, but it just stays like that, I think it fails to deliver something that it’s building up to.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    October Falls - The Womb Of Primordial Nature (2008)

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    This 3 man band from Finland too me by surprise with this release. Having heard Marras and Sarastus before, I was expecting some relaxing folk music. These 2 albums can be compared to Empyrium’s last albums, but The Womb Of Primordial Nature clearly takes a different path. It’s more of a folk / ambient black metal album, and it’s great.

    The album consists of 4 songs and they probably took a few weeks to come up with the title names (look it up and you’ll laugh about this).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fen - The Malediction Fields (2009)

    When this album starts, I started saying to my self” “here comes another shitty atmospheric black metal band”, like I often find telling my self and being completely right. Well for Fen I ate my own words, while their style is indeed atmospheric black/dark metal they have carefully crafted elements of folk and post-rock, to create a great unique sound.

    I would say they kind of resemble Alcest or even Agalloch at some points, but they have their own original ideas and sound embedded in their music.

    This album also evokes some memories of Ulver’s opus: Bergtatt. While at some points the music is very harsh, it’s perfectly balanced by great acoustic interludes changing the pace entirely of the songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Blut Aus Nord...Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue with the Stars (2009)

    When you listen to Blut Aus Nord you can count on listening to a band that has the same musical style since they where conceived. However their style, while primitive, is more mature in this release than their previous albums.

    If you like fast paced harsh black metal this is the album for you, however they do have some nice instrumental interludes in their songs and also some calm parts that sound better than the majority of the album.

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