I’ve never given too much thought to picking a soundtrack to accompany my Submechanophobia, defined by Google search as “the fear of submerged objects.” And yet, Cryo Chamber has released just that: a nightmarish paean to one of Lovecraft’s enduring horrors that dredges sunless oceans to dump its aural harvest of dread squirming fresh upon the slab...
A truly unique and monumental undertaking is the reason for our review today. For more than one year, 20 dark ambient/drone artists from different parts of the globe linked their studios and sounds for the ability to work with one another; the ability to pay tribute to H.P. Lovecraft. The result is the new double CD, Yog-Sothoth; the 4th release in the Lovecraftian series.
For the last fifteen years, Dmitry Vasilyev has been documenting the experimental music scene all over the world thanks to his label, podcast and the many concerts he puts on in Russian and Ukraine.
The question of the infinite in regards to a poetic text – be it prose, paint or performed on an instrument – is unlikely to have been far from the mind of Raffaele Pezzella when curating this two hour plus compilation of twenty-two tracks from twenty-two separate projects. Something which can forever be returned to and which reveals an ever increasing scope must surely be considered fathomless. This is firmly rooted within the concept of the labyrinth. A musical path is laid out. Curated. It is a trail which requires your trust, your submission. To embark upon such a journey demands a receptive mind.
Russian artists Vladislav Sikach and Sergey Epifanov aka Sij and Item Caligo, joined hands to release this common work revealing 8 compositions. Both artists are truly work-addicts having released an impressive number of productions during the past years. Sij is also used to working with other artists; the list is too long to mention all other names he collaborated with, but you’ll find bands such as Textere Oris, Paul Minesweeper, Creation VI, Particula, Astral & Shit...
SiJ is up next and SiJ is another of the giants to appear on the anthology. Like Alphaxone, SiJ will take you on a journey. You may not like how it gets you there but you will always feel better because of the journey. Few Sounds from the House Near the Sea is a long title but it’s an apt title. The track is quiet to start off with. In my notes, I called it the sound of life without life. I’m not quite sure what I meant at the time but the description still seems to fit. The end of the album is shrill and harsh, like the shattering of an illusion. In terms of the labyrinth this track was one of those times where we, the listeners, had to decide whether to keep going through the labyrinth or give up.
The next one is the collaborative work of Vladislav Sikach's project SiJ, whose first album, 'The Lost World' was also released by Reverse Alignment, who teams up with one Item Caligo, the musical project of Sergey Epifanov. The cover shows us landscapes in twilight sceneries and that is an indication for the flickering ambient music played by these projects.
In Sevastopol, Crimea based applauded dronesculptor Vladislav "Vlad" Sikach, who is acting as SiJ has joined his forces with Textere Oris, a project of Ilya Fursov with domicile in Moscow. To be honest, I don't know too much about Textere Oris' previous releases except the fact Ilya Fursov has already teamed with Vlad Sikach on one of the tracks on his digital album "Plæntágose", which was released during 2015 on relaxedMachinery gang. However, when "Reflections Under The Sky" CD was announced during February 2016 on US dark ambient eminence Cryo Chamber, my eyebrows were immediately raised!
... this album is as detailed as it is complex.". I don't see how this album is detailed or complex. I am listening lately too many Cryo dark ambient albums, so I think of myself as relevant to this kind of music. But I just cant see to this album any reason of existence.
I think there’s no better approach than creating an evasive sensation to evoke the concept of time. That’s precisely the ambient format this album starts off with. Quite rapidly the atmospheres become darker and even reaching a state of horror by the addition of screams and other dark, resonating vibrations.
According to the liner notes this release is based on the concept of time travel and, while it's not particularly evident during the listening of this release, this is the reason why there's a so massive use of field recordings. SiJ makes little use of drone as it's used mainly as a structural glue which ties together all tracks and relies instead on a descriptive musical language based on a the choice of samples with an evident influence from movie's sound design. In such choices samples are chosen not only for their technical properties but also for the fact that they are so culturally connoted to be even descriptive of a mood e.g., the sound of rain.
This new collaboration is an excellent example of dark ambient/neo-classical collaborations gone right. SiJ and Item Caligo are both known for their sounds that often float from ambient, to dark ambient, to neo-classical, and then back again. As is to be expected of these two artists, we have a nice combination of drone, piano, and various other lesser elements. SiJ and Item Caligo combine to craft a sound that is undeniably listenable. There is nothing harsh here, at many times its not even particularly dark.
The album title, The Time Machine, is a clear reference to the book of the same name by H.G. Wells. As such, we are taken on an adventure through the course of the album. The Time Machine starts out with a protagonist character at its central theme. The opening track “Forward in Time” is a clear reference to the protagonist taking a time machine forward into the future. All sounds on this track lend themselves to a forward moving dynamic.