ambient / neo classical

Reflection of a Higher Realm is the debut album by neoclassical/ ambient music project Ēirikura, released by Wrotycz Records, consisting of artists from several different German bands, plus Irish poetess Johanna Doyle. With thirteen tracks – Reflection of a Higher Realm, Wassara, Flowers, Eirikura, Annabelle Blue, Oh, roses for the flush of youth, Fornocht do chonac thu, Today's Eulogy, Dance into Images, Like an out-dated Pre-Raphaelite, Gerds, Ramawas Warta and Reflection of a Higher Realm (reprise) – this is a beautiful, formidable and astonishing record, probably the best neoclassical album that I have heard. Fulfilled by references of art and literature – with original and adapted poems as well – Reflection of a Higher Realm is a fantastic, bright and marvelous journey throughout a serene, ordained, sensible and sincere universe, where a colorful ocean of hope can be seen involving worlds of incommensurable delight, in a warm and complete embrace of patience, immutability and beauty. With great tenderness and delicacy, the music of Ēirikura is a marvelous journey throughout an intelligent and thoroughly elaborated universe of supreme art, created with the sentimental, but pragmatic axiom of a truth that comprehends all the virtual and literal necessities of the human soul. 

Reflection of a Higher Realm couldn’t have been a better title for the album, because all tracks in this outstanding and vigorous work – without exceptions – seems to transmit exactly this sensation: reflections of a higher realm. You almost feel you are looking, touching or making contact with the omnipresent consciousness of a higher dimensional existence, parallel to our mundane and ordinary world. These songs appear to descend from a transcendental reign of underlying and subjective, but overwhelming beauty, that came to rescue us from our suffering, fatalist misery and insignificance. With folk and regional elements beautifully inserted in the songs as well, the pure and consecrated density of this work goes beyond the infinity of its majestic tenures of beauty, aggrandizing artistry and emotional virtuosity.    

With a succession of beautiful songs that cohesively forms in the universe of its sensible context a marvelous cosmos of original creative strength and sagacity, Reflection of a Higher Realm is an unbelievable, sensational and monumental record. Its imperial, but graceful and gentle expansive movements liberates the engines of a fragile and hidden existence, made primarily of tenderness, humanity, art and a genuine capacity to sonorously create, evoke and reproduce higher dimensions of dense and meaningful sensibility.  

With wonderful songs like Fornocht do chonac thu, Today's Eulogy and Like an out-dated Pre-Raphaelite – the seventh, eight and tenth track, respectively –, which are my favorites, Ēirikura offers you the possibility to travel to the extremes of your own soul, making you discover and decipher, in the process, the most profound and consistent devotional diagrams hidden in the depths of your own consciousness. But even if they were devoid of this ability – although they aren’t –, the music itself will be a reason strong enough to make anyone anxious to embark on this fantastic symbolic journey of expressive moments, filled by delightful redemptive skies of infinite grace.  


Wagner

classical / ambient

A few weeks ago, a friend told me about the music of Almaty, Kazakhstan composer Angelina Yershova. He said it reminded him of classical music and jazz being blended with the drones and soundscapes of Misantronics and the vintage immersive nature of Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream. Obviously, that intrigued me quite a bit since I am Misantronics and I absolutely love the other influences he mentioned. So I checked out one track and immediately ordered the full-length. Since it arrived, it has been playing pretty much non-stop.

At first, you might compare the music on 'Piano's Abyss' with the delightful modern classical tunes from people like Olafur Arnalds or Bersarin Quartett. Piano, drones and soundscapes are interlaced with each other, creating vast musical landscapes. Yet, soon I realized that tracks like opener 'Immersion' or 'Suspense' are a lot darker than the sounds of some of Yershova's colleagues. The drones go a lot deeper, create a gloomy and often eerie atmosphere while the piano shows Yershova's classical roots.

Over the years, those classical roots have supported her ever-growing urge to experiment with sounds and instruments. There are flashes of playful free jazz among the haunting soundscapes of 'Shining Waves', making this a very alienating track.  Not long ago, Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi performed on a floating platform in the Arctic Ocean. Well, 'Shining Waves' sounds like a performance in a haunted mansion, making it an excellent soundtrack for a psychotic thriller. That pretty much counts for all the tracks here.

'Ice Breath' is a perfectly titled dark ambient track, chilling, scary and a great intro for the beautiful 'Mystery'. That one feels a lot brighter than most of the other songs, even though it remains a murky and mystifying piece of experimental ambient, again interlaced with these playful piano touches. The piano finally gets the upperhand on 'Rebus', a jazzy tune, driving on minimal percussion and and immersive melody. This might be my favorite track on the album, but that's a very tough decision to make.

The albums closes with 'The Abyss', a fourteen minutes lasting epos of dark ambient and modern classical music, pretty much a beautiful combination of the music on the rest of the album. What I like so much about this album, is the immense level of variation. Of course, I've heard many ambient albums with piano in the past few years, but very rarely these turn out to be as varied, as narrative and as daring as this one. Angelina Yershova shows a dark side of this genre, a side where drones and noise are allowed and embraced. And that I can only applaud that. This is a highly recommended piece of work...


​Serge 

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hard rock

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First, a warning: Don't go searching for this ep on Google, I think you know why. This Glory Hole was formed by Cedric La Piche in order to create "sexy music".  In a way, they quite succeed in that, as I can certainly imagine some beautiful women shaking their shapely hips to this infectious blend of rock, hard rock and funk. The music reminds me of a mix of Living Colour, Rage Against The Machine and Prince, the latter mostly in the song 'Anaconda's Sister'. My favorite song is the heavy rocker 'Kill Your Flatmate' but the whole album is highly enjoyable, loaded with dirty rock 'n roll which will absolutely get you off your feet wherever Glory Hole decide to play.

black metal / folk

Opening with a piano-track, followed by a lengthy passage with only an acoustic guitar and soundscapes and still being a black metal album, that's something very few bands successfully pull off. The acoustic guitar is the central instrument on this ep by Winnepeg (Canada) band Noire, but they can also deliver a decent slab of progressive black metal. In a way, the songs on this epic piece of work remind me a bit of bands like Agalloch, teaming up with black metal icons like Immortal or Enslaved, and Opeth-influences are never far away. The title track is a massive anthem, definitely my favorite here, but I also like the ritual ambient and acoustic tracks. This is a brilliant ep, period.

heavy metal

Epic heavy metal from Italy, obviously with testicles of steel. I mean, it takes guts to write music that sounds somewhat outdated, compared to whatever the young generation of metalheads is spewing out. Etrusgrave has those guts, coming up with an album that might have well been an effort by Manowar or Grave Digger. With lengthy songs, containing flashing solos, battle-ready riffs and heroic vocals, Etrusgrave brings back the glorious days of the eighties' heavy metal scene. Honestly, it took me a while before I was getting into this album because it really sounds like it's recorded in 1984 or so, but it gradually grew on me. Now, I'm singing along with epic tunes like 'Coward' and 'Festering Slash'.

funeral doom / neo classical

Funeral doom is one of my favorite genres but it's always hard to write about it, mainly because there is not that much happening on those albums. This album by Portland, Oregon, US residents Disemballerina is somewhat different. It's not that much doom metal but nudges more towards the dark chamber music of acts like Ataraxia or Dargaard. Yet, there's always that grim doomed atmosphere throughout the whole album. How best to compare it? Well, how about Apocalyptica and Olafur Arnalds crawling into a dark recording studio to rewrite the music of Esoteric or Shape Of Despair. In all, this is a beautiful piece of work, dark, immersive and grievous.

heavy metal

Another flashback in time, this time courtesy of English metal band Forced In Black (formerly known as Merciless Fall). With this four track ep, these guys are aiming for their spot in metal history. What kind of metal? Well, they don't seem to care. Parts Judas Priest, parts Candlemass, parts Testament, parts Iron Maiden and about six percent other influences. The result is, unsurprisingly, a highly varied ep, loaded with massive solos, epic riffs and a wide array of vocals. Headbanging is obviously an absolute must, and quite frankly, I think it's going to be pretty impossible not to bang your head to this. If you can, I'm afraid you're not really a metal fan...

classical

Self-made Ukrainian composer Egor Grushin posted a quote from Aristoteles on his facebook page, which translates as "Only music has the power to shape character. With music, you can teach yourself to develop the right feeling." Music has an immense power indeed over every human, regardless of their age or appearance. Maybe it communicates directly with our soul, or would it be because music is so good at evoking memories and moods? 

We hear Egor Grushin on piano through the album, sometimes accompanied by Roksolana Pakholkiv on cello, and Yaroslav Dzhus on bandura. I love the dynamics and warmth of the combination of these acoustic instruments, but the piano-only pieces to me are equally magical. There's a good balance on Dominicano because only in a few composition the other instruments are dominantly present.

After a listen or ten of this self-released 2014 album, it finally occurs to me that Egor Grushin transforms my mood constantly. The general atmosphere is melancholic and warm, but there's a whole rainbow of feelings to explore.  

Whenever I try to finish this review, track three, 'Vento Domani' takes my breath and words away, maybe because it reminds me of Chopin's 'Raindrop Prelude' so much. The atmosphere is equally sad, fragile yet hopeful. And then, 'Kalsemarsch' makes me forget all about this sadness and also throws me back in time. My memory doesn't succeed in fixing this link, but it was a rather obscure DIY neoclassical album that was all about The Lord Of The Rings and which had one track with the same rhythm and playfulness. So I'm mentally in a medieval fantasy world when I listen to this one, where the sun shines, we got some food in our bellies and the trolls are miles away so no one in our party pays attention to our badly healing wounds. 

Everywhere through the album there's tenderness, longing, love, grief, hope, celebration and more, often combined in each track. The emotional effect of this music is so intense that it's very hard to find words to describe it for a reviewing rookie like me. 

So if I managed to arouse your curiosity, don't hesitate to check Dominicano out. If you want more, you don't have to wait long because in June Grushin will release a new album. I think it's time for his life work to cross the Ukrainian borders so that the rest of the world can go check him out live. I'm pretty certain that you would remember the height of your gooseflesh forever...



Eline

neo-classical / ambient

Trying to find the right words for my third review on Merchants Of Air has been a hard pill to swallow. I've given the third album of Bersarin Quartett a listen or four and a few weeks to let it settle. Today is rainy and grey and I took a hot bath in which I decided to give myself a kick in the proverbial butt: "why don't you just give it a try?". 

Bersarin Quartett, as you might already know, isn't a quartet but consists of one musical genius: Thomas Bücker. I've deeply enjoyed his second album, 'II', during moments of anguish and/or sadness. 'II' has this exceptional atmosphere - dark, soothing and oh so warm - which also can be found in Radare's 'Im Argen'. The third album in this personal soul-balming top-3, which I also could put on endless repeat, is Dale Cooper Quartet and the Dictaphones' masterpiece 'Metamanoir'. So When Serge told me there was a new Bersarin Quartett album and asked me to review it, I got pretty excited.

Some of the tracks, like opener 'Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage' or 'Sanft verblassen die Geschichten' bring back the feelings described above and thus easily throw themselves forward as potential personal favourite tracks. On 'III', in general, Bücker seems to take a step away from this world of sounds in favour of more, yet mostly cautious, electronics and percussion. Sometimes these even sound kind of industrial, like in the track 'Schwarzer Regen fällt'. The combination of these electronics with analog sounding strings and piano reminds me of the post-neoclassical works by composers like Sebastian Plano or the magical album 'Di Indomito Incanto' by Carlo De Filippo which Serge reviewed yesterday.

"Modern-day", that's the word I was looking for to describe the difference between Bersarin Quartett's 'II' and 'III'. For me, tracks like 'Staub und Sterne' or 'Welche Welt' just have a little too much breaks - they might quite literally have broken my expectations about the album - which in general doesn't have to be a bad thing. In the unmentioned tracks Bücker finds a perfect balance between the "old" and the "new" style which I keep distinguishing, so 'III' could be interpreted as an update for 'II' if you like music to sound more electronic than before.

My favourite track since the first listen has remained 'Die Nächte sind erfüllt von Maskenfesten'. It approaches that darkjazzy atmosphere again, builds up to a refreshing tempo while the relatively subtle electronics help dragging me to that point where there's nothing left to do but hitting the volume button, sitting back, closing my eyes and detecting that blissful smile on my face which only the best music can evoke. 


Eline

neo-classical

What a miserable day it is today.  Rain is pouring down, wind is blowing and it's way too cold to step a foot outside.  However, it is a perfect day to stay inside with your loved one, light a candle or a fireplace, dim the lights, cook a delicious meal, add some champagne and make it an unforgettable saturday.  Now if I may, you will be needing some romantic music for these activities, and yes, I do have a suggestion.

Carlo De Filippo is one half of Italian dark folk duo Oniric.  With this solo release, he nudges towards romanticism and classical music.  Yet, these aren't just cute little piano and strings tunes, these are well-written pieces of modern classical music, aided by influences from downtempo electronics and even post-rock.  The result is a sweet album, gently and soothing, something for the romantic souls out there.

I'm often reminded of people like Sebastian Plano or Olafur Arnalds when I listen to songs like title track 'Di Indomito Incanto' or 'Talune Nostalgie'.  These drive on playful piano and atmospheric strings while some percussion adds a sense of tempo.  Often the percussion sounds quite electronic and on other occasions it sounds pretty analog.  The latter seems to turn 'Del Perduto Eco' into a bit of a post-rock anthem, which is very nice indeed.

On the other hand, 'Struggenza in Re Minore' feels very medieval and folkish.  It reminds me of the music on some of those fairies and elves festivals which former goths love to attend.  At times, perhaps the whole sounds a bit lovi dovi, something I'm not always a big fan of.  However, it makes this album perfect as a soundtrack for your Valentine's day activities.  Besides, 'Velo d'Oblio' is a great piece of work, rhythmic and uplifting.

In all, no this isn't something for the dark souls out there.  This music is something for people who still value emotions like love and romance.  We all need more love in our lives, not only for our significant other but also for the entire world surrounding us.  Music like this can certainly help, so yes, I will recommend checking this out. 



​Serge

dark ambient

Years ago, when I took my first steps into the wonderful world of dark ambient, Norse acts Immundus was one of the first I encountered on social networks.  Since then, both our projects often appeared on the same compilations, most notably of course the ones released by Sombre Soniks.  I also reviewed his previous album, 'Insomnia' (read on our old website).  So when this one reached my inbox, I couldn't wait to check it out.

Although deeply rooted into the dark ambient scene, Bruno Duarte prefers the term 'ghost and horror music'. In my opinion, he is quite correct about this.  This music is perfectly suited for horror movies.  It's impending, dark and creepy but it also has a sense of melody and a certain storytelling capacity.  In a way, you can see the majority of the tracks on this album as musical short stories.

So while the album opens with a great dark ambient track in 'Nightcrawler', most other pieces have neo-classical feel, highlighting in the spooky title track 'You Will Never Get Out Of Here Alive'.  This song sounds joyful, driving on uplifting piano but it also has something frightful which gets under your skin and silently whispers about all the malignant things it's going to do you.  The straénge, cold sound of the piano certainly helps create this eerie atmosphere.

Immundus truly masters the art of gloomy music.  Unlike many dark ambient acts, he doesn't solely focus on deep soundscapes which seem to last forever.  Instead, he comes up with instrumental songs of anguish and fear.  It's almost like walking through a haunted abandoned asylum while creepy music emerges from empty rooms.  You certainly get that feeling when you listen to songs like 'Drained For Blood At The Altar' or 'A Spirit´s Serenade'.

In all, this simply is another excellent Immundus album, continuing his distinct path in the world of dark ambient and neoclassical music.  My advice?  Well, wait until 12 February and then download the hell out of this little gem.  Just don't come knocking on my door when your poltergeists and other unfriendly creatures are being lured into your house with this stuff.  After all, spirits like good music too...


​Serge